So Here's My Story: In 7th grade -after years and years of tests and not being sure what was causing the pains I kept getting in my chest- I was diagnosed with a heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy.. most abbreiviate it as HCM. It means that the left ventricle of my heart is thicker than it should be. This is the same disease that causes many deaths in active teens every years. Thankfully, mine was caught by the doctors early enough -If it had been just a few months later, I would have been involved in Basketball and Volleyball through school. After being diagnosed, I was restricted to absolutely no physical activity. My BPM, Beats Per Minute, could not even go higher than 80, because it could cause me to have a heart attack. So after almost 2 years of no P.E., Sports, or even running, I discovered my love and passion for writing. For so long, I had dreamed of being the star Volleyball player, and then after that was taken away, I wasn't sure what I would be. I think it took all of that, though, for me to write as much as I did, and find out that I was happier with writing than I ever imagined I could be with sports. Time passed, and I was doing just fine -all my cardiology appointments had gone well, and nothing had worsened in my heart- until April 4, 2012 at 11:28pm, after a normal day of school, when I stopped breathing and went into Cardiac Arest during my sleep. When they put me into the ambulance about 10 minutes later, my BPM was only at 23.. That's extremely low. Upon arrival at the local ER the doctor on call did not want to have me at his hospital because I was such a risk. We didn't know what had gone wrong, and this doctor decided to send me to St. Louis, MO because they are such a great children's hospital that specializes in Pediatric Cardiology. I literally remember the doctor saying "If she makes it to St. Louis, she'll be out of our hands." So I flew in the itty bitty plane to St. Louis, where they ran some tests and decided that it would be in my best intrest to have a Pacemaker/Defibrillator placed, and that the reason I went into Cardiac Arrest in the first lace was because I went into complete Heart Block (So basically, my heart fired on the top, and the bottom failed to squeeze in reply). The next morning, Good Friday: April 6, 2012 I had my first ever surgery. The device was implanted, and all was well. I went home the next day, and came back to the hospital regularly for check-ups. Now that I have the device, and have had it for 4 months, we have recently learned that my heart muscle is getting worse, and I will most likely have to have a transplant. Before I can go onto the transplant list, though, I have to have a Cardiac catheterization done. This is when they go up to my heart through veins in my thighs to take measurements of my heart muscle, to see exactly how soon we need to put me on The List. We have just scheduled this test to be done on September 10, 2012. As the date approaches and as the test is completed, I will keep this blog updated. This is so you can follow my doctors appointments if you wish, and will always know what's around the corner for me. You can email me, and/or comment with any questions or thoughts you may have, and I encourage you to do so! This blog, will be a record of My Journey from One Heart 2 Another.