On January 24, 2009, Amanda experienced the biggest wake-up call of her life. Overnight she went from thinking she was a 20-year-old with rheumatoid arthritis to learning she had bacteria in her blood that infected her heart.
Amanda was rushed to the hospital, and after many tests, doctors concluded that she suffered from infective endocarditis from the bacteria entrococcus. It was flowing in her blood stream and growing on her mitral valve. To this day, she still does not know how the bacteria entered her blood stream.
After her 10-day stay in the hospital, Amanda was sent home with a PICC line inserted in her heart for 11 weeks, and she was connected to a 24-hour IV. Fortunately for her, the antibiotics worked exactly as planned.
Today Amanda has so much to be thankful for. She visits her cardiologist every year to make sure everything is still working the way it should. Because of the bacteria, she will always have a continued heart murmur.
Through that trying time, her faith and support from her parents kept Amanda afloat. She hates the thought that she had to endure this challenge, but it helped her realize that many people truly love and care for her. Today, Amanda is an Analytical Chemist at Alltech. She and her husband Ted tied the knot last October!
For Allyson Lovell, American Heart Month began with difficulty breathing while lying down, which turned to a severe cough, then to swelling in her legs and abdomen. Allyson’s symptoms were never thought to be anything serious. Doctors continued to misdiagnose Allyson with familiar illnesses including a reoccurring infection and bronchitis.
After multiple doctor visits, Allyson’s primary care physician finally took a deep examination into her symptoms and condition. An electrocardiogram revealed that she was in severe congestive heart failure, requiring immediate emergency treatment.
The hospital’s Coronary Care Unit informed Allyson that her ejection fraction measurement rate was less than 10%. Ejection fraction is a measurement of how well a heart is pumping with each contraction. “I found out that my ejection fraction was about a tenth of normal function, and that I would not be leaving the hospital any time soon,” Allyson shared.
Allyson was officially diagnosed with viral cardiomyopathy. Often times, the cause of cardiomyopathy is unknown. However, Allyson’s heart failure was brought on virally. As a result of cardiac rehabilitation, a structured diet and medication, Allyson now lives with a normally functioning heart. And she looks forward to celebrating American Heart Month as a survivor!
In 2011 at the age of 78, Freida underwent triple bypass surgery and had an aortic valve replacement. Her heart rate was slow after the surgery, but Freida felt well enough to garden, attend church, and exercise regularly.
In late October of the following year, she began to feel tired and lethargic. During a rehab exercise, she felt pain in her left arm. The nurse insisted she see a cardiologist. Before Freida could schedule a heart catheterization, her son passed away unexpectedly on Thanksgiving Day. The funeral was delayed until after the heart catheterization, which revealed that all three of her arteries from the last surgery had shut down. Freida underwent a repeat triple bypass and began recovery all over again.
Freida’s heart rate stayed low, and at 48 beats per minute (60-100 is normal), her activity was seriously limited. In April of 2013, a pacemaker was installed. July brought the diagnosis of an oral cancer tumor with lymph node involvement, meaning parts of her jawbones and some teeth had to be removed, making it hard to say some words and eat certain foods.
Cancer free for over a year, Freida has lots of energy, enjoys life, and continues to drive herself to the Library. She spends time gardening, visiting her two new great grandsons, and enjoying the company of her family, friends and neighbors.
In 2003, Ronda’s husband achieved his lifelong dream of becoming a career paramedic and fireman. The couple, who had just had their first child, moved to Central Kentucky to begin a new chapter in their lives. It took many months for Ronda to find the right primary care physician and to settle into her career, working at the Cardiac Catheterization Lab of Saint Joseph Hospital. It was during a routine OB/GYN appointment when her new doctor suggested that her high blood pressure and history of heart issues simply weren’t normal. In the past, Ronda had always been assured that it was genetic, despite a lack of apparent family history.
Ronda made an appointment with a cardiologist she knew from work. She had experienced several echocardiograms as a child when she was diagnosed with dextrocardia, meaning her heart lays to the right. During this exam, however, Ronda knew something was wrong. She was told that she had coarctation of the aorta, meaning the largest blood vessel in her body was narrowed, cutting off blood flow and causing high blood pressure as well as the aching and fatigue in her legs that she had experienced for years.
Corrective surgery was performed in 2006. Now, Ronda says she lives a full life with her husband and three children.
Aubrey’s adorable smile may not be the face of heart disease like one would imagine, but the truth is her battle with the disease began before she was even born. Aubrey, along with her older brother, Austin, is a congenital heart defect survivor.
