Personal Narrative: My Experiences With Heart Disease

Sometimes I ask myself how I overcame my disease. Many people with lupus experience fatigue, memory loss, loss of appetite. Usually younger African, white, and Asian men and woman develop that disease in their teens. It all started that night when I was laying in my mom bed. At that time I felt like it was my time to leave this earth. When I turn 15 years old I saw so many changes. . I experience so many symptoms while I was in my second semester. All the symptoms that I experience were hallucinations, fever, nausea, and nose bleeds. At that time I seen myself getting really sick. I caught strep throat and it was hard to focus in school because I missed so many days.

Everyone has a favorite memory about their lives. My favorite memory took place when I traveled to Ohio in 2014 for Thanksgiving.

I fight for my health every day in ways most people do not understand I lay in bed struggling just to get up in the morning only to get faced with a new day of troubles. All I think about is the day that being a normal eighteen year old ended for me. I was responsible went to work every day, and was trying to figure out my first year of college until everything was flipped upside down.

Through my experience with the healthcare field, I have seen that low socioeconomic status, culture, and access are the major contributors to the health disparities today. Whether it is not being able to afford health insurance/medical costs, a culture that’s attitude and beliefs does not put much value on preventative care, or simply not having appropriate transportation to the doctor, all these factors work together against the patient. Medical professions can best tackle these issues by first knowing and understanding the needs of the population in which they practice. Theoretically, if one is aware of specific needs then those needs can be better addressed, whether they are financial or cultural needs. Also, medical professionals can work

Reaching across the center console of my car, I imagined the commute that I had into school. My 1992 Jeep Cherokee courageously braved the snowstorm of the year, with only one functional windshield wiper and a forlorn four wheel drive system. As I turned onto the Merritt Parkway, a Honda Civic swerved past me and proceeded to weave in and out of the afternoon traffic. Fast-forward sixty seconds and that Honda was now engulfed by the powder white trees which bound the highway. Instinctively, I pulled up behind the crash site, dialing 911 as I ran over to the mangled wreck. I peered into the car, my pupils the size of marbles, and the driver seemed uninjured; regardless, I proceeded to reassure the driver that Emergency Medical Technician’s/Paramedic’s

The most vivid memory I recall is of the first trip I ever made to my happy place, Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Nothing could ever compare to those 5 days of pure happiness, without a single worry in the world. I truly believe this one little trip shaped the way I want to live the rest of my life.

Put the gun down! Put the gun down! Pow Pow Pow. The gun shots cracked into the air as loud as thunder. One after another. We live day by day not knowing our end. In the blink of an eye our lives can be changed forever. Its life, yet even in knowing this we never expect tragedy to find us. We never expect it to affect our lives and the people we know and love. I’m going to share with you the day tragedy found my life.

This summer I attended the Metro Detroit Heart Walk benefitting the American Heart Association. It’s a walk or run race that started at Ford Field and span five kilometers throughout the streets of downtown Detroit preceded by a short informative event. I'd been asked to compete by my godmother Sandy, who works for a Henry Ford hospital, one of the event sponsors. I decided the run the race, even though I’m probably the least athletic person in the world. I wanted to challenge myself and make Sandy happy.

Why? Well, I personally have a heart condition. I was born with left Valve Stenosis witch means my heart has to work harder to pump blood though the valve and my body can suffer with less oxogen. With having this condition I do have chest pains, more then anyone has. The wild part is I can not take birth control because there is a lot of effects within the heart. I’ve had an inhaler many times to help with my breathing and multiple open heart surgeries. With my condition there are many things in this world I am not able to do, such as I have to be a certain weight. As for me I can’t weaigh over 120 pounds, I can’t go on roller costers, I can’t have too much salt, and I’m very limited on working out and I can’t skip meals and being stress is not great for my heart.

The surgery I had was a pretty major surgery some could say, four though six hours and it's compared as open heart surgery. It wasn't the surgical pain though that caused me to stay there longer then i was supposed to no, it was some kind of nerve pain that even the doctors and nurses had know idea what to do. My case was so uncommon they sent me into ICU after fives days of being in pain two hours three times a day. Not knowing what to do the nurses would just shoot me up with a bunch of drugs just to calm down the pain and all I could do was watch as this was all happening while gasping for air.

During the third season of When Calls the Heart, I became the unofficial interviewer of the Hope Valley Kids, probably because I interviewed so many of them. And Jaiven Natt was definitely in that group. With his return to the series this year, we have continued to see his skill and character expand and deepen, so I recently had the supreme opportunity of chatting with him yet again, and this time, we had a decidedly different, but engaging interview covering a wide variety of topics.

This season on “When Calls the Heart” has been a fantastic time of growth in the community, and many of the featured new faces have been the children of Hope Valley. Yet again, Hearties were introduced to a character named Robert who didn’t get along with Cody in the beginning, but Miss Thatcher never gave up on him. With his signature curly hair and spot on facial expressions, we have not been able to overlook this character nor the boy who has infused him with life, Jaiven Natt. Recently, I had the opportunity to chat with this 11-year-old who has become a delightful part of this weekly Hallmark escape.

November 25, 2000; my night of bartending had come to an end. At 25-years-old, things were looking great for me. I was young, healthy, extremely good looking… or hot I you will, like gorgeous. Did I mention young? Anyway, things were looking great. I also had met the love of my life and we had been discussing the possibility of marriage. As I finished counting my drawer, the left side of my body went numb. My corner of my face drooped as the world began to spin and echo. An ambulance was called and I was rushed to the hospital. I had a stroke.

It was a hot Spring day in the middle of a soccer game of my Freshman year. I felt that pain that impacted my life forever. It changed my outlook on life and made me realize how truly lucky I am. I came home that evening and complained to my Mother how bad my chest was hurting. She told me it was most likely indigestion or something I had ate earlier that day. Her being the educated nurse that She is, I believed her and went on about my night. Soccer season continued and the pain was still there but only when I ran. I didn’t think much of it and ignored it. Soccer season ended and I had never felt the pain again. That was until later that year, I walked from my class to the office. I could feel them again. I told

For most teenagers a normal day with their parents would include an activity like shopping or fishing. For me a normal day with my dad would last an hour at the most because of his cardiomyopathy. Cardiomyopathy is a heart disease which causes swelling, fatigue, and abnormal heart rhythm. In order to try and reduce the symptoms my father has had multiple surgeries.