Heart Transplant Saved Nancy's Life

After her baby was born, symptoms Nancy had experienced years before came back with a vengeance. Dizziness. Extreme shortness of breath. Constant fatigue.

“I feel chest pain,” she remembered. “I was always tired.”

“She was getting suffocated,” added her husband, Javier.

“She was young when she ended up on the transplant list,” recalled Iani Patsias, MD, cardiologist at Memorial Cardiac and Vascular Institute. “Fortunately, she had a short period of waiting [for a heart], and she’s doing very well, now.”

Two years after the heart transplant, Nancy has returned to an active, happy life with her family — running, swimming, biking and playing with her daughter.

“She’s able to function as a normal woman, now,” Javier explained.

“It's very rewarding to see somebody who's been on the brink of death and has a chance of having a long life,” Dr. Patsias added.

“I don’t have words to describe that wonderful hospital,” said Nancy. “I feel different. I alive again.”