Hope for the Holidays: Still feeling 20 years younger after HCM diagnosis and myectomy
Hey Heart Buddies! I am back for part two of Hope for the Holidays with Lisa Mihan who returns to share her incredible progress post-myectomy. Lisa was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy but never gave up. She has transformed from struggling with daily symptoms to thriving on the tennis court and embracing a more vibrant life. This episode isn't just about physical recovery—it's about overcoming mental and emotional hurdles too. Tune in to hear relatable stories of finding hope, building community, and the surprising gifts that come from life's toughest challenges.
You can listen to Lisa's original interview here.
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Transcript
It's not something I think about every day anymore. And that is so
Speaker:freeing. I mean, I used to. And as many heart patients do, you
Speaker:focus on your heart all the time. It's like you were thinking about what it's
Speaker:doing all the time and the sensations you're having and is it a
Speaker:good day and a bad day or bad minute? And it's
Speaker:just so freeing to be not
Speaker:so focused inward. So
Speaker:I just happy to be able
Speaker:to focus on other people instead of on my
Speaker:stuff. Welcome back to another episode,
Speaker:Open Heart Surgery with Boots. I am your host, Boots
Speaker:Knighton, and I am bringing back
Speaker:guests that are thriving since open heart
Speaker:surgery. And I'm welcoming back today Lisa
Speaker:Mayan, who is from a small town
Speaker:in New England. Lisa, thank you so, so much for coming back on
Speaker:the podcast. You were one of my first guests
Speaker:and your story has resonated with so
Speaker:many people. And I am so excited for you to
Speaker:provide an update today on how well you're doing.
Speaker:Thanks so much for having me back. And give
Speaker:us the 50,000 foot view
Speaker:again of your diagnosis. Okay,
Speaker:so at 56 years old, I was
Speaker:diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Speaker:It took me three, four years to get
Speaker:a proper diagnosis because it wasn't an obvious case.
Speaker:As a female patient seeking
Speaker:help from cardiologists, I was dismissed,
Speaker:told that I needed to calm down
Speaker:and take tums, which is maybe why
Speaker:my heart was bothering me. After I
Speaker:ate and then exercised all of this. So it was, it was
Speaker:quite a journey to get there. I ended up having a
Speaker:myctomy at New York University, NYU
Speaker:Langone. And it has absolutely
Speaker:changed my life for better. I do feel
Speaker:20 years younger still. And I really
Speaker:feel that I continue to improve two and a half
Speaker:years after the surgery, which is a surprise to me because I
Speaker:think I'm doing so great. And then all of a sudden, I realize I'm doing
Speaker:even better than I was six months ago or a year ago. That's
Speaker:incredible. And I am so happy for you. I
Speaker:mean, everyone has their own journey. And I
Speaker:just want to emphasize that to listeners, like, if you
Speaker:aren't feeling 20 years younger, if your journey has been more
Speaker:difficult. I'm sorry, I hear you. I see you.
Speaker:And we have to let go of expectations of how
Speaker:we wish things would go for ourselves. But I'm
Speaker:so happy to you, Lisa, that you've been willing to share your story
Speaker:because it does give all of us hope. And for me, like, my
Speaker:journey has been, I think, a little more difficult than yours. And what
Speaker:your story has emphasized to
Speaker:me is just don't stop fighting
Speaker:for my health. Keep, you know, keep the
Speaker:hope up, keep striving, keep the faith that
Speaker:the body can heal, it will heal, and that
Speaker:we all deserve to feel well and thrive.
Speaker:Absolutely. So now here we are, you know, many
Speaker:months after our first recording. How have things changed for you?
Speaker:You said you continue to physically improve, so what does
Speaker:that look like? And then I want to get into the spiritual mental
Speaker:health part too. So I
Speaker:notice I'm back to playing tennis four times a week.
Speaker:And I hike. And I do have some limitations
Speaker:from my doctors. They don't want me to hike mountains
Speaker:and have my heart rate raised for, you know, three, four hours at a time.
Speaker:They don't want me train for any marathons. It's all fine because I don't like
Speaker:that stuff anyway. But I do go for four or five
Speaker:mile walks without a problem with my friends in the hills.
Speaker:I don't do the straight up mountains, but the improvement
Speaker:looks like that. Now, I notice sometimes my friends will say
Speaker:to me, can you slow down? Whereas I was always saying to them, can you
Speaker:slow down for me? And I don't even realize that I'm walking
Speaker:so fast. I. And I'm not trying to do it. I just
Speaker:have the energy for it. And that always
Speaker:surprises me when that happens. Yesterday I played tennis with someone who
Speaker:had been injured and played with her in a year. And she said, I
Speaker:can't believe you what you're getting to. And she said, I remember seeing
Speaker:you like really out of breath, just like running four steps for a ball.
