ShoreWoman

So, how about this saying..."For every bad thing that happens in life so does something good." The many twists and turns that my life has taken me has been nothing short of...well interesting. Seems, time and time again I keep getting road blocks. Everybody has them, mine are just medical in nature. Haven't we all said, "when will I ever win"? I find myself saying that a lot lately. Seems every week there is something new I have to face. This week has been no different. My path will lead me to another inevitable trip to John Hopkins; this time meeting with unfamiliar territory. The neuro floor.....and the surprises it may bring. I have decided after a long talk with my neurologist and cardiologist that I need to be a better patient. I was so frightened to become a victim that it was hindering my care. I just was afraid to open my mouth because one word triggers an over abundance of tests. It is becoming a full time job. I'm kinda tired of hearing about my health....aren't you!! I wanna talk about the weather and my kids. Not, "What did the doctor say?" But, I now truly know it's because of such caring people around me. I also learned that I can't run from this. This is who I am...it's part of me. Does it have to consume me..."No". I can make this anything I want to. It's all about how you view the situation I always say. I look at my situation in the following light. I am a girl who has two beautiful children, a very sweet hubby, a wonderful family and friends. I have a job I love and a passion for photography that truly fulfills me. Oh, and I just so happen to have had multiple heart surgeries/procedures, a stroke or two, and what ever else happens. Because of who I am and what I've gone through I have affected a life, I have related to that scared patient, I have a new found perspective and I have been able to reach so many others and educate them through a little article known as "ShoreWoman". So today, one day from having my 2nd year heart anniversary I can truly say from every bad thing that happens in life....something good can come from it:)

How did I end up in ShoreWoman? Well, I think just from word of mouth. My friend Jan G. Whom I love dearly, tried to get a story placed in our hospital's personal newsletter for Heart Awareness month last year and it kinda spiraled from there. At first I actually declined. I was afraid the article would be over dramatized or not serve a purpose. As open as I am, I haven't always been in fear as I've stated my illness would consume my life. But, It has been helpful to my family and friends. Actually, all the feedback from my blog and on facebook always inspires me to keep fighting. Hopefully, people will take from the article that anything can happen at any age and that no matter what anything is achievable in life!! So here it is:

"I have zero fears now. I have a great sense of fulfillment."
Article written by:Marilyn Buerkle

After a medical journey that culminated with two surgeries for a rare heart condition, Anne Donaway has a new outlook on life.

Donaway will celebrate her second birthday this month. Chronologically Donaway is 33 years old, but April 9th marks the second anniversary of her last open heart surgery. She describes it as the beginning of her new life. Growing up in Sussex County, Donaway had no hint that she had been born with a hidden abnormality in her heart. She was a Cheerleader as a teenager, and she remained physically active as an adult. A husband and two small children kept her plenty busy; she was also a respiratory therapist at a local hospital, and she still made time to jog several times a week.

A beautiful young woman with a dazzling smile, Donaway has always had a positive attitude. She didn't want to worry her family and friends when she started to have occasional dizzy spells or periodically had trouble catching her breath. After all, as a health care professional, she saw sick people every day, and she'd know if she were really sick. She kept her symptoms to herself. "You see so many people who are worse than you that your situation is minimal," She said. Eventually Donaway had to admit there was something wrong. In August 2008, she finally went to a doctor for help. The physician she saw chalked up her exhaustion to anxiety--typical he said, for a working mother with young children.

She didn't believe him, but she hoped he was right. Her symptoms got worse. Her friends were getting worried.

Lyndsey Feather and Donaway have been close friends since they met in an orientation session when they started their jobs at Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin. "Anne is one of the brightest, sweetest, most sincere people I have ever met, " Feather said. "I watched her go through this process. She was definitely not feeling right, but she was able to justify it anyway." Over a period of months, Donaway's condition deteriorated, but she never missed a day at work. It was a nurse at AGH, watching Donaway struggle to do her job, who finally insisted that she see Jeffery Etherton, a local cardiologist. "It didn't take a rocket scientist to see there was a problem; it wasn't in her mind, "Etherton said. Donaway was ecstatic to find a doctor who finally believed there was something physically wrong, even if he wasn't sure what was causing the problem.

