I wanted to take the opportunity to contribute my own personal
story. While reading through these pages you have examined the
facts and information concerning women and Heart Disease. From
these facts and the data given you will not be able to observe
and understand the pain, suffering caused by Heart Disease and
the hardships and triumphs that result from it I wanted to
present you a glimpse into my own experience and have also
listed links to other personal stories to strong, courageous
women who have had to cope with Heart Disease at various stages
of their lives and some who have lost their lives to it.
I grew up believing Heart Disease is something older men got.
Men in their fifties with busy lives, too many worries and
unhealthy lifestyles; for some it would be a wake-up call after
smoking for too long and too much or finding themselves in the
emergency room after a heart attack. I wasn’t naïve or blind to
it though. Heart disease was no stranger in my life. It had
robbed me of my grandfather. It came as a silent killer one
night and took him in his sleep. Heart Disease permanently
disabled my grandmother at the age of 71. It was going to come
back into my life again. In bright daylight and look me back
into the eye, and this time it wasn’t going to leave.
As a child I’d always been healthy. At ten a doctor in a small
clinic in Kentucky had heard a small heart murmur but reassured
my mom that this is something I’d grow out of by the time I’d
reach 18.. He told her that it’s something a lot of kids had.
I never had a lot of energy and walking up steep hills gave me a
lot of problems. Walking long distances was a nightmare for me,
but I could do it with effort. It was very uncomfortable for me
but I never thought it a serious health problem. A lot of people
have lack of energy. I recall one time, shortly after getting
married, my husband and I took a tour of the castles in
Germany. It was a mile walk up the castle from where we had
parked the car. It was a steep climb. Halfway up, I had to
stop, hold on to my husband and try to catch my breath. I felt
so mortified because others, who were much older than I, some
three times my age, were passing us. I didn’t think I would make
it up the mountain, but I pushed myself and made it.
Looking back - I had the symptoms of heart disease all my life.
There was no way for me to know that this was NOT normal because
to me it was. I had nothing to compare it to. I thought this is
how I was supposed to feel. How I was supposed to breathe. How
my body was supposed to be. Once I did go see a doctor but I
again received a clean bill of health. Ironically only a year
later, at the age of 21 I had a Brain Abscess. This was a
result from the
congenital anomaly in my heart. It’s
a bit complicated but unfiltered (infected) blood was able to
travel up into my brain and cause an infection i.e. brain
abscess. I not only had a heart murmur (Atrial Septal Defect)
but it was so large that it made my heart work much harder to
pump all the blood throughout my body. In defense of all the
doctors who never found this defect, it was nearly impossible to
find without running specific tests.
I
also had a persistent left superior vena cava, which is very
unusual. Even more rare, it drained directly into the left
atrium causing a right to left shunt. At the time I was
admitted to the hospital for my brain abscess the doctor’s did
not know I had this. The heart defect was found during surgery
while trying to place a Hickman catheter. This is like a
permanent I.V. that leads to your heart so it can be used to
draw labs and give intravenous medications. During the surgery
x-rays showed that the catheter was placed in my left superior
vena cava, which should not exist. Afterwards, I had more
studies done and the cardiologist found all the defects
described above.
Once my Brain Abscess was resolved I had open-heart surgery to
correct the ASD (heart murmur) and had ligation of the Left
Superior Vena Cava. This is a fancy word for them just closing
it up. It took me a few weeks to notice the improvement after
the surgery. I finally noticed how different I started feeling
and how much more energy I had compared to before the surgery.
It took 22 years to get a birth defect fixed but it was well
worth the wait!!
I wanted to share my own personal story with you to show and to
call attention to the fact that Heart Disease is possible at any
age, to anyone. Age or gender is not relevant. If you have any
of the symptoms of Heart Disease see your doctor and get a
check-up!!
Take
care of yourself. Your heart will thank you!
