Hope for the Holidays: Overcoming Aortic Aneurysm and Bicuspid Aortic Valve

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We're all so lucky to have each other. I do want to share something that

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I've been hearing in my work with Heart valve Voice at these conferences I've

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been attending. Mental health is starting to get a buzz

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post treatment mental health. We're really trying to get

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the buzz going because it is a common theme

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in all the patients I talk to and no one is made aware

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of the potential mental processing that you need to

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do after you go through any type of a

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treatment that, you know, we all process differently.

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Welcome to Open Heart Surgery with Boots. I am

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your host, Boots Knighton and I'm excited to

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bring back Robin Peacock today for our

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Hope for the Holiday series. This has been such a

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great series. If you're just now finding us, welcome.

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I am honored that you have found this podcast and it

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is such a privilege to bring this

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to heart patients every week. And so please do find us

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on social media. You can find me on LinkedIn, go back and

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listen to previous episodes. I'm building a spoken

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library for heart patients and their caregivers

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and healthcare providers. So thank you for being part

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of this podcast. But today I am

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so happy to bring Robin Peacock, who has become a friend of

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mine, back to give us an update on her

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bicuspid journey. Robin, you are such a

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force of nature at 61 years old and

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you are thriving. You're giving back to heart

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patients. It really is amazing to

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see some heart patients just go about with their

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lives and that's fine. We're all here to do different things in the

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world. But you have made it a mission now to serve

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fellow heart patients like myself. And so it was just a no brainer

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trainer to bring you back for the series. So welcome.

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Thank you, Boots. It's, it is my pleasure to come back

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and just knowing you has enriched my life. And I'm just

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like I've told you, I'm in awe of what you're doing for all heart patients

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around the world and letting everyone have access to

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all these great interviews. It's just I enjoy listening to them and so

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thank you. So here we are a year later. I think I was on your

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show a year ago and just to give a brief overview

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of my journey, in 2007, I

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was diagnosed with an ascending aortic aneurysm and a bicuspid

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aortic valve. And I was watched for, you know,

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the next 15 years until my valve became severely

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stenotic, aortic stenosis. And I started feeling horrible.

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I started having extreme fatigue six months leading

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up to the surgery and my brain fog, you know,

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definitely I was forgetful and tired, and I just

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felt like I was 30 years older and I didn't understand what was

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happening. I ended up having surgery in June of

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2022. Now, really quick going back in 1998,

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when I was pregnant with my first child, they heard a murmur. And

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in the 90s, mitral valve prolapse was kind of a

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thing that people were being diagnosed with when they heard a murmur. So I was

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diagnosed with that. I did not have that. They missed the bicuspid

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valve, and they missed the aneurysm. So two full

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cardiac workups in 1998 and 2002, they missed

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it both times. And so it wasn't until I did a coronary

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calcium scan in 2007, and that's how it was

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diagnosed. That's where they found the aneurysm. And then

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through that, we found the bicuspid valve. So that just kind of brings you up

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to speed to 2022. 2022, I had open

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heart surgery at Cedars Sinai. It was super successful. I have

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recovered 100% physically, mentally.

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It's something that I think what I'm learning two and a

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half years out, I thought that I was one and done, and I had recovered

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and moving forward. And recently I participated in a

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therapeutic support group, and they brought me to tears because I

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think I still have some reconciliation to do about the magnitude of

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what I went through. And I'm a super positive,

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upbeat person, and I think I'm not allowing myself to

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feel some of the fear that I think

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I need to process now. So I'm. That's kind of where I'm at in,

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you know, the end of 2024. I'm starting to feel like I need

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to do some more introspection, some more therapy, work

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on kind of releasing. The fear of what

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I went through never allowed me to have. Never allowed it to happen.

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So, anyways, that's kind of where I'm at now on the

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mental side. Physically, I'm great. Physically, I'm great. I go for my

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checkup next month, and I'm looking forward to another

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great echo and another year of no

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appointments. But the greatest thing. Can I just share with you what I'm

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so excited, and I know you know about it, Boots, but I'm so excited to

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share with all of your listeners, is that through this journey, I

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have found a new purpose. I have found something that gives

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me such great fulfillment. And

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I am so excited to wake up every day because I get to Talk to

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patients. I get to go out and reach out to people. I accepted a

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role with Heart Valve Voice Us, and I am the director of patient

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engagement, which means I get to go out and talk to people. I get