"It is so important to find a doctor who listens and understands,"she said. Etherton admitted Donaway to the hospital and ordered several days of extensive testing. After that, he recommended she see a team of experts at Johns Hopkins Hospital. That's where she learned there was a hole between the upper chambers of her heart, keeping more and more blood from traveling through her lungs, starving her of oxygen. Donaway jokes now that her reluctance to seek medical help was a byproduct of her illness. "Obviously I wasn't thinking right. I wasn't getting oxygen to my brain!"

Her condition was very rare. Etherton calls it "a very sneaky problem." The hole in her heart was disquised by a flap of skin and her problems were more severe when she was upright;many of her earlier tests had been conducted while she was lying down. It was clear that she would need surgery. Donaway and her husband, Jamie, had to make a decision. She could have open heart surgery to repair her heart, or she could try a less invasive procedure which would robotically maneuver a fabric-like patch called a cardio seal device over the hole. They opted for the patch. It didn't work, but that wasn't clear for months. The doctors wouldn't discover until much later that the patch had inexplicably become dislodged. In fact, the prongs that should have secured it came dangerously close to piercing her heart. For six months, Donaway continued to suffer, thinking mistakenly that tissue growth around the patch would eventually make her feel better. What should have been a period of recuperation was, instead, filled with more frightening symptoms.

Feather was with Donaway when she suffered one of several T.I.A., or mini-strokes, she would endure; this one left her blind for several minutes. We've got to do something, " Feather told her friend. It was time to face the prospect of open heart surgery. It was a risky procedure for someone whose heart had already been through so much. "The key is to overcome fear," Donaway said. She drew on her faith in God and the support of family and friends.

In April 2009, she was back in an operating room at John Hopkins. It was a six-hour procedure; her heart was bypassed for more than 40 minutes. Everyone believed once she had survived that, the worst was over. They were wrong. Doctors still don't know why, just hours after surgery, Donaway began to bleed internally. She was slipping away. But she wrote in a blog posting, months later, that despite the medical chaos around her, she knew she would survive. She felt that God was with her. Donaway was rushed back to the operating room for her second open-heart surgery in less than 24 hours. Surgeons were able to stabilize her condition.

It was, as she describes it, the beginning of her new life. There are plenty of lessons to learn from this dramatic tale: Don't suffer in silence, listen to your gut, get a second opinion.

But it is simply one chapter in Anne Donaway's dramatic life story. Her pain leading up to two open-heart surgeries is overshadowed by the determination that followed. "It is a testimony to her strength and her mindset," Feather said. "She was not going to let this derail her plans for her life." So, in December 2009, as Feather and Donaway started to think about resolutions for the new year, Donaway decided to make 2010 her "year of adventure." She laid out a plan to try new things, to live her life to the fullest. "I wanted to show my kids that I was down, but look at how strong I am. You can't keep me down," she said. Donaway proved it by flying a plane, competing in a 5K "mudrun," learning to shoot a rifle, kayaking, glass blowing, beekeeping, even riding a mechanical bull. She also used her new gift of life to help others. She became actively involved in charity fundraisers and she took time to share her journey of faith with local church groups. "I have zero fears now," Donaway said. "I have such a great sense of fulfillment....I know my kids see me as happy and strong." Her positive attitude has a positive impact on everyone around her.

"She had a brush with death.....She knows how important it is to spend time with your family and to help other people," Etherton said. "She's definitely a special person. No matter what, she's always positive, always upbeat, constantly trying to find ways to help other people."

As many who survive life-threatening situations do, Donaway has struggled with her purpose in life. Why was she saved in that second emergency? She found an answer last August. That's when she had her children's hearts checked, just in case. The test revealed a small hole in her 6-year old son Dax's heart. "I firmly believe that's why I'm here," she said. "I've been through the worst of the worst, and now I can help him." Dax is an active little boy who plays soccer and has performed with a local theater troupe. His heart defect has been caught early and that will make a difference. There is time for his parents to consider his options. It's possible that improvements in medical technology will expand his choices. What's clear is that he won't be alone. "She's prepared more than any other mother I know to go through this," Feather said. "Because she lived it."