When it rains, it pours
Heather is a longtime mentor in the program. At 19 she was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a genetic condition causing a thick heart muscle that, over time, blocks oxygen from getting to the body. She suffered mini-strokes, irregular heart rhythms and blackouts.
In November 2000, the deterioration of her heart was considered "end stage," meaning she had at least a 20 per cent chance of dying within the next year unless she received a transplant — and Heather was added to the waiting list at Toronto General. Soon after that she couldn't walk and didn't even have the strength to brush her teeth. Living in the hospital, Heather thought she would never make it. But finally, the call came.
The confines of a heart condition
Barbel has the same genetic condition as Heather. She has lived with her condition for 35 years, raising two children and handling a busy career at a printing company. Barbel gave up her career almost three years ago. In August 2006, she was finally listed for transplant, and was soon offered a mentor — Heather.
These days Barbel is a virtual prisoner, spending most days resting at home to keep her heart rhythm as slow as she can. Even climbing stairs is difficult. Barbel and Heather trade war stories about medications, operations and tests, and Barbel's implanted defibrillator (Heather once had one, too), which will give her jolts of electricity if her heart ever stops or begins to beat quickly.
Offering hope
"I'm not a very panicky person," says Barbel. And she seems calm and positive, simply trying to arm herself with as much information as possible. Heather is only too happy to oblige, sharing her personal story and her near-encyclopedic knowledge of heart transplantation over the course of their two-hour meeting.
But the best part comes from seeing Heather herself. "She is just so energetic, as if nothing had happened to her." This may be the greatest advantage mentors provide: inspiration through their very existence. They're here, they're healthy and they're going on with life again — something most mentees can barely imagine.
Nov. 7, 2006
Barbel phones Heather for a second meeting; I am listening in, feeling lucky they've agreed to share their conversations with me for this story. But when Heather comes on the line, Barbel says she is tired and isn't sleeping well.
"Aw!" says Heather when she hears the news. "You poor thing! When it rains it pours, eh?"
Barbel has questions about diet and exercise in the first few weeks after the operation. Later, Barbel asks Heather about being an organ donor should she die before getting a new heart. Can she still donate with her heart condition, and with all of the medication she is taking? Heather assures her that her tissues and many of her organs can still be donated, and reveals that she told her family she wanted to be a donor back when she was on the waiting list. It's touching that these women, while ill from failing organs, would offer to donate themselves.
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