I have a heart condition. There, I said it.
Now, let me first say, my heart condition is treatable, and usually, not a big deal. BUT, my friends, there are two IMPORTANT caveats to that, so I hope you’ll read on.
In the summer of 2016, I went to Urgent Care with a cold that wouldn’t go away. The doctor I saw was extra thorough and took a long time listening to my heart. I was short on time because I had to up my kids in 45 minutes, so I just wanted to get an antibiotic and be sent on my way. Instead, he struck up a conversation about our shared connection through the American Heart Association (he was on the local board years prior) and had a long and very impressive career as an emergency doctor and sports medicine physician. I really liked him, but I was anxious about being late picking up my kids at daycare.
Finally, he finished his exam, and I braced myself for the news that this was just a virus and I would have to just let it run its course.
Instead, he said: “Has anyone ever told you that you have a heart murmur?”
I smiled. I think, actually, I smirked. I told him I just had a physical and everything was fine. In fact, my numbers were all in “ideal” range. I exercise, I eat right. I work for the American Heart Association, bla bla bla. I acknowledged that my dad has a heart murmur, benign, though, like most are. I promised I would follow up with my primary doctor.
He saw right through me. Pulled out his cell phone and called a colleague he used to work with. I remember looking at my watch impatiently. “She’s a nurse practitioner at a well-respected cardiologist group in town,” he told me, handing me the phone. I acquiesced and booked an appointment over the phone.
I’m skeptical but also enamored with this sweet older doctor who is so thoughtful, so conscientious for an Urgent Care patient he’s seen only once. I remember condescendingly thinking that he probably misses diagnosing “real issues,” not just “run-of-the-mill” colds and flus. I thanked him and took my snarky self home.
But driving home, it occurred to me ... what if I really did have a heart murmur? And why would he call and set up an appointment right then and there?
But I remember that I’d just had a physical and everything was good. I decided I was going to cancel that appointment.
I feel relieved. Until I told my husband I was cancelling the appointment, and he said: “Don’t you work for the American Heart Association?”
And it occurred to me that I’ve heard this story before.
Woman appears healthy. Woman ignores doctor’s advice and/or symptoms.
Woman has a heart attack, seemingly out of the clear blue sky. (Only it wasn’t out of the clear blue sky).
OK, OK. Do I feel my heart skip a beat sometimes? Sure. I’ve heard many people say that also happens to them. Do I experience fatigue? Yeah, I’m human.
I remember lying in bed that evening, and talking myself in and out of following through with the appointment.
Remember that scene in Ferris Bueller’s Day Off when his best friend Cameron Frye is debating with himself about whether to go pick up Ferris? He doesn’t want to, but finally nags himself enough to give in? Hilarious.
Eventually, like Cameron, I give in. I went to see the nurse practitioner. She heard the murmur too. I am honestly surprised. I have never had anyone tell me that before. She said heart murmurs can be very hard to hear, and mine is a tough one to pick up. But it’s there, and we need to know why. She confirms that my blood work is good and says I’m “the healthiest person she has seen all month.” She ordered an echocardiogram of the heart and sends me on my way.
Wait.
I’m the healthiest person she has seen all month, but I need an echocardiogram? Really? Again, I almost talk myself out of going.
A week later I got the test done, and a few days after that, I get a call. On a Sunday.
She says my aortic valve is leaking and I should see a cardiologist. She has already put the order in and a scheduler will call me in the morning. I ask if it’s serious, and she said, “not necessarily.”
OK, now I’m a little spooked. After all, I almost didn’t do any of this. I literally almost just blew this off. I read about a leaky aortic valve on the American Heart Association website, and realize, this is a thing. This is a thing that I have.
The cardiologist is awesome. He explained that my leaky valve won’t fix itself, but that it isn’t causing me problems right now, so, for now, we just monitor it. He thinks I’ll eventually need surgery, but that it’s probably 10 years down the road or more, and they are already able to do it without opening up the chest. He encourages me to keep working out. Keep eating right, and to pay attention to the times my heart flutters (palpitates). That could be a sign that my heart is starting to work too hard, and we may need to take another look.
I am grateful for the American Heart Association because I wouldn’t have known about my condition had I not listened to that Urgent Care doctor, and the only reason I did was because of the work the AHA does. The work that I do.
I am reassured because now, thanks to AHA-funded research, I might never have to have open heart surgery to fix my valve. Already, they are doing minimally invasive procedures to fix problems like mine. On people who discover it early, that is. (Did I mention I almost didn’t get it checked out!?)
God knows, my job has introduced me to people who have faced much, much scarier diagnoses. People who have stared death squarely in the face – or worse, whose children have. And through extraordinary challenges, they fight, and often, they win, beating the No. 1 health threat: heart disease.
For them and for me, and for everyone who doesn’t have time to go to the doctor, I ask for your support to help the American Heart Association be a relentless force for a world of longer, healthier lives.
