by Sarah U. on Friday, September 14, 2012
Helen Walker, Tennessee
At age 5, doctors diagnosed Helen Walker with a heart murmur and told she would outgrow it. Nothing more was ever said.
It wasn’t until she was trying to walk upstairs in her twenties that she realized something was wrong. Out of breath and unsure she would ever make it to the top, she decided to go to the emergency room. At age 25, she was diagnosed with posterior mitral leaflet defect and treated with several medications.
In 1994, at the age of 43, she sought the attention of a cardiologist after experiencing symptoms similar to those she had in her twenties.
The cardiologist sent her home and instructed her to stay quiet because her aortic valve was severly leaking.
She rested over the weekend and had a cardiac catheterization performed. Her aortic valve was replaced with a St. Jude mechanical valve; hers had nearly completely disintegrated. Eleven years later, her replacement valve was clogged and barely functional. She needed a new valve—a porcine valve. This valve has a life span of about 15 years and at 12 years her porcine aortic valve is still great.
Helen values research and shares her story with others to emphasize how these advancements in science have prolonged her life. She now makes it her own personal mission to urge Congress to protect funding for the National Institutes of Health so heart disease and stroke research can continue.