I walk because I am survivor of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH), I was diagnosed in 2014 at the age of 37 at a Class III. I was told in 7-10 years I would need a lung transplant, it was the scariest moment in my life, being in shock doesn’t even come close to how I felt. I was told there was no cure only meds to give me the best quality of life I would be able to have. PAH is a type of high blood pressure that affects the arteries in the lungs and the right side of the heart. With PAH the blood vessels in the lungs are narrowed, blocked or destroyed. The damage slows blood flow through the lungs, and blood pressure in the lung arteries rises. The heart must work harder to pump blood through the lungs. The extra effort eventually causes the heart muscle to become weak and fail. There are four classes of PAH. PAH is often not diagnosed due the symptoms take months even years to start to show.
For me the first symptoms were being out of breathe and my heart racing, but I didn’t think anything about it, just thought wow I am out of shape. I started working out I was determined to get back into shape. Nothing I did made the symptoms I was having better, they were getting worse. I found myself not even able to do simple things like cleaning the house, grocery shopping, walking up a flight of stairs with my heart rate increases to stoke levels. I ended up in the hospital after a workout do to chest pains, was sent to Cardiologist for a right heart catheterization and echocardiogram. I was told I had four times the pressure in my lung that I should have and that it was causing the right side of my heart to enlarge and would over time cause heart failure. Thanks to the people that donate to these great causes it makes research possible which changes lives.
Have a heart and help me reach my goal today!