At the age of 52, I was told that it was highly likely I would need a heart transplant.

Training for the 2005 Twin Cities Marathon proved more challenging than the two marathons I had completed previously.

In May, my husband and I will celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary. Wow, how time flies!

Heart disease is the number one killer of women today. One in five women live with a heart condition. I have been living with cardiomyopathy (an acquired or hereditary disease of the heart muscle) for fourteen years.

In this blog, I want to explain and illustrate the heart in layman's terms, covering its parts and functions. The heart is a complex organ, and science has made significant strides since I was diagnosed with myocarditis in 2006.

In 2019, my brother underwent genetic testing focused on heart-related genes. With our family history—our maternal grandfather having died of a heart attack at a similar age, my mother living with a Left Ventricular Assist Device (LVAD), and my own heart issues—it was likely that heart disease was a genetic concern in our family.

Learning about the family gene FLNC (Filamin C Truncation Mutations are associated with arrhythmogenic dilated cardiomyopathy and changes in the cell-cell adhesion structure. High risk of life-threatening ventricular arrhythmias) and testing positive for the FLNC gene has given answers to our family heart history.

August 3, 2020, started off as a great day. I went for a 3-mile run, enjoyed my morning coffee, took a shower, and even cleaned the shower afterward. But then... I woke up lying on the tile floor in a puddle of blood.

Being a middle-aged woman, I am not vain, but I now have a two-inch cut down the middle of my face. I guess I am glad to be alive, thankful for having an ICD surgically implanted a year earlier; otherwise, I would be dead.

Everything is going to be alright! I sometimes feel like I have nine lives—seven to go, as I've used up two already. The first was when Tommy was born, and the second when I had my face plant.

I participated in Cardiac Rehab for the first time after having my ICD implanted. Most Cardiac Rehab programs are in a hospital setting, so I chose the hospital near my home for convenience.