Latest / From Recovery to Wellness | Life After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Healing / Pre-Eclampsia & Eclampsia

Transcript

Pre-Eclampsia & Eclampsia · From Recovery to Wellness | Life After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Healing

• 0:07
  Welcome to From Recovery to Wellness, the podcast
• 0:11
  where we explore the path to better health, one
• 0:14
  conversation at a time. I'm Arnita Williams,
• 0:17
  heart surgery survivor, wellness advocate, and
• 0:20
  your host. For too long, heart disease has been
• 0:23
  thought of as a man's disease, yet it remains
• 0:26
  the leading cause of death among women. Many
• 0:29
  of the health events women experience throughout
• 0:31
  their lives, from pregnancy and preeclampsia
• 0:34
  to menopause, autoimmune diseases, and hormonal
• 0:38
  changes can have a lasting impact on heart health.
• 0:41
  Yet these connections are often overlooked. In
• 0:45
  this special women's heart health series, we'll
• 0:48
  examine the unique factors that influence cardiovascular
• 0:51
  health in women across every stage of life. Together
• 0:55
  we'll explore the latest insights, uncover hidden
• 0:59
  risk factors, discuss practical prevention strategies,
• 1:03
  and empower women to become stronger advocates
• 1:06
  for their own health. Each week you'll hear a
• 1:09
  heart health lesson. a did you know segment,
• 1:12
  a heart supportive food of the week, and a reflection
• 1:15
  question designed to help you apply what you've
• 1:18
  learned to your own wellness journey. Whether
• 1:22
  you're seeking information for yourself, a loved
• 1:25
  one, or simply want to better understand women's
• 1:28
  heart health, you're in the right place. Thank
• 1:31
  you for joining me. So let's begin today's conversation
• 1:34
  and continue moving from recovery to wellness.
• 1:39
  Now, This is episode two, which I will discuss
• 1:43
  preeclampsia and eclampsia. Preeclampsia and
• 1:47
  eclampsia are often treated as temporary pregnancy
• 1:50
  complications, but their impact doesn't end at
• 1:53
  delivery. These conditions involve high blood
• 1:56
  pressure and vascular dysfunction during pregnancy.
• 2:00
  That means the blood vessels are under significant
• 2:02
  strain, sometimes signaling deeper cardiovascular
• 2:06
  vulnerability. What happens in pregnancy doesn't
• 2:11
  stay in pregnancy when it comes to the heart.
• 2:15
  What happens during your pregnancy can affect
• 2:19
  you in later years. And did you know a history
• 2:24
  of preeclampsia can double a woman's risk of
• 2:27
  future heart disease? I want to make this to
• 2:31
  serve everyone else and not about me, but I do
• 2:34
  want to share a personal experience of mine.
• 2:38
  When I was expecting my child at age 29, I had
• 2:46
  preeclampsia. And at the time, I didn't know
• 2:49
  what it was. But when I went to the clinic for
• 2:55
  my checkup, they kept me because I had swollen.
• 2:59
  I didn't retain water. And they were saying that...
• 3:02
  protein had leaked into my urine. And at the
• 3:06
  time they were, everyone was scurrying around
• 3:08
  and whispering and you know, I knew something
• 3:11
  was wrong then when the doctors and nurses were
• 3:14
  in their huddle and everything. And so finally
• 3:17
  they did tell me that I had preeclampsia and
• 3:20
  they explained to me what that was. And so I
• 3:24
  was at a point where that my... like I said that
• 3:28
  uh protein was leaking into my urine my blood
• 3:31
  pressure was up and so I had to lie in bed uh
• 3:36
  for three let's see I think it was like three
• 3:38
  or four days because I was in the military and
• 3:42
  um the clinic where I was stationed, they didn't
• 3:46
  have a hospital. My daughter was gonna be delivered
• 3:48
  early. She was two months early and we knew that
• 3:51
  she was gonna come, but not in that way. I thought
• 3:55
  that I was just gonna have a C -section and just
• 3:58
  without any other issues or problems, but it
• 4:03
  just so happened that my blood pressure went
• 4:06
  up and everything started. happening. And so
• 4:10
  she, in order for me to, I think it must have
• 4:15
  been Friday the 13th, I think, 13th, 14th, 15th,
• 4:19
  16th, 17th. And anyway, yeah, they had to keep
• 4:22
  me in the hospital on base for about three or
• 4:27
  four days. And they couldn't fly me out on the
• 4:29
  medevac to Denver, because that's where she was
• 4:32
  going to be born at that time, at Fitzsimmons
• 4:34
  Army Medical Center. And so, but the medevac
• 4:39
  wasn't coming back around until three or four
• 4:42
  days later on the 17th. And I was in that, they
