From Obstacles to Opportunities: How Being a Young Heart Disease Survivor Changed My Life
It was Friday, April 21, 2000. I was 17-years-old, sitting at the dinner table taking my first bite of salad when the phone rang. My mom answered, and soon the tears began streaming down her face. I knew immediately the tears were for me.
The doctor was calling to confirm I had the life-threatening, genetic heart condition called LongQT Syndrome. For two years we had waited for an answer as to why I had collapsed at the finish line of a track race. My world as I knew it came crashing down. I realized I would now have to live my life without the one thing I had felt most defined me: sports. No more playing basketball until the streetlights came on. No more racing my friends on the track. No more hopes for Division I soccer. No more dreams coming true for the girl who wanted nothing more than to compete the rest of her life.
I was a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment.
After hearing the news, I was confused, angry, sad ... but I was alive. I had been given a chance. I decided to concentrate on what I had, not on what I didn't have. So I did what any self-dignified jock would have done.
I entered a beauty pageant. (And yes, that was supposed to be sarcastic.) Now, I am probably the least likely beauty contestant ever. From the time I could walk, I preferred rolling around in the dirt and playing ball with the boys to wearing a dress or brushing my hair. But I saw the pageant as a new form of competition, a way to fill the void left by sports.
Even after walking across the stage more like a football player than a diva, I actually loved the competition, mostly because I was given an opportunity to speak to the judges regarding my platform issue of lethal heart syndromes. It was an empowering and therapeutic experience, and pageants soon became my new sport.
I had an Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) surgically placed in my chest 1 month before entering college. By some miracle I was able to return to sports without restrictions, a day I never thought would come...but I discovered I had a little pageant in my blood now, too. Displaying the new scar on my chest that the athlete in me insisted it was a war wound, I returned to the stage and worked hard.In June 2006, I became Miss Massachusetts.A million thoughts rushed through my mind when the crown was placed on my head, the same young woman who once couldn't walk in high-heeled shoes or put on mascara. Most importantly, I realized my new role would give me a megaphone for heart-disease awareness that could save lives.
Since my “reign” I have been able to speak on Capitol Hill, across the country, and in Canada about heart health. I am a national spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign, Parent Heart Watch, and other amazing organizations.I have met countless amazing survivors, and I truly love my work in educating and inspiring others. Additionally, I have developed a model called the 6 Steps to a Healthy Heart, a way of life I share with everyone wherever I go as a means to make heart health attainable and realistic.
I'm lucky--lucky to have a mom and dad who pushed to find answers, lucky to have doctors who cared, and certainly lucky to be alive. I'm just trying to give others that same chance.
For more information on Michaela’s story and how you can lead a heart healthier lifestyle, please visit: www.michaelagagne.com
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