My story begins almost 49 years ago in Grand Rapids, Michigan
on May 20th 1952 in Butterworth Hospital the day I was born.
Doctors found I was born with a heart murmur. It wasn't till two
years later that my parents found out how serious my heart
murmur was. After the birth of my sister the doctors told my
parents that everything was OK with her heart but it was now
time to check into my heart murmur further. So the did a chest x-ray
to get a better picture of my heart. That is when he told
my parents I should see a pediatric cardiologist. My
pediatrician recommended Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago.
That is when I had my first train ride to Chicago. While their I
had my first cardiac catheterization and another chest x-ray. My
Doctor Robert Miller told my parents the sad news. I had a hole
the size of a quarter between to chambers of my heart and a bad
mitral valve which usually go along with where the hole was. He
said right now they did not have a surgery perfected to help me
maybe when I'm older. So one month before my 7th Birthday I
entered Children's Memorial Hospital where they did my second
cardiac catheterization. My Mom what to be really sure I needed
the operation. Two days later they did my open heart surgery. I
was only the 18th one of my type done their. Everything went
well with the operation done by Doctor Thomas Baffes where he
repaired a defect in the inter-arterial wall and the cleft in my
mitral valve. I was home in three weeks. Shortly after arriving
home I developed complications. I began spiking a high fever
after being taken to our local hospital in Battle Creek Michigan
where we are now living they discovered I had developed Staph
Pneumonia. At the time they were not quite sure how to handle
it. My Doctor explained he will try several medications
hopefully one will work. At one point they were not sure I would
make it. After two weeks the money my mother spent baby-sitters
for my brother and sister was too much. I was then transferred
to Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids Michigan. where my
Grandparents could help take care of my sister and brother. I
was only there one week. For the next 29 years I had regular
checkup's with my doctor in Chicago. Even though in later years
my Heart Valve began to leak quit a bit. My Doctor told me it
was always better to have my own valve than a replaced one. I
was always able to stay active and worked forty hours a week in
retail. Then one Friday in April 1988 I complained of right
shoulder pain and being tired. I let the pain go trying to get
rid of it with pain relievers for several days. I kept busy
with my work and my dance classes but the pain did not go away.
On Tuesday night I was up all night having trouble breathing and
my heart racing I kept telling myself that if I would loose some
weight I wouldn't be having these problems. When I went to my
Doctor's Office here in Battle Creek the next morning my Heart
was racing 166 beats per minutes at rest. I was sent to my local
hospital for a chest x-ray. They thought the x-ray showed I had
Pneumonia but they wanted to do a lung scan. The lung scan
showed I had Congestive Heart Failure. I was immediately put
into intensive care at our local hospital. My Doctor ordered a
visit by a cardiologist Doctor Philip Dawson. It was decided
that I would go by ambulance to Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo. I
was put in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit. They first did a
Color Flow Doppler Echo then I had my third Cardiac
Catherization. Both showed that the valve they repaired years
ago had failed. I was stabilized five day's before Doctor
Michael Khaghany did surgery to replace the worn-out valve. They
replaced it with a Saint Jude Mechanical Heart Valve. As I laid
their before surgery I was ready to give up on life. Afterwards
the stronger I got the more determined I was to not let this
thing beat me. I was out in three weeks. After about Eight weeks
off from work I was able to return. It was hard for me I just
didn't have any energy. My doctor suggested I give cardiac rehab
a try they brought me back to the land of the living. I was also
able to loose some weight something I have struggled with all my
life. Six months later I was strong enough to perform in our
local Hospital Follies where I was in a chorus kick line. It is
now almost thirteen years post surgery. I'm doing great. I will
be on Coumadin the rest of my life to prevent blood clots or a
stroke and drugs to keep my a-fib under control which I have
developed. I will always remember after my surgery my Doctor
telling me when I was complaining about not being to do
something at that time that at least I was alive.
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