I was not tired. He had heart failure.

English

As reported to Erica Rimlinger

“I’m fine. What happens is that I didn’t eat enough when I had breakfast,” I told medical staff in the emergency room. I was preparing to get out of the hospital. My colleagues, I explained, were being too cautious when they asked for an ambulance for me. They told the paramedics that I lost knowledge and that I hit me with the desk when I fell. I did not remember that, but the bruise that was being formed on one side of my body was evidence of what they said.

Despite that, I was ashamed of the entire uproar and wanted to go home, so after insisting they let me out of the emergency room. I am a lawyer and I can be very persuasive. Yes, I was tired. What mother who works is not? I thought that menopause, my medicine for migraines and lack of sleep were causing the difficulty breathing I experienced when I climbed the stairs or when I loaded my skis to the Telesquí.

That night, and the following days and nights, I felt bad in general. I could not describe it: it was a discomfort. I was exhausted but I couldn’t sleep. One night at 2 or 3 am, I was changing from channels anxiously in bed and began to see a comedy special of Rosie O’Donnell.

Just then, O’Donnell described the symptoms of heart disease suffered by women. I remembered that the medical staff had suggested that a heart problem could be one of the many possible causes of my fainting and that they recommended that you monitor with a cardiologist. I did not believe that I had a heart problem because I was 48 years old and took care of my health reasonably, but I scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist anyway.

At that time, on television, O’Donnell listed all the specific symptoms that I had. Pain on the back of the arm or neck? Yes fatigue? Yes ¿excess fluid retention? I looked at my ankles and were swollen. Yes feeling fear? Of course.

O’Donnell said, “if you are experiencing these symptoms, go to the hospital now.” In those moments I worried. At 5:15 am I woke my husband and went to the emergency room.

This time, I stayed to make a complete examination. I still didn’t know the cardiologist with whom I programmed the appointment but he was just there. I was diagnosed with total heart failure. There were no blockages in my heart, but it was only working between 5 and 10% of its capacity. He said, “it’s as if his heart was not working. We don’t know how he is still alive.” They had to undergo emergency cardiac surgery to place a defibrillator and pacemaker.

It was shocked. I couldn’t believe I was so sick. In fact, my brain that was deprived of oxygen resisted so much this news that I told my husband that the doctor was telling us that I could take my medicine and go home. The doctor had to explain my situation three times and even had to draw!

My surgeons installed a defibrillator and pacemaker for my heart to issue beats properly. I had to take a month of rest at work and when I returned I did it with reduced days. While my doctors and I identify the correct doses of my medications, I spent months doing cardiac rehabilitation, working hard to recover my health three times a week with two -hour sessions for as much time as possible as long as my insurance pays those services.

At that time, I was eager to recover completely, but remembering it I would like to have been more patient. In addition to the physical load of my illness, I began to feel uncontrollable sadness. Fortunately, surgeons warned me that this was common after cardiac surgeries, so the seemingly random outbursts of crying did not surprise me completely.

With the combination of devices and medications that supplemented my cardiac function, I felt a huge difference in my energy levels in early stages of my recovery. I felt that my brain was going to a thousand per hour. I started to understand completely how much I delayed in processing information when I was sick. Almost immediately, 20 pounds for the water that was no longer retaining, and a month and a half after my surgery, I could walk three miles at night with my husband. He had not been able to walk so much for some time.

2025

I share my story with other women because my life was saved by someone who told what happened to him. I am an educated and conscious person, but I did not recognize the symptoms. I remember how I cope with my busy life, feeling sick but without analyzing that feeling and without stopping to adapt or question it. Now, I pay attention to my instincts. If I feel that something is wrong, I don’t ignore it. I make someone evaluate it.

I tell women of my age that do not automatically rule out the possibility of heart disease. While I did not consume alcohol or drugs, I learned that the heart can deteriorate in other ways. One of my doctors suggested that my heart disease could have been caused by an infection and my genetics.

Recently, my doctors talked to me about the possibility of removing the pacemaker. Sometimes, after working well for a while, the heart can start sending electrical signals correctly again on your own. I still don’t know what the future holds from the medical point of view. I never wanted to become a symbol of heart disease, but if only a woman reads this and recognizes her experience in my story, my heart will be filled with joy.

This educational resource was prepared with the support of Novartis

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