By Katherine Romano, told to Hallie Levine
Let’s face it, a diagnosis of heart failure is difficult. But it’s even harder to navigate during a global pandemic. I speak from experience: I was diagnosed with heart failure in October 2020, right after having a massive heart attack. As a nurse, I knew how to take care of others. But I found it harder to take care of myself. Here are three things I learned about living with heart failure in a post-quarantine world.
Don’t Delay Medical Care
I started having classic heart attack symptoms while I was cleaning my house – excruciating pain in my upper back that radiated to my left arm, nausea and shortness of breath. I hesitated to go to the emergency room during the pandemic. But as soon as I got there, I realized I had made the right decision. I was dizzy, vomiting and everything ached from the waist down.
The doctors told me I had a serious heart attack, but I didn’t believe them. I was young, only 63, with normal cholesterol and blood pressure, and no family history of heart disease. When they took me on a stretcher to the cath lab for two stents, I was more worried that my mask had fallen off and I couldn’t find it (they ended up covering my face with a sheet) .
That’s not to say being in a hospital during the pandemic wasn’t scary. It was. A few days later, I was diagnosed with heart failure due to damage from the heart attack. There I was, in intensive care, struggling with my new diagnosis while hearing the sound of ventilators all around me.
I was transferred to a heart center about an hour away, where I stayed for a few weeks. I wanted the support of my family and friends, but the visiting rules were so restricted because of COVID-19 that I told them to stay home. It was hard and scary doing it alone, but somehow I made it.
Once I was discharged from the hospital, I completed a 12 week cardiac rehab program. Again, it was scary to do this during COVID, but I kept reminding myself that the center had taken all the necessary safety precautions, including wiping down the machines after each use and requiring masks. Of course, there was some risk, but I knew that if I did cardiac rehabilitation, I would be much less likely to end up in the hospital again.
Get Active — Again
During the pandemic, my exercise routine was dropped. I was no longer going to my Zumba class twice a week in person, and I just didn’t feel motivated to try it online. Let’s just say that my heart failure diagnosis was the kick in the butt I needed to restart.
Unfortunately, heart failure tires you out. You get short of breath easily and activities you once enjoyed, such as walking, seem very difficult. As a result, it is very easy to waste away and become depressed. I forced myself to walk outside twice a week and go back to Zumba in person.
But there are so many people with heart failure who don’t do any physical activity. You don’t think about exercise when you’re walking around the mall, for example. But now, since the pandemic has changed the way we live, people don’t do that anymore: they order things online, or go to a store for exactly what they need, then leave.
Put yourself first
Although this is a rule that applies all the time, it has become even more important during the COVID-19 pandemic. For years I was my husband Ted’s caretaker after he had a major heart attack in 2011. For the next 6 years I just focused on him and let things go like doctor’s appointments. The big joke was that we would go on a family vacation and I would remember all of his medications, but forget my own underwear.
After he died, I started taking care of myself again and caught up on all the medical visits and tests I had put off for so long, like a mammogram and a colonoscopy. Yet, during the pandemic, I allowed myself to be isolated. I limited my interactions with my children and grandchildren, as the children were still seeing their friends, and I had stopped doing activities that I enjoyed, such as going out to dinner or going to concerts.
We know so much now about how bad social isolation is for the heart. I do my best now to keep in touch with people. I still don’t hang out with big groups, but I see my family as much as I can. I never miss my grandson’s outdoor baseball games again, for example. I also make sure to video chat regularly with close friends. This human contact is so precious to our hearts.