So why is this fight so important to me?  Because just over 10 years ago I spent 10 days in 2 hospitals and 3 ambulances.  Not exactly what you'd expect from a 31-year-old triathlete.

That week in the fall of 1999, I had had countless EKG's, echocardiograms, an MRI, a signal averaged EKG, and had been hooked up to a heart rate monitor 24/7.  Sleeping with 6 wires attached to your chest and a 3-lb, 3"x6" box in your hospital gown pocket hardly made for comfortable nights' sleep! 

Who knew the day of my 31st birthday while I was riding my bike to the gym that I'd have this story to tell for the rest of my life?  I'm pretty sure that the 20-something-year-old paramedic who found me lying next to my bike on the side of the road, could only hope.  I think he was more scared then I was and genuinely thought that my not making it that day was a real possibility.  My heart was racing at 280 BPM, and I remember looking up at the paramedic when he said, "I'm sorry. This is going to hurt."  And then just like on tv he said "Clear!"  That's when he "shocked" my heart with the defibrillator.  To this day I'm not quite sure what pain he was talking about because all I felt was my heart finally beating normally again.  The best feeling I can ever remember.

So began my week of doctors scratching their heads and me being the cheerleader to all my friends and family telling them I knew I was going to be ok.  I don't know how, but I just knew.  Yes it sucked when the doctors told me I had a rare heart disease that progresses with physical activity and that I could no longer train like I was used to.  No more 40-mile bike rides and daily runs.  I know it doesn't sound like fun to a lot of people, but when it's what you do every day, it was a hard pill to swallow.  But I was alive and I knew I'd be ok.  A couple days later they implanted an ICD (implantable cardio defibrillator), gave me a few good drugs  and sent me home.

So here I am more than 10 years later.  I've lived a normal life (minus the physical activity I was used to), I'm on my second defibrillator (the first one had to be retired after 8 years) and I'm very proud to be an active volunteer for the American Heart Association.  

I am extremely grateful for the money that so many of my friends, family and perfect strangers raise year after year.  It makes a difference every day.  I have seen it - the list of grants and projects that AHA funding goes toward.  Selfishly, I'm waiting for my own research savior.  My doctor told me back in 1999 that he was certain they would perfect an artificial ventricle in 10 years.  And here we are...10 years later.  It's still not an option for me yet.  Fortunately I don't need it today, but I will likely need it or something like it or a heart transplant in the future. 

Let's keep fighting for me and people like me.  There are so many.  We can make a difference.  You can make a difference.  Much has been done but there is still a lot more to do.  Thank you in advance for any way you can support the fight!