Hello to all my family, friends, and any followers,
For a long time now I have wanted to write about my life as a heart patient, so I decided I would start a blog about all my experiences. So for those of you who do not know me, and has stumbled across my blog I will start out with a little bit of an introduction.
My name is Leah, I was born in Seattle on January 27th, 1984. I was welcomed into the world, by my parents Craig and Tina. My oldest brother was five when I was born and my brother Todd was ten months shy of three when I was born.
By the time I was six months old I was diagnosed with a heart defect that I had since birth. The crazy thing is, I was not diagnosed with my defect by my pediatrician, it was the nurse or someone who worked closely with my pediatrician. When I was diagnosed with my heart defect the doctors had told me that I would not need any type of surgery til I was probably about five years old.... well one day when I was three my parents noticed that I turned blue, so they immediatly rushed me into the Emergency Room. The next morning I was rushed into emergency surgery. They tried repairing the valve, and that did not work. So a week later, I underwent my second open heart surgery, except this time they put in an artificial St. Jude mitral valve. After I recovered from the surgery I felt so much better, and was able to do what every other kid my age did. Well with the exception of any kind of contact sports or anything that posed a risk of re-opening my chest. I had so much more energy, and was able to run around and play without the breathing difficulties I had prior to my surgery. The doctors told my parents and I that because I had the mechanical valve put in (and the fact they dont grow with your body) that I would have to have another surgery later on in my life.
I was put on a blood thinner and had my levels checked once a month for the most part. Plus I had regular check ups with a cardiologist. Sometimes every six months, and sometimes once a year.
I had frequent hospital stays due to pneumonia throughout my childhood. When I was ten years old I started showing signs of needing another surgery, which included shortness of breath (while walking and playing) and massive fatigue. Once I started showing signs of needing the other surgery I started going to see my doctor more frequently and was told that I would be having another one soon. When I was eleven years old, I went in for my third open heart surgery to put a bigger valve in. My two most memorible vistiors after that surgery was my cousin Jessica, whom I hadnt seen for quite a while. She came to see me with her friend Mellisa and her boyfriend Brad, she brought me a stuffed gorilla holding a bananna. It brought great joy that she came to see me. The other memorible visitor was Mary, who had asked me what I would like after my surgery when she came to visit and the first thing that popped into my head was a strawberry milk shake from Burger Master, so she showed up with exactly what I asked for. Why those are the most memorible visitors I dont know? I was happy that all my family and friends were there and were able to come see me, but those are the visitors that I remember MOST coming to see me. Again after my surgery was done and I was fully recovered, I was able to do so much more. I had so much more energy, and I loved it!
I lived a pretty normal life from the age of eleven up until I was about twenty-three.... Once I hit twenty-three, I started noticing that I was starting to get more winded with walking and any sort of exsurtion, I kept getting sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized many times. I had massive heart palpitations, and reaccuring chest pains, and MASSIVE fatigue. I kept going to the ER and complaining of the chest pains, and the doctors kept telling me I was healthy and doing okay. The doctors practiclly told me my issues were all in my head. I knew a whole year prior to that surgery that something was wrong and that I was needing another surgery. Finally one of my trips into the ER they saw on the echo that this whole time it wasnt in my head and that it was time for my fourth open heart surgery. I was admitted into a hospital in Long View, Washington but because they dont do surgeries there they transfered me by ambulance to Oregon Health and Sciences University in Portland Oregon. I was in the hospital for a total of four days, as they watched and monitored me. I was released and my surgery was scheduled for about two or three weeks from my discharge from the hospital. I had my fourth open heart surgery on July 2nd, 2008.
....... To be continued.......