Speaker:And now she's like, you just keep going. And I guess it's other
Speaker:people commenting like that as well. Makes me realize,
Speaker:yeah, you know, I think I am even better than I was
Speaker:a year ago. So this is two and a half years post surgery for me
Speaker:now. And certainly it was. I'm. I'm not being a polyethylene. And it
Speaker:wasn't like the easiest road and it wasn't
Speaker:just a miracle. After day one out of the sur. Out of
Speaker:surgery, my story with you talked more in depth
Speaker:about how hard that was. But since the recovery,
Speaker:which really probably was three months,
Speaker:I. It was steady improvement. And I, I'm
Speaker:so grateful that to my surgeons and my team and
Speaker:that I had such a good outcome and feels super
Speaker:fortunate. You know, I'm not a very emotional person
Speaker:and this one's getting me. Oh, thank you.
Speaker:It's really incredible. It really is. It
Speaker:does feel like a miracle. It really does. Yeah. I'm just
Speaker:picturing you playing tennis and your friends are
Speaker:in awe. And that just highlights the benefit of community,
Speaker:that our friends can be our witnesses and remind us that
Speaker:we are strong and that we can overcome,
Speaker:like, the hardest of challenges. Absolutely. And I do
Speaker:remember how dismissed you felt. And yeah, this is
Speaker:just like the ultimate redemption. Yes.
Speaker:Like, yeah, look at me. I'm now playing tennis four days a week, huh?
Speaker:Yeah, exactly.
Speaker:Yeah. So where are you now on like the
Speaker:mental, emotional, spiritual path of this
Speaker:post? My. So
Speaker:I feel like I'm doing extremely well. It's. There are
Speaker:days. There are a couple of times that I got out of
Speaker:breath, like walking down the street, New York City. Once that New York is
Speaker:obviously flat. And I got out of breath and for no
Speaker:reason, which was one of the symptoms that had had before the
Speaker:surgery. And I pretty much had a panic attack.
Speaker:I called my doctor. I'm like, oh, my God, it's back.
Speaker:Like, what is this? Why is this happening?
Speaker:And I think it was just a fluke because it didn't happen again
Speaker:and you know, it. They. They just told me to keep an
Speaker:eye on and if it keeps happening to see me. But it
Speaker:didn't. But I. I realized, like, kind of I'm always close to
Speaker:the edge of being scared again. I don't think I'm
Speaker:over. Apparently really doesn't come back from the
Speaker:surgery, but you could have some symptoms
Speaker:still. And anyhow, I. I guess
Speaker:I realize it's. It's not gone. Like, even though I'm
Speaker:feeling so great and I'm so grateful and thankful every
Speaker:day, you know, it doesn't take much to put me back in the.
Speaker:Holy crap, this. You know, what. What's happening to me.
Speaker:Yeah, I. I have found that too. If I get. I'm not as
Speaker:reactive now, but still when there's a palpitation
Speaker:or. Yeah, I'm just not quite like, fully rested and my heart's
Speaker:still kind of like a question mark for the day. I too
Speaker:kind of go, oh, gosh. Oh, gosh, what's happening, Mom?
Speaker:And like. Yep. And just. I think it was just
Speaker:yesterday I thought to myself, oh, wow,
Speaker:I haven't been to the ER in almost a year.
Speaker:Fancy. Yeah.
Speaker:Like, that's kind of. Like, that's amazing. And that's also kind of
Speaker:sad.
Speaker:Exactly. How about the, like, the emotional
Speaker:spiritual parts? I. I really
Speaker:feel that I'm living in a space of
Speaker:gratitude now, you know, for the friends and
Speaker:my family, my husband, my children who got me through it
Speaker:and it's not something I think about every day anymore. And that
Speaker:is so freeing. I mean, I used to. And as many heart patients
Speaker:do. You focus on your heart all the time. It's like you were thinking
Speaker:about what it's doing all the time and the sensations you're
Speaker:having and is it a good day and a bad day or bad minute or.
Speaker:And it's just so freeing to
Speaker:be not so focused inward.
Speaker:So I just happy to
Speaker:be able to focus on other people instead
Speaker:of on my stuff. Gosh, I resonate with that.
Speaker:And you're right. It. It just becomes like, you know, your head
Speaker:is down and, like, for so many different reasons. Right. You're just trying
Speaker:to get through it. You've been given this diagnosis. Now you
Speaker:gotta do something to basically save your life. And
Speaker:you're just looking inward, mind, body, spirit,
Speaker:trying to get through this thing and navigate the medical system.