Despite already having a child with a congenital heart defect, Aubrey’s mom, Kim, was assured that her chance of having another child with similar conditions would be slim to none. At Kim’s 20-week ultrasound, she learned that her new baby girl would be born with multiple congenital heart defects.
Aubrey was born with three different heart defects, and was rushed to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital when she was less than one day old. Just three days after her first Christmas, she underwent her first cardiac catherization. During her second surgery in March 2008, little Aubrey coded on the operating table multiple times. Fortunately for her, the doctors were able to save her life.
Soon after, Kim remembers standing next to Aubrey as she was hooked up to machines. It was at that moment when Aubrey’s heart stopped again. The doctors and nurses were able to revive her, but those hospital sounds continue to haunt Kim to this day.
Since that time, Aubrey has undergone nine cardiac catheterizations and three open heart surgeries. Despite it all, Aubrey remains a strong little girl. While she still has a long road ahead of her, Aubrey continues to show her family and friends that she has a lot of life to live and love to give.
In September 2011, Kim remembers the sea of questions that came to mind as she listened to the prognosis from her cardiothoracic surgeon. Her right ascending aorta had asymmetrically ballooned out, meaning that the right side of her artery wall was weak and eventually could burst.
Kim was stunned, and she walked around for the next several weeks waiting for this ‘balloon’ to explode. Her mind raced with questions, “When is this going to happen? Where will I be? Will I just collapse? What if I’m with someone? What if I’m not?”
Kim’s aneurysm stabilized and was closely monitored for two years until an echocardiogram in July 2013 showed that it had grown. She needed open heart surgery to save her life.
Kim later learned that most ascending aortic aneurysms are found on the autopsy table, so she feels very fortunately to be alive. Even the day of her surgery, she felt no symptoms, and thanks God that her aneurysm was found.
Kim credits an urgent care physician and primary care physician for first identifying the issues during routine tests in 2011. They insisted that she be tested and see a cardiologist. She says, “Without them, I can confidently say that my aneurysm would have been found last August…on my autopsy table.” Now she knows that those two family practice doctors saved her life. Kim is passionate about teaching other women about heart disease and encourages them to listen to their doctors’ advice.
Gardner Adams vividly remembers the night of June 28, 2014—the night his twin brother, Jon Wes, should have died.
Moments before, Gardner and his family returned home from dinner to realize that Jon Wes was not back from his run. The family drove to the Arboretum and found Jon Wes’ car, but could not find him. Gardner began running through the park searching for his brother. Suddenly the boys’ dad called to tell Gardner to hurry back to the car because Jon Wes had been rushed to the hospital after collapsing. Gardner remembers the excruciating car ride to the hospital.
The initial prognosis was grave. Jon Wes had a 30% chance of living and if he survived, there was a great chance that he wouldn’t be the same. Gardner remembers seeing his brother and best friend laying in a medically induced coma with wires coming out from his body. He and his family prayed continuously and after two days, their prayers were answered.
Jon Wes was believed to have Brugada Syndrome and as a precaution, Gardner and his younger brother were also tested. While Jon Wes’s test came out negative, Gardner tested positive for the defect.
Six days after his 26th birthday, Gardner was implanted with a cardioverter-defibrillator exactly like his brother’s. It’s been two months since his surgery and Gardner is doing great. He is thankful that his twin brother is still a part of his life. Those who helped save his brother’s life through CPR that day also helped save Gardner’s life as well.
Jon Wes can’t recall much about the day he collapsed while running at the Arboretum. He had run that path hundreds of times before, always taking the same route when he reached the water tower. This day, however, he turned left instead of going right, and that split-second decision would eventually save his life.
As Jon Wes ran past a crowd enjoying an evening concert, he collapsed at the feet of some of the spectators. The band immediately stopped playing and all eyes were fixed on Jon Wes.
Fortunately for him, two doctors and two nurses were attending the concert and began performing CPR immediately. The medical professionals continued CPR on Jon Wes for 20 minutes until EMTs arrived with an AED to shock his heart. After the first shock, Jon Wes’ heart went into ventricular fibrillation, meaning his heart was not functioning in normal sinus rhythm. After the second shock, his heartbeat returned and he was rushed to the emergency room.
After two days of being put into a medically induced coma, Jon Wes awoke with no soreness but a lot of questions. After a series of tests, it was believed Jon Wes had a rare genetic condition called Brugada Syndrome, and an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator was placed in his chest. While he eventually learned that he did not suffer from Brugada Syndrome, the ICD was still needed and the diagnosis was enough to encourage his twin brother,
Gardner, to get tested.
