I was a 7-year-old scrawny little girl when I first learned I had a heart issue. I was chasing around the young son of my parent’s friends and neighbors. The father happened to be one of the world’s most recognized thoracic heart surgeons. I slipped and fell into the pool and Dr. Isom was there and helped me. He listened to my heart and heard a pronounced murmur. It was the first time anyone had noticed it. This led to a couple of fun days for me as I got to take off from school and go to Dr. Isom’s office and have a bunch of tests including a stress test which I remember made me feel very cool. And that was when I was diagnosed with Severe Aortic Stenosis. My mom was upset but the amazing team of doctors said I would have a normal life and I just had to not do certain things like chin ups and push ups which was FINE by me. And I was told I had to get heart tests regularly.
And I did. Every year.
But as I got older, I got lazy about these checks. Over the years, the stenosis hadn’t progressed. Doctors still found my heart to be fascinating and anytime someone held a stethoscope to it, they would grow concerned but I was like, yeah yeah that’s my heart. Isn’t she crazy?
But after the urging of my friend Dr. Jeffrey Swisher, a leading anesthesiologist who listened to my heart while we were having lunch one day, I got back into my program and got myself a cardiology team. I was told it was still severe but again, not much change. They did say I would eventually need a valve replacement but thanks to advancements in technology, it would likely not be open but via TAVR which sounded WAY better to me. Through the groin? COUNT ME IN.
THEN we had COVID. I normally saw my cardiologist once a year (sometimes more) for an echo and EKG. But lockdown delayed it. I was told symptoms of my valve failing would be really apparent: things like being exhausted by just getting out of bed and walking to the bathroom or finding it impossible to climb a flight of stairs\. My feet and ankles would swell considerably. None of this happened. During lock down I was working out whenever I could. I moved from NYC to the Hills of Los Angeles and began to push myself even harder with the LA weather and hills all around me. I was having trouble sleeping but I was told this was due to the stress of the times and also that I was heading into perimenopause a bit early so there was that. I had gained some weight despite all my exercise, but again, stress and perimenopause were to blame. And I was having SEVERE numbness and tingling in my hands, but this, I was told, was carpal tunnel and likely the result of not being in my usual setting with a desk and computer and rather using my phone 10x as a work device texting and emailing hours and hours a day.
The carpal tunnel is what actually saved my life. After arriving in LA, I needed to prioritize doctors and it was hard as this was still the heart of lockdown the summer of 2020. I knew I needed to get the heart checked as it had been 15 months, but frankly, the thing that was killing me were my wrists. I was waking up with what I had begun calling “firehands” and the only way I could get feeling back was to hang my arms over the bed and let the hands dangle. I was getting cortisone injections and popping way too many Advils. So I was able to get an appointment with a carpal tunnel specialist and they took x rays and YES confirmed I was super super inflamed in both wrists and needed release surgery asap. So that was scheduled, but before the surgery happened I needed cardiac clearance – a normal occurrence for anyone with a heart issue. I thought this was killing two birds with one stone since I needed the echo and EKG anyway.
SO on a Friday evening around 6PM as I was enjoying an end of summer martini with my friend Ceci, socially distanced in her backyard, the cardiologist called me. 6PM on a Friday? I was impressed.
“Don’t be,” he said. “I would rather be making any call but this one.” I put the martini down.
He proceeded to tell me that I was not only NOT cleared for the surgery but that my heart was in such bad shape that my aorta was about to burst and any sort of exertion could kill me. I explained I had done my best Peloton ride earlier that day. He said if you get on a Peloton again, you will die. (This was before Mr. Big FYI). He told me the aorta was so swollen as the valve had stopped working some time before that I was in need of immediate open heart surgery to not only replace the valve but to replace the aorta. I thanked the doctor and went back to Ceci telling her first I needed another drink and then what the doctor told me. I am SO grateful I was with Ceci who had an entire cardiology team on speed dial. A team of doctors, including my NYC team and the OG surgeon, Dr. Isom, who first diagnosed me, got on the case.
I interviewed a couple of surgeons but I didn’t feel comfortable with them and began to grow panicked that I needed to go back to NY to have it done by my team there. And then I was introduced to Dr. Richard Shemin of UCLA and his team. I immediately felt I had found my people. Dr. Shemin was kind and didn’t speak down to me like the others had. He assured me this not only had to be done but would be amazing for me post surgery. So a couple weeks later, in the early hours of October 1st, 2020 I checked into UCLA and had a very long surgery where Dr. Shemin replaced my valve with a cow’s valve and hand-sewed a Dacron graft over my aorta. When I woke up in intensive care with what felt like a million tubes coming out of me, I felt better than I had maybe in my entire adult life. Dr. Shemin was right. All the things that had plagued me from carpal tunnel to inflammation to even anxiety…had simply gone away. The knowledge of this new life was what helped me through my recovery along with the amazing nurses and team at UCLA. I am not going to say any of this was easy, either emotionally or physically, but I will say it was made so much easier by the incredible care made possible by the UCLA team, the American Heart Association, and my amazing community of family and friends. It’s strange to say this but I wish I had had the surgery earlier as the past two years have been incredible with all the energy I have since my heart was fixed. I owe my life and my happiness to the AHA and Dr. Shemin and when I learned how many women lose their lives as a result of heart issues, I knew I wanted to raise awareness and funds for the amazing work the AHA is doing.