Debora Grandison is committed to regular exercise and making and preparing healthier food choices for herself and her family in Ballwin, Missouri after receiving a pacemaker for cardiomyopathy.
“I’m in a heart program right now,” she said. “I do that three days a week. I’m lifting weights and doing cardio.”
Cardiomyopathy is a disease that weakens the heart muscle tissue, causing it to thicken, enlarge and not pump blood efficiently. There are five types of cardiomyopathy. In dilated cardiomyopathy, the heart is weak and large and doesn’t pump blood well enough. Ischemic cardiomyopathy causes a narrowing of arteries that supply blood to the heart. Restrictive cardiomyopathy causes the heart chambers to not fill properly with blood due to stiff heart muscle; hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is usually inherited and causes the heart muscle to become thick, making it harder for blood to leave the heart. Peripartum cardiomyopathy occurs as a complication of pregnancy or within the first few months following.
“When I was pregnant with my son, who is now 23, I developed a heart ailment and to be honest, there was a lot of uncertainty as to what was causing it,” Grandison said. “I was placed on various medications; I’ve worn a number of heart monitors over the years, and been told a variety of things.”
“I am monitored for the blood pressure; I am treated for high blood pressure – I do take medication for that,” Grandison said. “I’ve been blessed with good cholesterol so when I had the cardiac catherization, I was blessed to know there were no blockages.”
By 2009, Grandison said she was at the point of fatigue all the time. She even stopped substitute teaching and opted for a part time desk job.
“I went to the doctor and he spoke to me about the fact that I have developed cardiomyopathy,” she recalled. “The heart rate was slowed to a point where the heart beats were only 30 beats per minute where I believe it is supposed to be 60 –
and that was continuous.”
A healthy heart beats 60 to 100 times per minute.
“So, he really didn’t see any other options for me at that time and it was absolutely devastating to think about it,” Grandison said about getting a pacemaker.
It was an outpatient procedure at then St. John’s Mercy Hospital, now Mercy Hospital St. Louis.
“After going through the things they tell you to do, I tell you I am energized, I feel so much better,” Grandison said. “It was really the right thing to do, but when you are in it, you kind of panic and don’t know if you are making the right decision.”
“It’s been a long road as far as not knowing a particular name or diagnosis, but really knowing there was something going on since my pregnancy,” she said. “And it is believed the pregnancy could have actually brought some of that on, but having such a high family history, its kind of hard to say whether that was just something that was going to be inevitable.”
Regardless, Grandison shares her health story inside and outside her family circle and encourages families to do the same. Your health history is part of your family’s history too.
“I am diabetic. I didn’t know my father was diabetic for a long time until after me sharing with him what I was experiencing,” Grandison said. “And I know it’s a great need for me to instill in my kids they are predisposed to diabetes and its imperative that they recognize those signs and pay attention to their health and do whatever’s necessary for preventative measures.”
For more information on heart health, visit the American Heart Association at HYPERLINK “http://www.heart.org” www.heart.org.