Today Jon Wes feels very fortunate to be alive, and credits the doctors and nurses who knew CPR and saved his life.
Sada was born in rural Wolfe County, delivered by the local midwife. At that time, there was no way the midwife, nor Sada’s mother, could have known that the little baby girl was born with a potentially lethal congenital heart defect. Throughout Sada’s life, there were signs and symptoms that pointed to a cardiovascular issue, but not being knowledgeable about the diseases, Sada wrote her issues off as a mixed bag of health issues.
At 45, Sada’s family doctor sent her to a cardiologist after learning about Sada’s family history—particularly, that her father passed away at age 60 from his second major heart attack. All of the initial results looked normal, but his decision to perform a stress test was what may have saved Sada’s life. She only lasted three minutes before she went down.
A heart catheterization revealed that Sada has coarctation of the aorta, meaning what should have been the left and right arteries were incorrectly coming out of the same side of her heart, cutting off blood flow. She underwent surgery to correct this issue, but began to experience serious problems again. Another surgery was performed to fix a leaky heart valve. Sada credits the support of her family and co-workers at Ashland Inc. for helping her get through this trying time.
Sada’s research uncovered that this heart defect means a very short life expectancy if not corrected early in life. She realizes that several of the health issues that plagued her for years, such as high blood pressure, chronic fatigue and headaches were likely a consequence of the heart defect.
Sada was born in rural Wolfe County, delivered by the local midwife. At that time, there was no way the midwife, nor Sada’s mother, could have known that the little baby girl was born with a potentially lethal congenital heart defect. Throughout Sada’s life, there were signs and symptoms that pointed to a cardiovascular issue, but not being knowledgeable about the diseases, Sada wrote her issues off as a mixed bag of health issues.
At 45, Sada’s family doctor sent her to a cardiologist after learning about Sada’s family history—particularly, that her father passed away at age 60 from his second major heart attack. All of the initial results looked normal, but his decision to perform a stress test was what may have saved Sada’s life. She only lasted three minutes before she went down.
A heart catheterization revealed that Sada has coarctation of the aorta, meaning what should have been the left and right arteries were incorrectly coming out of the same side of her heart, cutting off blood flow. She underwent surgery to correct this issue, but began to experience serious problems again. Another surgery was performed to fix a leaky heart valve. Sada credits the support of her family and co-workers at Ashland Inc. for helping her get through this trying time.
Sada’s research uncovered that this heart defect means a very short life expectancy if not corrected early in life. She realizes that several of the health issues that plagued her for years, such as high blood pressure, chronic fatigue and headaches were likely a consequence of the heart defect.
Diane’s first symptoms were vague. She felt faint jaw pain and her throat felt “funny”. These are symptoms that are easy to write off as other issues, but for women, they are red flags for a heart episode. Women having heart attacks commonly experience discomfort in their chest, shortness of breath and pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach as well as cold sweats, nausea or lightheadedness.
When Diane had her heart attack, she experienced the same symptoms again, as well as pain in her chest. One stent, a narrow mesh tube used to treat narrow or weak arteries, was inserted into her heart. Just one week later, Diane found herself unable to breathe. She had a blood clot in her lung that required immediate medical intervention. She was prescribed Coumadin, an anticoagulant. However, her shortness of breath continued and got worse. This lead to another heart catheter, followed by a mitral valve replacement. The mitral valve is the “inflow” valve for the left side of the heart and is essential in ensuring that the heart and lungs work properly together to get oxygen-rich blood to the body.
Diane underwent cardiac rehabilitation to ensure that she healed properly and to ease her into light activity following her value replacement.
As a child, Lindy’s doctor discovered she had a heart murmur, something that can often be harmless in children but deserves due diligence. During a checkup in college, doctors uncovered that Lindy’s heart murmur was caused by a mitral valve insufficiency. She was told early on that she would need open heart surgery to correct the issue. So far, Lindy hasn’t needed the surgery and she counts herself lucky. She adds that she has taken prophylactic antibiotics daily for over twenty-years.
Lindy just recently learned that she will soon be a grandmother! This has caused her to think about her own mother and grandmother, who both passed away at sixty-two from heart disease. “Neither of them had enough time to enjoy their grown children or grandchildren,” Lindy reflected.
