| As a toddler it was determined that Jessi had a developmental delay, focused mostly on her speech. While this brought a new dimension to her world, Susan embraced it and has gone to great lengths to ensure Jessi has all the resources she needs to be happy and progress into the beautiful young woman she is now.
Nick was taking classes in Criminal Justice when Susan got sick and dropped out to help with Jessi; at some point, he hopes to return to school.
Susan is employed by the Sigma Phi Epsilon Educational Foundation, where she will celebrate her 27th year in February. Currently on leave, she is anxious for the time when she can get back to work!
 Susan’s health began to deteriorate in December of 2010, in the form of fatigue. As Christmas is her favorite time of year, she pushed things aside and decided that, once the holidays were over, she’d go get herself checked out. And that is what she did. She made the holidays special and celebrated all the family’s birthdays in January (there are 4) and then made an appointment with her physician.
In the meantime, the fatigue increased and she could not climb the stairs without being winded and couldn’t make a bed without laying on it afterward. After explaining her symptoms to the doctor he suggested exercise, “take a 30 minute walk every day.” Knowing that she could not make these daily walks, she left and continued at home the best she could. After missing several days of work to fatigue, she scheduled another appointment with her physician.
This time she diagnosed airway spasms and provided an inhaler; she was also given a prescription for a chest x-ray and said that if symptoms didn’t improve, Susan should have one done. A few weeks later the chest x-ray showed no cause for any symptoms.
On March 24, Susan drove herself to the emergency room, thinking they would fix the problem and send her home to get back to living; they sent her home with antibiotics, diagnosed bronchitis and a urinary tract infection and suggested she follow up with a cardiologist.
On March 29, 2011, she saw Dr. Michael Ball who, after listening to her heart, knew immediately that the situation was serious and admitted her to the hospital - the initial diagnosis was congestive heart failure, enlarged and very weak heart. This hospital stay lasted 6 days and nearly a month afterward, after no improvement, Dr. Ball admitted her again. It was during this stay that he realized there was nothing he could do; the diagnosis was cardiomyopathy and a heart transplant was necessary. She was transported to VCU Medical Center in Richmond where extensive testing confirmed the diagnosis and she was added to the transplant list.
In the interim, it was determined that an LVAD was necessary to help her heart continue to function so on May 27, 2011, a Jarvik device was implanted and will remain in place until the new heart is put in place. After months in hospitals, Susan was discharged on June 22, 2011 where she continues to wait for “the call” that her heart has arrived.
In the meantime, she returns to VCU Medical Center on a regular basis for follow up and takes a cocktail of medications on a daily basis – last count was 14 prescriptions.
 When questioned about all the missed diagnosis the answer was always the same: in someone Susan’s age, heart issues would not normally be considered. A young, seemingly healthy woman is expected to be fatigued and, more often than not, will be treated with the same nonchalance - exercise and build your stamina (okay so this wasn’t said but was implied) so you can continue to do all that you do, work and take care of your house and family. Another unfortunate thing is that most women will not take the time to go to the doctor for fatigue; they will self-diagnose, sleep more and keep trudging along. They will even suffer pains in their chest and will overlook them. The message here for all women is first and foremost, take care of yourself! Nothing is more valuable than good health and if you are not healthy then you can’t take care of anyone or anything else.
They say Heart Disease is the silent killer in women and that is because women overlook symptoms and put off a doctor’s visit. Susan was very close to waiting too long to get treatment…unfortunately many women wait. If you suffer any symptoms, no matter how seemingly insignificant, get them checked.
Another important thing is that heart disease does not age discriminate. In her time on the cardiology floor at VCU Medical Center, many young women were there suffering heart issues, women of all ages. Heart disease also doesn’t care if anyone in your family history has suffered with heart disease – you may be the first. So if you have any questions or worries, have them checked out. Peace of mind is invaluable.
A study in 2007 by Transplant Living determined the average total cost of a single heart transplant is $658,800. This figure includes the cost of a donor heart, at an average of nearly $90,000, about $23,000 in evaluation costs, $40,000 in doctor’s fees, $383,000 in hospital costs, $93,000 in post-operative care, and over $29,000 in immunosuppressive prescription medications. Combine this cost with 3 months of medical costs already incurred and that is a hefty sum.
So when you say you can’t put a price on good health, well yes, you can. But there is nothing that we won’t pay for this heart transplant, to get Susan back to enjoying life and sitting in her beach chair on Chick’s Beach, enjoying her family and friends and trying to decide which local eatery she wants to go to for a great seafood dinner….
For more information please visit www.caringbridge.org/visit/susanilch |