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to listen to stories, I get to share resources,

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I get to make connections. And

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it's so fulfilling to me. I've always been in the

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nonprofit world and now focusing on

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heart health and women heart health, men heart

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health. It just makes me so happy when I hear someone

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come back to me and say, oh my gosh, I shared your story with

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my neighbor. And she ended up getting an

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appointment because she wasn't feeling well. And she's

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now, you know, having tavr because her valve was failing

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or. I just love it. I just absolutely love

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that I get to be out in the world meeting people and talking

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to people. And I feel like, I mean, I was super

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grateful after my open heart surgery in terms of just

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getting my, quote, second heart start is what I've always called it. But

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now I just feel like I'm. There's a reason

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why my heart got started the second time,

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and I get to just be out there and listen and help

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others through their journey. A lot of people I speak to are newly

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diagnosed and there's a lot of fear and

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uncertainty. And so between

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our other organization, Women Heart and Heart Valve Voice,

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you know, I pretty much have all bases covered. I can talk to people all

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over the country, all over the world, and just be a

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shoulder for some people. Yeah, so it's, it's super

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exciting. So there's, there's kind of where I'm. At today, and you turn

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into a glow bug when you talk about all of that. So it's very obvious

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that you are in your purpose. And, you

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know, it's interesting. I'm glad you bring up that. Processing the

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fear piece. Through my own journey of

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processing a variety of traumas, physical

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traumas in my life, what I've noticed is when an

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emotion is ready to be processed, it comes up.

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And when I think about facing heart

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surgery, you know, you and I and those listening

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who are going through the same thing, we don't have time

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necessarily to feel all our feelings because we're trying to

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survive. We, you know, we have to get to right to

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business of surviving, then healing. And

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then there's the expectation that we're going to

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return to our lives and get on with our lives.

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And I want to give permission to

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a feel whatever's coming up, but be just

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recognized that 2022 wasn't that long

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ago. No, no, you make a great

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point. And the emotion will come up when it.

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When you're. When it's ready or when you're in. A space to feel

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it, when the soul, the body, feels safe. And so

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you just mentioned all these incredible people that you get to.

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To mentor and network with. And

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you're working for Heart Valve Voice. We're heart buddies.

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You've made heart buddies through other avenues. And

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so, dare I say it, your body is probably finally

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feeling safe enough to allow that fear to come up.

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That's. That's good. When I'm in a room filled with

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heart patients, it does feel safe. It's very

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interesting you bring that up. I know we just saw each other at the Mayo

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Clinic for the symposium. And one of the

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things I always come away from those meetings is

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I'm surrounded by people who get it. And it's

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very therapeutic to listen to other stories and how they

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overcame certain things and how they processed.

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And we're all in this life together.

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And I don't know, there's just such value to

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be able to share stories and to listen to other stories

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and be able to kind of help process your own

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journey. It's definitely helpful. So that's a. That's interesting

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you say that. That it's because. Remember my. I think I said

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it in the first episode, all Faith, no fear.

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May 6. I was told I was having surgery in 30 days, and I just

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went on this high plane of all faith, no fear. And I just didn't allow

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it. I had no other option, no other choice. I had to get

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to business, like you say, I had to get through open heart surgery. I had

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to survive it. I had to prepare my family. I had to prepare

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the household. For me to be, you know, not able to

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maintain it for a month or two, there was just so much to do. I

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went on this higher plane, and I do. I do believe in God, and

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I do believe that he and the angels were with me. And so

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that is a very big part of my story, is my

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faith. But I. Interesting. I am in a

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much safer space now. You are correct, and I'm

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so grateful. And that's one of the many purposes of this

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podcast, is also to provide a safe space. Right. And

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so we helped you tell your story

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a year ago, and that started you on a really

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interesting path. But then reaching out to other heart patients,

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and if I may pat myself on the back here,

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you're not the only heart patient that I've helped find.

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Like, several heart patients have found their purpose through this

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podcast. And that is what this is all about. It's

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like we are going to carry each other

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over the finish line of open heart surgery because we

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can't expect the medical community to do it for us. Yes,

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they can save our lives. They can fix our valves and our

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myocardial bridges and clogged arteries, and thank

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goodness for that. But then we have to hug each other

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afterwards. We have to help with the mental spiritual part that

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the, that the Western medical community just isn't trained to do, nor do

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they have the time or the bandwidth. We need to know what we're getting

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when we go there. And it's not necessarily an empty well for

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water, but it's close. Right. And so. Right. Just enough

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to quench our thirst, Just enough to save our lives. And then,

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and then this podcast, Heart Valve Voice,

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Women, Heart achd, American Heart association,

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all these other nonprofits are, are here to

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help educate us and help us, teach us how to advocate for

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ourselves. You know, that's absolutely. A hundred percent. That is.

