十几岁时发现的心脏病在她30多岁怀孕时突然发作

作为一个青少年, 克莱尔·斯普劳斯(Claire Sprouse)在芭蕾舞工作室花了几个小时来完善她的格子裙, 然后在舞台上表演. At 16, she started having chest pains.

The problem indeed turned out to be relatively minor – joints inflamed from overuse; all she needed was rest. 然而，在她去看儿科医生的过程中发生了别的事情.

他听了克莱尔的心脏，然后把听诊器递给克莱尔的母亲. Mila Sprouse, a cardiovascular care nurse.

“你听到了吗??他说.

"That's a heart murmur," Mila said.

进一步的检查显示克莱尔的主动脉瓣没有正常闭合. Because of that, blood was leaking backward into her heart. It's a condition known as aortic regurgitation.

在2001年，一种常见的治疗方法是通过心脏直视手术来更换瓣膜. Claire's case was mild to moderate. Mila's gut told her surgery wasn't necessary – yet. They decided Claire would instead get annual echocardiograms, 或者心脏超声波, to keep an eye on the problem.

尽管如此，医生警告说，她可能会在30岁时心力衰竭.

Claire finished high school and went to college. 快30岁的时候, 她从家乡休斯顿搬到了旧金山，开始了她的酒店业生涯. Thirty came and went and Claire's heart hadn't gotten worse. In her mid-30s, she moved to Brooklyn.

She got married and opened a restaurant, 这是一家以社区为中心的可持续性社区餐厅，供应美式食物. Claire kept up with her annual heart tests. Each year, results were unchanged.

“也许你永远不需要一个完整的瓣膜置换，”她的新医生说.

During the pandemic, Claire had to close her restaurant. 这是一个新的篇章. 她和她的合伙人，餐馆老板Nico Russell决定组建一个家庭.

Newly pregnant, Claire called Mila with the news. She was overjoyed to have a grandchild on the way, but – knowing Claire's heart history – worried, 太.

“系紧你的安全带，”米拉对她的丈夫、克莱尔的父亲罗伯特说.

At around four months pregnant, Claire was getting out of breath. That's a symptom of pregnancy, she told herself. But her obstetrician ordered a heart test.

The cardiologist sent Claire a message. He needed to speak with her right away.

Her valve was 太 weak to survive the pregnancy, he said. 她需要一个替代品. 现在.

“那孩子怎么办??克莱尔问.

"Talk to your obstetrician,他说.

Claire spent the next month in limbo. 她有了更多的预约，并与医生进行了反复的交谈. She felt health care professionals weren't communicating well. No one offered a firm plan for how to proceed. It felt like a game of hot potato.

怀孕五个月时，她开始去看一位高危产科医生. The baby was already kicking. 预约前, 一份关于克莱尔案件的电子信息不小心被发送给了克莱尔. It recommended terminating the pregnancy.

克莱尔打电话给当时西雅图的首席护理官米拉，哭了起来.

"I'm so sorry this happened," Mila said. “这是不可接受的. You have to put me in the middle of this conversation."

Claire emailed her doctor to say she wanted her mother, a nurse executive who specializes in heart care, 涉及到. "We got a really quick response after that," Mila said.

克莱尔与她的医疗保健专业人员和她的妈妈组织了一次电话会议. They talked about open-heart surgery. It was very risky for the baby. Mila随后询问了一种可以替代心脏直视手术的方法. It goes by the acronym of TAVR; it stands for transcatheter aortic valve replacement.

在不移除旧瓣膜的情况下，通过导管将一个新瓣膜插入心脏. It wasn't available when Claire was a teenager.

医生没有发现在此之前进行TAVR的证据. It wasn't clear if Claire could have the procedure. Meanwhile, it was getting harder for her to breathe.

经过额外的测试，她的医生决定他们可以进行TAVR. Claire was five and a half months pregnant. Mila and Robert flew to Brooklyn. 克莱尔在手术室的时候，米拉紧张地走在纽约附近的街道上.

手术非常成功，克莱尔第二天就出院了. Almost immediately, she breathed easier.

An ultrasound showed the baby was doing fine, 太.

Claire had a scheduled cesarean section. 当克莱尔把这个健康的男婴递给米拉时，她说:“来见见米洛." The baby was named after her.

米拉说:“他是一个奇迹宝宝，我们的奇迹宝宝，在他面前有很多东西。.

Claire's heart handled the birth fine. She'll continue to have annual exams. 在紧急情况下，她戴着一个身份证，上面写着她有一个人工瓣膜.

回顾, 克莱尔说，她很幸运，因为她觉得自己有能力去争取做出最佳决定所需的答案和信息.

"Part of that was help from my mom,她说, "and part of that is who I am, being a small business owner, identifying the problem and figuring out solutions. If it feels like you don't have all the information you need, you have to push for someone to give it to you. Sometimes people just aren't communicating well."

发自内心的故事 记录心脏病和中风幸存者、护理人员和倡导者的鼓舞人心的旅程.