Lise describes how her sisters' medical expertise lead to her being taken seriously.
Transcript
And my sister said right away ‘can you show me the results?’. And I had completely forgotten. It had only been the day before, but I had completely forgotten about those results. And then she looked at them and she’s a doctor. And she looked at them and right away she was like ‘get in the car now. We’re going to emergency now’. And I’ve never seen my sister drive so crazy. So, she took me straight to the hospital. She took me in, and they were actually – didn’t take it seriously either. And she was pacing back and forth, and she started screaming at the nurses that I was in heart failure. And they were ‘like well how do you know?’. And finally, she actually went into the ER and started screaming at the doctors and within 2 minutes they had me hooked up to an ECG. Then into a private room and I immediately had a cardiologist there.
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- Mental Health & Emotional Support – LiseLise says there's nothing out there for mental health for women with HF or their families.
- Stigma & Gender Bias – LiseLise (and her doctor) worried that her symptoms were all in her head.
- Coping Strategies – LiseLise uses meditation to manage pain and anxiety.
- Coping Strategies – LiseLise adapted her approach to exercise and works within her limitations.
- Mental Health & Emotional Support – LiseLise has always had psychological services upon receiving a heart failure diagnosis.
- Finding Support – LiseLise describes how her sisters' medical expertise lead to her being taken seriously.
- Impact on Daily Life – LiseLise made modifications to her activities to continue living life to the fullest.
- Diagnosis – LiseLise had classic HF symptoms but it took over a year to get a diagnosis.
- Heart Transplant – LiseLise speaks about not feeling ready for a transplant.
- Early Symptoms – LiseLise talks about the weight gain she experienced prior to receiving a heart failure diagnosis.