Pam
28 years since diagnosis
Age at interview: 57
Pam was first diagnosed with heart failure when she was 29 years old. She first noticed something was amiss when she suddenly lacked the energy to do anything, did not have her usual appetite, and had trouble breathing and sleeping. Pam ended up seeing her GP twice a week for three weeks straight trying to figure out what was wrong. An enlarged liver triggered her GP and he sent Pam to the emergency department. The cardiologist there told her of her diagnosis with the single line, “You have congestive heart failure”, and left the room. This left Pam shocked and scared. Moreover, receiving the news was devastating for her as she was not in the classic category for heart failure, she had a full-time job that she ended up leaving, and had really looked forward to spending time with her two kids. In 2013, Pam received a heart transplant but even that came with a lot of complications. Pam spoke about the never-ending support of her husband, the support of her friends and family, and from other people whom she had met in her LVAD program and organ donation awareness group. She also spoke about strategies that she has for living with heart failure including learning to predict when her energy was going to run out, how much time she needed to allow herself to recover before hitting that wall, managing her diet, finding calm through meditation, and learning that it’s okay to say ‘No’ to things that she just isn’t up for.