About Me (In My Own Words)
The day after I was born, in 1966, the pediatrician doing my newborn exam came to my parents and told them I had a "hole" in my heart. There was nothing they could do and they had no idea if I would survive. My parents were told that if I made it to the age of 2, I might be ok. My mother treated me like a china doll that could be easily broken. Or at least she tried. I was a VERY active child, and even though I sometimes could not run as fast or as far as other kids, I kept up and held my own. My childhood routine of EKGs and chest x-rays gave way to teen and young adult years where I gave little thought to the condition I was born with. I met my husband in 1991 and we married in 1994. Three years later, I got pregnant (AFTER having received a clean bill of health from my cardiologist). I worried myself sick (sometimes I think literally) that something would go wrong with the pregnancy. When I was just under 36 weeks pregnant, I visited the hospital near my cardiologist's office for what was to be a precautionary echocardiogram. A few minutes into the test, the technician blurted out "Did the doctors tell you that you shouldn't get pregnant?" I knew right then and there I was screwed. Six hours later I was admitted to Good Samaritan Hospital in Cincinnati, the same hospital I was born in. The same hospital I saw my childhood cardiologist in. And, while it was the hospital I intended to give birth to my daughter in, I wasn't planning to deliver her in the Cardiac Care Unit. Fortunately, everything went by the book and a week later, we were at home with a beautiful baby girl, Samantha.
In the days that followed Samantha's birth, the first discussions about mitral valve surgery took place. I was NOT ready and I was NOT happy about it. I had a newborn baby to take care of, and by all indications few, if any, surgeons here in the Greater Cincinnati area were doing minimally invasive cardiac surgery. On the advice of my cardiologist, I pursued surgery, but insisted on regular (eventually weekly) echocardiograms to monitor my heart post-partum. Within 5 months my heart was nearly back to it's pre-pregnancy condition. Surgery was cancelled. Life went on. Until this past fall.
The weekend before Halloween, Samantha and I were in Wal-Mart when we passed by the blood pressure machine. On a whim, I sat down and took my bp. It was 151/94. It had never been that high, not even when I was in congestive heart failure at the end of my pregnancy. A few hours later, I had one of the strongest heart palpitations I have ever had. I decided it was time to call the doctor, and was convinced that stress was wreaking havoc on my blood pressure. But, laying on the echocardiogram table a few weeks later, I suddenly realized I knew better. I knew I was "failing" my echocardiogram. Thirty minutes later my cardiologist was patting my knee and apologizing for delivering the news "It's time".
On February 4th, 2011, I am scheduled to enter Good Samaritan Hospital one more time. This time, I will undergo mitral valve replacement surgery with Dr. J. Michael Smith and his DaVinci Robotic Surgery system. I am still NOT ready and I still NOT happy. But I keep telling myself these things:
I lost my father to heart disease when he was 54 and I was only 9. He chose not to actively pursue treatment for his condition, even though it was suggested to him that there were surgeons in Texas treating aortic aneurysm. I never want my daughter to feel the sadness and anger I have felt wondering why my dad didn't try to save himself for the sake of my siblings and I. I won't do that to my daughter. I fought to get her here, so I am going to fight to stay here and see her grown up.
I am as tough as Arnold Schwartzenegger. If he can do this, so can I.
I am probably gonna get lots of really cool presents for Valentine's Day this year.
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
Mason (Cincinnati), Ohio
