Good Thing I was Ready!

Sometimes life throws you an unexpected curve-ball.

When I was six months pregnant with my first child, I started having arrhythmia  where my heart would race at 165 beats a minute for several minutes at a time. My heart was beating so hard, I could visibly see it pounding in my chest.

Shortly thereafter, I was diagnosed with Wolfe-Parkinson-White Syndrome (WPW). This is an extremely rare congenital heart condition that was pronounced by the pregnancy. This precious unborn child required my heart to pump 50% more blood volume to meet his daily needs. This is what triggered my heart to race.

I asked my cardiologist why I didn’t drop dead earlier in my previous unhealthy lifestyle. You see, when I initially started losing weight, more than a decade before, I was a smoker ( I have been an ex-smoker 24 years). I told  my doctor that when i was 285 pounds, I would do an hour of aerobics at the local YMCA and smokes cigarettes on the way there and back.

My cardiologist explained my condition to me like this, “Lauren, most people with WPW become faint, dizzy and go into cardiac arrest.” He said, “You are so fit, it’s like your running a marathon six months pregnant and your not even winded!”

My doctor told me that because I had lost the weight, kept it off and consistently exercised with a moderate activity program for the past 12 years prior to my becoming pregnant, that my heart was very strong  and could tolerate the stress of the arrhythmia. He explained that because our hearts are made of muscle, mine was fortunately strong enough to save myself and my unborn child.

Although I delivered a healthy baby boy, my heart condition continued to plague me. I was having the arrhythmia even after he was born. For some reason I had hoped they would stop when I delivered him because my blood volume would return to normal. Unfortunately, my heart did not stop beating excessively. I was really scared.

Seven weeks postpartum I underwent a procedure of catheter ablation at a hospital in Boston, Massachusetts to correct my heart condition. The surgery took 4 hours. The surgeon had to burn closed eight “holes” in my heart. These “holes” were what was making my heart race uncontrollably and put my life as well as my child’s life in tremendous jeopardy.

Physically, psychologically and spiritually, I was ready. I saved myself and my first child through having a more disciplined lifestyle. Because I had taken off the weight and consistently exercised even when i didn’t feel like it for more than a decade, my wonderful life was spared.

When life throws us any type of curve-ball, be calm, prayerful and thank yourself for doing the right thing…..be disciplined and actively address anything that could harm you.

After all, DISCIPLINE IS LOVE…….