I was in my 40s and running marathons—but something didn’t feel right.
When I got out of the hospital, my ejection fraction—the percentage of blood in the heart that’s pumped out with each heartbeat—was measured at just 12%. It’s slowly gone up, and in the last few years, it has made it to at least 40%, so I’m closer to theOnce I got out of the hospital, I had a lot of doctor appointments. It took a while to get my medication doses at the right level because I don’t always tolerate certain drugs well.
I was unable to work for about three months. I remember getting out of my car when I went back to the office and having to stop to rest while walking from my car to the front door. I would get very lightheaded. I was exhausted when I got home and would go to bed really early. It took years to feel like myself again.
I still have an ICD, and I take seven different medications regularly. When I got a second lead added to the device, my heart got punctured. I had pericardial effusion, which is a build-up of fluid around the heart, and had to have open-heart surgery. Overall, I know I’m lucky because I’m pretty active. I’ve recovered a lot better than many of my doctors expected. I can now do a boot-camp-style workout four days a week. I hike one day a week and also do yoga consistently. I’m retired now and babysit my 15-month-old twin grandbabies two days a week. I know many people aren’t able to be so active after heart failure, so I’m very grateful for that.My diagnosis was certainly delayed.
One thing I really feel strongly about is that doctors don’t talk to women about heart disease as much as they should. I don’t think they go into enough detail about how heart disease is the
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