Jennifer Monaghan was 43 years old when she suffered a stroke.
“I didn’t have any of the traditional risk factors,” Monaghan told Global News.
While the Kelowna woman says she’s managing her condition with medication, she does have some long-term lingering effects more than a decade later.
“My right arm and my right leg are not as coordinated or as strong as they used to be,” said Monaghan, adding she also has some difficulties with memory and cognitive impairment.
Despite the problems, Monaghan, a former lawyer before her stroke, says she feels lucky.
“When the doctors were trying to find out why I had a stroke, they discovered I also had cardiomyopathy,” she said.
Cardiomyopathy affects the heart’s ability to pump blood and is one of the causes of heart failure.
“Heart failure kind of encapsulates a disease process in which there can be a lot of different reasons why a patient has heart failure and a lot of different states of that condition,” said cardiologist Dr. Amit Khosla.
With this being National Heart Failure Awareness Week, doctors are reminding the public about reducing or preventing the chance of heart failure.
Staying on top of risk factors, like cholesterol, is critical, but so is closely monitoring for any signs of heart-related issues.
“Things like shortness of breath when exerting yourself, fatigue or fluid accumulation, or call edema, building up in the extremities,” said Khosla.
“So these are signs that if they’re present, then patients should definitely seek further attention.”
While heart failure is a serious diagnosis, it’s not necessarily a terminal diagnosis.
“It certainly can come with a lot of complication,” said Khosla.
“But patients can often live very well with heart failure, with appropriate treatment, therapies and care. They can live a very full life.”
Monaghan now spends time volunteering and spreading awareness about heart problems while living what she calls a wonderful life.
“I’m able to do almost anything I want. Sure, I can’t hike a mountain, but I can go for a long walk on the flat and you can live really well with heart failure.”
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