• 4:45
  kept me in the hospital till the 17th. And so
• 4:48
  during that time, I couldn't get up. I couldn't
• 4:50
  do anything because if it had gone into elevated
• 4:53
  to eclampsia, I could have had seizures and it
• 4:56
  could have killed both myself and my daughter.
• 4:59
  And so when the medevac came around on September
• 5:03
  the 17th of that particular year, They willed
• 5:09
  me into emergency and said, told my husband and
• 5:12
  I that we were going to have a baby that night
• 5:15
  that they had to go ahead on and deliver her
• 5:17
  by c -section or else we would both die. So she
• 5:22
  was born and she was born two months early and
• 5:25
  she was two pounds and 15 and a half ounces and
• 5:27
  thank goodness that she didn't have any After
• 5:31
  effects because she could have had brain damage
• 5:34
  cerebral palsy, which is a part of that She could
• 5:39
  have had Blindness any of those things especially
• 5:43
  being at risk as a premature infant anyway And
• 5:46
  then compounded with me having to deliver her
• 5:49
  early, you know that created issues it could
• 5:53
  have but thank goodness she's good and healthy
• 5:56
  now and she's a grown woman at this point and
• 5:59
  so anyway I just wanted to let you know that
• 6:04
  after that episode years later did not know this
• 6:12
  and at the time they didn't I guess they didn't
• 6:16
  have studies on this but I didn't realize that
• 6:19
  this would put me at risk for heart disease later
• 6:23
  on in life and guess what? It did. I ended up
• 6:27
  having open heart surgery for an aneurysm and
• 6:30
  that's one of the reasons why that I have decided
• 6:35
  to share and try to help other other women or
• 6:40
  other people in general, you know, because I
• 6:43
  was totally unaware. And now they've begun to
• 6:46
  put do the studies and put things together. And
• 6:49
  I started later on in my 40s asking questions.
• 6:53
  You know, it's like, well, you know, why is my
• 6:57
  blood pressure rising? And and I've always done
• 6:59
  the same things. I've always been health conscious,
• 7:02
  exercised. And as I said, I was in the military.
• 7:05
  And so, you know, I try to stay healthy. I was
• 7:08
  always on the treadmill did all the right things
• 7:10
  and things still happened you know uh still had
• 7:13
  heart issues and so they were saying that uh
• 7:16
  this is uh perhaps one of the things the preeclampsia
• 7:20
  that i had just really taxed out my um my heart
• 7:26
  and all, and it's weakened the vessels and everything.
• 7:33
  And so that's one of the things that they have
• 7:36
  discovered. That may not apply to everyone, but
• 7:40
  in my particular case, I am textbook. So I just
• 7:43
  wanted to share that. And then for this... for
• 7:48
  this episode, that's gonna wrap it up for now,
• 7:51
  but I do want to leave you with a reflection
• 7:57
  question, something to think about. And that
• 8:00
  is, why is postpartum cardiovascular monitoring
• 8:04
  not yet a standard part of maternal care? Actually,
• 8:08
  I just stated some of that. I think that now
• 8:12
  that they are aware and the studies have shown
• 8:15
  and proven that postpartum cardiovascular monitoring
• 8:21
  is very very important and should become a standard
• 8:25
  part of maternal care since it affects, it can
• 8:27
  affect women's hearts. Later on in life. So that's
• 8:33
  just something that I just wanted to put out
• 8:35
  there and then before I let you go We I have
• 8:39
  I always introduce a food of the week and this
• 8:42
  week this for this episode It's leafy greens.
• 8:45
  They are rich in nitrates and potassium and they
• 8:49
  support blood pressure regulation So I just want
• 8:55
  to thank you for joining me for today's episode,
• 8:58
  and I hope our conversation has provided information,
• 9:02
  encouragement, and practical insights you can
• 9:04
  carry with you on your wellness journey. Remember,
• 9:07
  heart health is not defined by a single appointment,
• 9:10
  diagnosis, or stage of life. It's shaped. by
• 9:13
  the choices we make, the knowledge we gain and
• 9:16
  the steps we take each day to care for ourselves.
• 9:19
  If you found this episode helpful, please consider
• 9:22
  subscribing, sharing it with a friend and leaving
• 9:25
  a review. Together we can help more women understand
• 9:28
  the unique factors that influence their heart
• 9:31
  health and empower them to become advocates for
• 9:34
  their own wellbeing. So until next time, take
• 9:37
  care of your heart, take care of yourself and
• 9:39
  continue moving from recovery to wealth. this
• 9:42
  and be well.