Lindy served as the chair of the Go Red for Women luncheon a few years ago. Even as an organizer, Lindy discovered that she still had much to learn about the heart! “The experience was a great motivator for me to improve my own health, and fight the tide of bad genes and potential problems facing me,” she explained. Since then, Lindy has lost twenty pounds and swims several times a week. She said, “The Go Red luncheon is so inspirational each year… I can’t wait!”
One day in March 2013, Jan felt a constriction in her chest. With no history of heart disease in her family, Jan made an appointment with her doctor for the next day. She had a series of tests performed. Days later, her healthy, athletic 43 year-old son-in-law suddenly passed away of a dissection of the aorta while running. Everything in her life got placed on the back burner—including her own heart condition.
After several months, Jan finally revisited the issue. An abnormal EKG sent her for a heart catheterization. She was still sure that the doctors would find nothing wrong because she had no other symptoms or history. It was a huge shock to learn that she had a 90% blockage where a third of the body’s blood is pumped to the heart—this is commonly called “The Widow Maker” as it is most commonly seen in men and the survival rate is very low.
Jan underwent bypass surgery that August. “I feel grateful—to be alive, to feel useful and to feel that God isn’t through with me on this earth yet,” Jan, a three-time cancer survivor as well as survivor of heart disease, explained. “Family and friends were wise and helpful, loving and sacrificing.” She thanks God, her loved ones, the doctors in charge of her care and the therapists she had through cardio therapy for helping her heal.
In April, 2011, Allie was close to finishing her final semester at the University of Kentucky, but soon started having difficulty walking to class. No matter what she did, she couldn’t catch her breath and experienced severe pain in her lower legs. Her doctor diagnosed her with exercise induced asthma, but her symptoms kept getting worse.
Allie finally decided to visit the emergency room where she learned she suffered from cardiomyopathy and had fluid on her heart. Doctors hooked Allie up to an ECMO machine that operated for her heart and lungs. While in the hospital, she survived a heart attack and stroke, and she was soon moved to the top of the transplant list.
On May 1, 2011, Allie was awakened by a nurse to let her know a new heart was available. After the surgery, Allie remained in ICU for a month before she was moved to a rehab facility to rebuild her strength.
When Allie went home in July, she thought the worst was behind her, however she soon found herself back in the hospital due to blood clots in her legs. Allie had her right leg amputated and lost her left toes because of the complications from her original heart.
Today Allie feels very blessed and is thankful for her new heart. “I like to think about the wonderful people and opportunities that have been introduced into my life along my way to healing,” she says. Now it is her goal to raise awareness of congestive heart failure so others do not have to go through what she has experienced.
To her family and friends, Kelsey is known for being a fighter. Ever since she was young, Kelsey loved competitive swimming and was thrilled the day she was recruited to the University of Tennessee swim team.
Before starting her freshman year, Kelsey underwent an echocardiogram which revealed a small atrial septal defect, a hole between the right and left atria, measuring 2mm. Doctors kept an eye on the situation, but since Kelsey was not suffering any symptoms, she was cleared to swim.
For three years, Kelsey competed in the SEC, NCAA and Olympic trials; however during her senior year, she learned that her atrial septal defect was much larger than she originally thought. Kelsey’s training was closely regulated, but she was still able to help her team win three first place relays. After graduation, Kelsey swam for Team USA at the World University Games in Russia. It was there she showed the world that she was a fighter and she would not let heart disease slow her down.
Soon after her tour, Kelsey returned to Lexington and underwent heart surgery to close her defect. Today Kelsey is doing well and is a manager for the UT swim team and a high school swim team coach. She will finish graduate school in Sports Psychology this December.
At the age of 40, Jane refused to believe she was having a heart attack. She didn’t go to the doctor for an EKG until two weeks later. Her doctor referred her to a cardiologist for a stress test–she wasn’t even allowed to finish the test because it was apparent to the cardiologist that intervention was needed. As Jane learned she would need a heart catheterization and echocardiogram, it finally sank in; she had a heart attack.
Jane realizes now that taking an aspirin on the day of her event was probably all that kept her alive. She was surprised to learn that she was born with a heart defect that had been hiding. Jane’s son suffered a heart episode and it was uncovered that he, too, had a heart defect. He is now completely disabled and not responding to medication. Jane began to research her family tree and uncovered five generations of heart issues. Her grandchildren will be receiving proactive heart tests before any symptoms occur.
“In 2000, I had my first heart episode; in 2002, my second; in 2004, hopefully my last,” Jane reflects. With careful guidance and her own determination to follow her doctors’ advice completely, Jane has been able to return to work and is enjoying life to the fullest.