If you follow me on instagram then you know how special this episode is. Back in June of this year a friend of mine had sent me a post on instagram about a little 3 year old boy named Tru who was on vacation in Hawaii and suddenly became very ill. It turned out that he was fighting acute viral myocarditis. I immediately began praying for this little boy and his entire family. I shared every update I saw over the course of the next few weeks and I know many of you were praying for him as well. I was able to get in contact with his Mom, Danielle and I’m so excited that she was open to coming on the podcast and sharing his story with us all.

Tru’s fight and subsequent recovery is nothing short of miraculous. Both Danielle and I hope that this episode not only inspires you but that is also spreads awareness to the signs and symptoms of acute viral myocarditis. We also hope that this brings more awareness to the unfortunate need for more pediatric organ donors. Danielle also had one correction she wanted to make and that is that Tru had previously had Fifths disease which is a type of parvovirus, not coxsackie although both are known to cause viral myocarditis.

Thank you all for being here and taking the time to hear Tru’s story. I hope you enjoy this episode.

Disclaimer: Nothing in this podcast is meant to be medical advice. All thoughts and opinions are my own or those of the person speaking. We share based upon personal experience but can not and will not give medical advice. Please speak with your primary care physician if you have any medical questions pertaining to your own health.

Follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

Follow Danielle on Instagram @daniellemariehunt

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

In today’s episode you get to meet Jenna Tanner a wife and Mom of 3 from Oklahoma. Jenna shares her story of surviving a sudden and major heart attack while home alone in 2022. In our conversation Jenna shares about her subtle symptoms leading up to the heart attack and how easy it is as women to disregard these symptoms. We discuss the disparity of information on female heart attack symptoms as opposed to male’s. She also shares about the critical moment she managed to call 911 and how quickly the first responders made it to her home. We also discussed the Impella heart pump and how shocking and incredible it was to her entire medical team when they implanted one into her heart.

Jenna’s story is one that needs to be heard because over 44% of women in the U.S. are living with some form of heart disease. It is the leading cause of death for women in the U.S. and it can affect women of all different ages.

I’m so grateful to Jenna for opening up and sharing her story with you all. If you’ve never experienced a heart attack chances are that at some point in your life you will know someone who has or will. Jenna and I both hope that her story will help people detect some of those symptoms early and seek help immediately.

For more information on the Impella Heart Pump go to abiomed.com

For more stories on heart failure and heart disease follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me at hillary@hillarysheart.com

In this episode you get to meet my friend, Michelle. I was so encouraged after this conversation. Michelle’s cardiac arrest happened in 2011 and yet she’s still out here sharing and bringing awareness to what happened to her. I can only hope that I’ll be doing the same in another decade or so.

Michelle's story is one of incredible resilience while enduring many trials. In 2011 while in her early 30’s, Michelle was a wife and young mother. She was incredibly active running 4 miles a day and very health conscious. So it was very shocking when her husband at the time realized she wasn’t breathing in bed and began performing CPR on her. Michelle tells her story about all that she remembers from her multiple hospitalizations, being in a coma for nearly a month and how a tiny heart pump saved her life and heart.

To follow along on Michelle's journey you can find her on Instagram @aquariusaveritt
For more on heart failure and my own heart failure recovery you can follow me on Instagram @hillarysheart

For more information on the Impella heart pump go to abiomed.com