Brave Women, Unique Tales Part 4: Of Heart Disease and HI

My wonderful readers, how have you been? It’s been a minute since our last Brave Women, Unique Tales episode. I missed writing so much but mostly sharing wonderful stories from wonderful women. No more pity parties though, we are back in high gear and hope you are all ready to kick off right where we left.

Did you know that hormonal imbalance can cause heart defects? When it comes to heart health, hormones play a leading role. The way they’re functioning in the body directly impacts the cardiovascular system, the heart and the blood vessels. What does this mean? When they’re working properly, they can help prevent heart disease; when they’re out of balance, they can cause it. Yes, i’m just as amazed as you are, check out the link tagged on hormones above and get to know more on the relation between the two.

Our guest today shares her truth on living with HI and the impact it has had on her life. I present to you Essy *not actual name* who chose to share a little of her story to the world. As i discussed with her about her condition, i realized for her it’s more about accepting her truth and accepting the life she leads. I’m proud of her *i’m proud of every single one that has shared thus far* and hope you enjoy her story and also do more research on the discovery you’ll find. (Or i’ll do it for you…because i can)

Ladies and gentlemen part 4 of #BWUT:

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Growing up I simply knew I was the small kid, among all my peers or friends I was the small one regardless of the stage. Many times, I was double questioned about what class i’m in and for some reason a follow up was made to maybe an adult like my parent if I was really in that class or stage I claimed I was at. Well at the time I didn’t really make sense of it. I was always bagged about eating more or drinking so that I could “grow”. And I actually tried but we always don’t get what we want.

Previously amidst all this welcome back daddy moments my dad realized my heart beat was a little faster than normal but he also thought it’s probably because I was a kid and was playing most of the time. But this kept on for years, it didn’t normalize. Until one day he purposefully holds me and listens to my heart beat and says Deborah are you okay, and me being me I answered with a smile “yes yes I am”, but he complimented saying your heart beat isn’t normal, I didn’t really take it in then.
So high school comes and it’s my first year in boarding school so he decides it’s not wise to let me go without knowing why or how this is happening.

So he plans a meeting with a doctor, and almost like the next day it’s set and we off to see this doctor who refers us to a proper Cardiologist. We make an appointment and meet him the next day.
The Cardiologist said that whatever I had was normal for kids and after it all goes back to normal well I was glad to hear that but he suggested that I go for an echo cardiogram so that we are even more certain that it is okay.
I must say it was a bit scary for me at the time, laying half naked on that hospital bed with all kinds of things connected and those pegs on your fingers and that cold gel didn’t make me feel any better but as the doctor passed the thing *I still don’t know what it’s called* and said it’s all okay I started to believe him, so when all was done I was asked to dress up and we went back to the office.
I was handed a disc with the recording and some other huge X-ray like sheet showing the waves of the heart beat. I can tell you I went home and was showing off to my siblings how I had a disc with my heart beat on it.

Everything felt normal then.

In preparation for a new school term, we were required to go for medical check ups to make sure we reported to school with no illnesses.I remember this particular medical check up schedule. I had no worries, I even made plans with friends…let’s all go Wednesday…. yes we agreed so on that Wednesday we went for checkup and I will save you the details of the lines and waiting to the part where you wait for your name to be called upon and you each enter the doctor’s office, so as were waiting, talking making noise, one friend goes in and then they called my name too. I marched majestically to Room 3 knocked and entered and there was this doctor who asked me the first few basic questions then asked me if I had any problems. I gladly said no and then he took out his stethoscope and started to listen to my heart beat and he looked at me again then did the procedure again looking at his watch.

Shortly after, he asked me these questions “are you afraid, have you been doing any kind of heavy activity before this?” and my response was no to all questions. So he asked if I had a parent or guardian with me. Well I was there with my aunt, he asked me to call her in which I did.
And then when she comes in, he explains and says my heart beat is not normal and I explain that I have been to the cardiologist and all that and he still insists, this isn’t normal “go to a bigger hospital and get another opinion” he said. My aunt very concerned asked the doctor to explain what he meant by that.
The doctor then starts to throw the pain in, “Her heart beats faster than normal much as it’s normal for kids but it should have fazed out by now, it shouldn’t be this fast.
So he looks at me and then back at my aunt and says “she can’t be doing any heavy duty work, she shouldn’t be running or any other activity that will make the heart even pump faster *moment of silence…* it could be dangerous.”

On my end, I was simply seeing a free ticket to not going for that early morning jogging we had every Saturday morning at school. I smiled a little but right after that, he asked me if I have any unusual conditions and my auntie was so quick to jump in and tell him of how I always feel cold. So the doctor explains that due to this condition, I have hormonal imbalances and that’s why I
I feel cold most times; even when everyone else is complaining about the heat. For that I have grown to always have some kind of sweater or warming cloth on me.

I may not necessarily mature into what everyone else my age is, and that is to say I will not even gain as much weight or height literally anything with growth. Honestly that really hit even harder when I left high school and joined university. Most people thought I was joking when I said I was doing Arch (architecture), it felt like I have to explain myself all over again. There was a joke in school that I came with someone to go to Wonder world( An amusement park in Uganda) and got stuck there, well I learnt to laugh along with it with time.

But I must say some days are harder than others, I always wanted to be just like my peers or family but clearly that isn’t for me. It’s hard to fit in and I learnt not to I guess this is how I became an introvert because I didn’t want to try so hard, I would rather be alone than try to compare what I am to others. Being small has taught me a lot about people and myself too and that getting comfortable in your own skin is easy to say but even harder to practice.

And the sexual harassment you actually go through is another story for another day.

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What a cliff hanger!! Thank you Essy for sharing your story. I learned a whole new side about hormonal balance through her. This series continues to humble me plus it has taught me to listen better and observe more.