About Me (In My Own Words)
It all started on a nice summer day in 1977...I was 11 years old and making a healthy lunch for myself of fried baloney when the next thing I remember is waking up on the floor of the kitchen.
It happened again later that day...although my father seemed annoyed and thought maybe I was trying to get out of eating my spaghetti (which I had a strong dislike for). Mom thought differently and took me to the ER. The rest is really quite a blur except that I remember subsequently being evaluated at Children's Hospital...being a young female and starting to enter puberty.....I can still see all these people standing over me and evaluating my condition. Young men and women of all shapes and sizes....all I could think about was GET ME THE HECK OUT OF HERE...these people are all staring at me with no clothes on.
That was really it...I knew I had been sick, but never really knew much about my condition except that I was not allowed to participate in any exerting activities in PE (no running, which I was fine with).
...until 1989....I became pregnant with my first (and only) child. I was so excited....that is until I went for my first doctor's appointment. To make a long story short, she basically told me I was crazy for getting pregnant and referred me to a cardiologist for close monitoring during my pregnancy. During my entire pregnancy I followed up closely with my cardiologist and basically endured a pretty uneventful pregnancy. Both of my doctors said I would not be able to deliver naturally...I would have to have a c-section. My heart could not take the stress of delivering my child. I was okay with that...although I could not wait to be a mother...I wasn't thrilled with the "natural" way a child was brought into this world, if you know what I mean!
It wasn't until after I had my son that I was told that I could have died.
Again...I did not follow up again with my condition until I made my move to Florida. In 1994 I began to have symptoms again of fainting spells, shortness of breath, etc. I worked for a physician and he sent me for a consultation with a cardiologist. This doctor was great except that he told me I was a time bomb that could explode at any time. That was real comforting for a young woman like myself. He sent me to Shands Hospital in Gainesville for multiple tests
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Lakeland, Florida
