Son playing footie

[dot.hawkes]

My youngest son is 19 and used to be a very good player for the village footie team, but when he was 16 he had alot of back ache and leg pains and so i took him to see the doctor, the doctor did an examination and asked my son to do some simple motor exercises (I think they are called), the doc then said my son had something wrong with his collagen in his muscles and said that he has Spike Milligans disease, i.e. his knee caps were on backwards, he said he had this over stretching of the collagen in the muscles and that included his heart muscles and if he over exerted himself the heart ones could stretch and snap and he would drop dead!
Well i took this for a second opinion to a private clinic a few days later and paid a guy for a second opinion, and this other one said he saw no problem physically.
At that time my son was about to start a sports science course at college.
In the last three years, despite having to do sports at college, the comments of that first doc, our GP, have stuck on my sons mind and i have also often worried about it.
Now at 19 he has been asked to play footie for the local pub team and they had a friendly last night, he has told me today that for much of the match he had a pain in his chest on one side, I could tell he was bothered, I think he should see a doc again, what do you think?

[PinkFizz]

Hi Dot - that was really interesting reading - I have never heard of Spike Milligans disease. Yes,It wouldnt do him any harm for a doctor to give a thorough check-up - just to be on the safe side.xx

[mnko]

get him checked out dot. you hear about young fit lads dropping dead sorry if i scared you. just you can never be 2 careful with ur children no matter what age they are. good luck dot and son.

[monkeykiller]

Hello mrs dot,

He should go to the doctors,just to put his mind at rest,the pain might have just been because he hadn't been doing a lot of exercise before the match,but he musn't worry unduly,hope he is ok. monkey

[Belle Fast]

You should get it checked but it may not be anything to worry about. Lots of doctors think that if you have hyperextensible joints (double jointed) that you have Marfan's syndrome (genetic condition for which there is a simple test), BUT lots of people have hyperextensible joints and don't have Marfan's.

[Belle Fast]

ps Marfan's syndrome effects the joints and can effect the heart.

[dot.hawkes]

actually I have just visited a site about the marfan's syndrome and worryingly it has reminded me of why i did take him to the docs when he was 16, it wasn't cos of back ache it was cos of all the red stretch marks on his lower back, he is 6ft 4ins and was 6ft at 14

[WendyS]

Dot - if he's planning a long term career in sports and your son had a pain in the chest playing football he definitely needs to get it investigated. It may not be something serious but it is obviously playing on his mind and it will undermine everything he does physically unless it is fully investigated. It will also continue to niggle at you.
I have never heard of this disease but it sounds as if he needs another opinion from a competent cardiologist. I definitely think you and he should go back to your GP together and ask for another referral. If your son is physically fit and well, he really shouldn't be getting this type of pain. Don't let him play again until he's had a thorough check-up otherwise neither of you will have much peace of mind and you'll both be playing games with each other to avoid worrying each other.