Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, February 24, 1992 TAG: 9202240158
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BOB TEITLEBAUM SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Long
AFTER SURGERY, NOT ALL BREAKS ARE FAST ONES
A little more than a year after having open-heart surgery, Mark Haden is a starting point guard on the Christiansburg High School basketball team.Haden is playing even though he has to take breaks during games and go to a quiet place so that he can get his pulse rate to drop back to normal.
This was the only way Haden's doctor would give him permission to play. Even then, the doctor suggested he find another activity. Eventually, the doctor gave up. Haden, a senior, was determined to play basketball.
Haden's problem was a birth defect to the aortic valve that kept him from getting a full supply of blood to the heart.
"I had never had any problems or chest pains," Haden says. "The doctors let me play anything I wanted to through junior varsity. Then they told me they didn't want me to play during my junior year and that it would be a good idea to have the surgery."
Rudy Haden, an assistant principal at Floyd County, remembers his son's condition was diagnosed when he was 1 1/2.
"Tests showed that he didn't have enough circulation going into his legs and lungs under stressful conditions. He had the same symptoms as a person who had clogged arteries," the elder Haden says.
The Hadens say they discussed whether the surgery was being done just so Mark could play sports.
"If that was the only reason, we didn't want to do it because of the risk involved," Rudy Haden says.
Surgery improved the supply of blood, but it wasn't a cure. That's why permission to play basketball came with certain restrictions.
"The doctor told me I wouldn't be 100 percent, but that I'd be a lot better than before. I can tell when my pulse rate is elevated and that I'm getting tired. But I'm not sure it's elevated higher than anyone else's" who plays basketball, Mark Haden says.
When Haden was given the OK by his doctor to try varsity basketball, that gave Christiansburg coach Gerald Thompson a problem.
Thompson, who is the school's athletic director, says he met with the Hadens and told them he would My mom wanted to see me play as badly as I did. She was very supportive. My dad was a little more concerned, but he said it was OK as long as the doctors said it was OK. Mark Haden Playing basketball for Christiansburg High after open-heart surgery follow any course the doctors recommended and that he also wanted to take responsibility off the Montgomery County School System.
"His mother and I met with the principal [George Porterfield], Coach Thompson, the trainer and Mark. We discussed the pros and cons of the situation, the risks he was taking," Rudy Haden says. "We signed a waiver that he was playing on a limited basis approved by the doctor and that the school would not be held responsible if something happened to Mark playing basketball."
Thompson goes by the limits.
"Mark can practice or play 15 minutes. At the end of 15 minutes, no matter where we're at, he can't go back into the game until his pulse rate is under 115," the coach says.
Kathy Haden was leery about letting her son play after all he had been through, but she had empathy.
"I played in high school and I wanted him to play," she says. "Every game I go to, it's amazing that he plays after the surgery he went through.
"Sure, there's the possibility something could happen, but I felt kind of relieved after the doctor released him and said, `Get his pulse checked.' We kind of left it in God's hands."
During Haden's required breaks at home games, Christiansburg trainer Beverly Biancur and Haden go to a storage area just off the gym floor. Haden puts on earphones and listens to a tape of the group Acappella, which performs contemporary Christian music.
Back on the bench, there is oxygen for an emergency, and every precaution is taken.
"Yes and no, I'm scared, but I'm not scared because no doctor in his right mind would give him a release if it wasn't OK, the way lawsuits are today," Thompson says. "On the other hand, I'm not sure. We've never seen anything to indicate he's having trouble like gasping for air, but sure he'll get tired."
Mark Haden is getting used to taking the forced breaks.
"I was concerned it would be a problem," he says. "My mom wanted to see me play as badly as I did. She was very supportive. My dad was a little more concerned, but he said it was OK as long as the doctors said it was OK."
Haden is getting stronger, Thompson says. When practice started, he would miss five to eight minutes while recovering. Now it's down to three or four minutes.
There was a concern that when Christiansburg started playing rivals such as Radford and Blacksburg, the added excitement of such a game would hamper Haden. Thompson says he handled the pressure well.
"I'm always worried about the hype of the game," Thompson sats. "To normal people, when the place is packed, the excitement of the game makes your pulse go higher.
"It took us a long time to know when to bring Mark out and get his pulse rate down. In the William Byrd game we took him out in the middle of the third quarter to have him for the whole fourth quarter, but then his 15 minutes ran out before overtime and we didn't have him."
Haden, who plans on going to Virginia Tech, says he will give up basketball after this year. He still might play varsity tennis this spring, and that was another sport forbidden to him until he had surgery.
Playing basketball "might have been a small point to prove something, but I really love the game," Haden says. "I wanted to play one more year before college and also because I knew I could help the team."