Hey Everyone,
This is David’s family. We wanted to give you an update on David and what he has been up to. I believe we now know why David hates what he does so much… He realy is suffering out there. About 10 days ago we recieved some bad news. David went in to the Doctor for a check up and they found a birth defect in his heart. It is known as ASD (atrial Septum Defect). To explain it breifly, this means he has a hole in his heart. He has had it since birth and no one was able to detect it on routine check ups. It is very dangerous in scuba diving, high altitude and extreme athletics. It can cause the heart to go into heart failure without warning. So, to make a long story short. For 34 years David has been working with about 3/4 of his heart. The right side of his heart was recieving too much oxygenated blood and it wasn’t going to the rest of his body like it should.
On Thursay of last week David went in for surgery. They were able to repair the hole and he is now in the process of recovering. It will be a long 6 month road back to his normal self, but trust me when we say, he will be back to his normal self:)
Thank you all for your support of David. It means a lot to him and to us as well. Posted by David Goggins
Thank’s for the heads up Jason,looks like the legend that is Dave Goggins just grew a little bit.He’s is an amazing guy and I hope his recovery goes well.No doubt the hardest part will be trying to stop him from doing stuff for the next few months.
Tough news but if anyone can recover and be stronger it is him.
Between him and Steve Larson I’m going to talk to my Dr. when I see her next and see if there is a test we can run to detect issues like David’s.
Listen to your body. If you are having problems then tell your doctor. Your doctor is not going to run any tests because of David Goggins or Steve Larsen’s problems but only if you are having problems.
damn you doctors!
I want a full body cancer scan
full body vein clogging scan
and brain upgrades
Tough news but if anyone can recover and be stronger it is him.
Between him and Steve Larson I’m going to talk to my Dr. when I see her next and see if there is a test we can run to detect issues like David’s.
Listen to your body. If you are having problems then tell your doctor. Your doctor is not going to run any tests because of David Goggins or Steve Larsen’s problems but only if you are having problems.
Doesn’t hurt to talk to her, does it?
Express your concerns. Your mental health is just as important as your physical health. Just expect to be reassured unless you have something specific going on.
One interesting aspect of this is I know he was being followed by NBC (I believe) for this years RAAM. It will be interesting to see if this is documented in the program they were doing or if they save it for something later that focuses on him or both.
is there any historical data on how much ones performance can improve when you get that fixed?
Not sure about the answer, but several factors are going to be involved: On the one hand, his heart will do its work much more efficiently (so much so that the heart muscle is likely to shrink in size). On the other, however, ASD repair usually involves inserting/stitching a foreign object into the heart: a Dacron patch. As Dave heals, he will be on anticoagulants to prevent blood clots, but the risk of them forming will be elevated for the rest of his life, which may place limits on his physical activity.
As Dave heals, he will be on anticoagulants to prevent blood clots, but the risk of them forming will be elevated for the rest of his life, which may place limits on his physical activity.
Not sure yet. I did some training after the surgery and it was easier- I could run faster with lower perceived exertion and slightly lower heart rate. It just seemed “easier”. I started felling rotten again though- strokey headaches and floating vision problems. I stopped training for about 5 months and it has stabilized. I feel good now. I’m ready to start training again I figure. We’ll see.
Very odd about Dave- he is an incredibly fit fellow.
it makes sense that he would turn to ultradistance running with that kind of heart defect. ultra distance isn’t about having awesome cardio output. its about your bones not shattering and legs not falling off, heh
Not sure yet. I did some training after the surgery and it was easier- I could run faster with lower perceived exertion and slightly lower heart rate. It just seemed “easier”. I started felling rotten again though- strokey headaches and floating vision problems. I stopped training for about 5 months and it has stabilized. I feel good now. I’m ready to start training again I figure. We’ll see.
Very odd about Dave- he is an incredibly fit fellow.
Great one more reason to be paranoid. I am starting to get really nervous. I would love to have an ekg done. What’s a good symptom to tell the doctor so that I can get a referral?
On the other, however, ASD repair usually involves inserting/stitching a foreign object into the heart: a Dacron patch. As Dave heals, he will be on anticoagulants to prevent blood clots, but the risk of them forming will be elevated for the rest of his life, which may place limits on his physical activity.
Dacron presents no such risks.
The first four inches of my aorta is Dacron and I’ve never been prescribed anything stronger than an aspirin.
