What’s your Why?
That’s the tagline for the American Heart Association, and I think most of you will know my why. On February 23, 2012 I was the grateful recipient of a heart transplant at Northwestern Memorial Hospital. My diagnosis with heart disease came completely out of the blue and brought my world crashing down. My amazing doctors tried everything to reverse or at least slow the disease until we were out of options. It felt like one day I was easily walking to my appointments at the hospital, 2 miles there and back, and the next day I could barely walk across the street without being completely exhausted. When I was first diagnosed I thought that a transplant was the worst thing that could ever happen to me, but it actually turned out to be the best and luckiest thing that could have happened. With my new heart I finally I had the chance to get better - I had spent so much time only getting worse, that it was actually surprising how quickly I recovered, how relieved the rest of my body was to be operating at full capacity.
So my why is my new heart. The treatments and medications and clinical trials that I went through with my medical team are what make me particularly appreciative of the work that the AHA is doing in the area of science and research.
Thank you in advance for your support!
