shnaugler

I was a perfectly healthy 23 year old woman when I gave birth to my daughter and then my life as I knew it changed. My daughter was born in September and by February I had been hospitalized for what they thought was a heart attack. It turned out that it was not a heart attack at all but that I have what is known as Post Pardom Cardiomyopathy. This is a disease that effects 1 in 5000 women after pregnancy, they have no idea what causes it and therefore don't know how to prevent it. When I was diagnosed my ejection fraction (amount of oxygenated blood being pumped into my body) was 31% and my heart was enlarged 4cm. I have since been on several different types of medications to help keep my heart healthy. I was in what my cardiologist called remission for 3 years until last year when I had a relapse. My daughter is only 6 and I worry that someday I wont be able to do all the things I want to do with her.