Promotions Customer Service GENERAL SERVICES SUBSCRIBER SERVICES NEWS SERVICES READER / VIEWER SERVICES ADVERTISING SERVICES   > > Picking up the beat 06/27/05 Picking up the beat Roberts discovers rare heart disorder, family By LAURIE SMITH ANDERSON Advocate staff writer When Vicki Roberts learned she had Long QT Syndrome two years ago, she also found out she was not an only child. After finding out that the disorder can be inherited and life-threatening, Roberts and her adoptive mother successfully sought to have her adoption records opened so she could contact her biological family. "I learned that my father died in 1991 at the age of 31. He was out in a field baling hay with his brother, stopped to rest for a minute, lit a cigarette and died. I also learned that I had an aunt who passed away for no apparent reason when she was just 16

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