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You know, one of my greatest takeaways is because, you know,

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my husband calls me the hypochondriac who's always right. Because I'm a

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huge advocate for myself and I

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pursue it until I'm satisfied with the answer or satisfied

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that I've pursued enough of the options out

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there, not just for open heart surgery, but for anything that I've experienced over

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my life. You know, definitely, I am the expert on me.

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So we're also lucky to have each other. I. I do want to share something

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that I've been hearing in my work with Heart Valve Voice at these conferences

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I've been attending. Mental health is starting to get a

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buzz post treatment. Mental health. We're

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really trying to get the buzz going because it is a

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common theme in all the patients I talk to.

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And no one is made aware of the potential

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mental processing that you need to do after you go

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through any type of a treatment that, you know,

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we all process differently. So what. What affects me might not

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affect you. And. But there is a mental health buzz starting, and

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I'm super excited about it because I'm bringing it up with

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every physician I talk to, every conference I attend. Like, well, what about

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the mental health piece after you see the patient? Are you referring. Is

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there a questionnaire? Can we develop a questionnaire? Can we start a

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module to train on, you know, a CME

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basis to look out for certain things?

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Yeah. And I know when I was pregnant with my second

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child, I went through a Super deep postpartum depression after

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I gave birth. And thankfully, my OB was trained in

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the signs and called me in because

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he knew something wasn't right and I didn't

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see it at all. And I'm so grateful that he had

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that training is what I'm saying. And I think if we can continue to work

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in the cardio world for that training, that would be great. And

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that's a great segue. To wrap this up is to wrap up the

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series. I interview Dr. Laura

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Suarez Pardo, who you and I had the pleasure of

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meeting at the Mayo Clinic together. Oh. And

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she and I. I've already interviewed her. I'm going to air

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it in December of 2024. And we

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had a brilliant conversation on the

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connection between mental health and cardiovascular

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outcomes. And so I thought that would be a great way

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to bookend Hope for the Holidays. Oh, I'm so

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excited. It's a brilliant conversation. So for

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those listening, you know, in real time, her

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episode comes out after this one, so be

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sure to be looking out for, if you haven't already subscribe to the

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podcast number one, and then number two, then be

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looking for that episode. And you know what? Not only is

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she just brilliant, but just the nicest human

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and is really, really deeply

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invested in our mental health. We heart

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patients. And it shows. So

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fantastic. That gave me hope for the holidays.

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Good, good. Holidays are hard. They're not easy.

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Golly, get me through these things. But when January

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2nd rolls around, I'm, like, made it through another one.

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Hallelujah.

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Well, Robin, any, like, quick advice you'd like

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to give heart patients now that you've had a year to reflect since

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our last recording? Listen to your heart,

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listen to your body. I mean, that's, that's. We can't drum

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that loud enough and we just can't. Just

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listen to yourself and trust yourself, trust your gut, trust that you

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know something is off. I just heard someone yesterday talking about sharp

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pain between her shoulder blades, and she knew

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something was off. And sure enough, something was off.

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And you just know, you have an instinct, you

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know? So please, please, please listen. And I hope everyone

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takes good care of themselves for the next year and every year after that.

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Thanks, Robin. Thanks for coming back. Thank you. It's always good to see you. All

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right. Happy holidays. Yes, and thank

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you, listeners. Like I said, be sure to tune in

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for as the series wraps up. And then I'm going

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to re air a couple of episodes episodes to round out 2024,

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the ones that have been downloaded the most in 2024. So

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our greatest hits. And I want to thank

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listeners in Peru, Lebanon

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and Paraguay. I've been on the Apple

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charts all the way up to number four in Paraguay,

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actually just this week. And so I am seeing you in

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Peru, Lebanon and Paraguay way. Thank you for finding me. I'm

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so glad you're here. Do let me know what you need in those

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countries. You can send me an email bootsheartchamber

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podcast.com and most importantly,

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know that you aren't alone. I love you and your

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heart is your best friend. Come back next week.