Speaker:Yeah. And everything else just kind of falls away. It's true.
Speaker:And you can't. It's. It's not even possible to talk
Speaker:yourself out of that space and tell yourself, oh, it's going to be
Speaker:okay. When you know your heart is palpitating all the time or
Speaker:racing or whatever, or the chest pains or whatever your symptoms
Speaker:are. It's just. It's life or death. And it's really hard
Speaker:to. It's, I think, probably impossible, at least it was for me to
Speaker:come to get myself out of that until I'm Got through
Speaker:this, that really tough time and was relieved of the symptoms.
Speaker:Reality. Right. And I just want to normalize that.
Speaker:For those that are coming after you and myself, it's. It's
Speaker:okay that it takes over your life. It needs to. It's your
Speaker:heart. Yeah. And do what you have to do
Speaker:to get to the other side. Become the CEO of your
Speaker:healthcare. Ask for help. Come to Lisa. And
Speaker:I listen to other episodes. Be part
Speaker:of the Patreon community here. There's support groups on Facebook,
Speaker:like, don't be shy about taking up space in the
Speaker:world, in the heart world, and ask for what you need
Speaker:and trust that your family and
Speaker:your community will be there when it's time for you
Speaker:to lift your head up again. I have one more question for you.
Speaker:Speaking of community, did your community
Speaker:shift? Like, did you notice that, like, some friends
Speaker:fell away, some came in 100%?
Speaker:That happened to you as well? Yeah. Oh, yeah. It's.
Speaker:It's. I'm. I'm still taking
Speaker:note. It's been like this slow process, you
Speaker:know, It's. It's Just really interesting. And that's
Speaker:been an emotional, spiritual journey for sure. Yes.
Speaker:Trusting that like, people are in your life at all the right times
Speaker:and like letting go of needing to like white knuckle
Speaker:our relationships and being grateful for those who can
Speaker:be present in that moment of hardship and then
Speaker:lovingly letting them go if they need to, like move on because it's too
Speaker:much. For them or weren't able
Speaker:to understand what. Not, not that they weren't
Speaker:able to understand what we're going through because kind of nobody can, but to not
Speaker:attempt. I had a friend that I lost
Speaker:and I couldn't really
Speaker:get past. And I think she was
Speaker:disappointed that I was disappointed and think about that
Speaker:friendship sometimes. And that makes me sad, but also okay
Speaker:because you're also grateful for the friends
Speaker:and community that were there for you. And some people
Speaker:were a surprise. Some people were like, wow, you know, I didn't know
Speaker:how much you cared. And it's, it's like a lovely little
Speaker:gift you get. It sounds weird, but you don't get to
Speaker:hear how much people love you in your
Speaker:life all at once. And when you're going into open heart surgery, I
Speaker:guess you're afraid and people are afraid for you and so they
Speaker:express it. And it almost felt like most people have to
Speaker:die to get this kind of thing where, you know, everyone
Speaker:gets up and speaks about or tells stories about how much they
Speaker:love you, care for you. And that was like a
Speaker:very surprising and unbelievable gift that my
Speaker:friends and obviously family who love you, but that they, that I was
Speaker:able to experience that and hear from them, how they felt about me
Speaker:and could say how much I, that meant to me and how
Speaker:much I love them as well. And I don't know,
Speaker:that was, that was quite a surprising little nugget of
Speaker:goodness that came out of this. That's a beautiful place to end it
Speaker:on. Love and gratitude and appreciating those
Speaker:in our life. Yeah, absolutely. It's impossible to go through this
Speaker:alone. Nobody should try. And you need, you need
Speaker:people to love and support you and is the
Speaker:world and just encourage everybody to
Speaker:welcome whatever people are willing to give them. I love
Speaker:that being willing to welcome it in. Well, be
Speaker:sure to go back and listen to Lisa's story. I will put it
Speaker:in the show notes. It's an incredible story and
Speaker:as you've heard today, Lisa is absolutely
Speaker:thriving, kicking butt on the tennis court and
Speaker:walking and still feeling 20 years younger plus
Speaker:some and getting better with every passing day. Lisa, thanks
Speaker:again for your generosity and coming back on the program
Speaker:to give all of us more to have hope in and find
Speaker:faith in. You are a beautiful soul and New
Speaker:England is lucky to have you. Oh, thank you so much. Thank you. And thanks
Speaker:for all you're doing for everyone in this community space. Yes.
Speaker:And please come back next week for another
Speaker:Hope for the Holidays story. And if you
Speaker:haven't yet, you know I have a big favor to ask you listeners.
Speaker:Please leave a review. Please follow this show.
Speaker:It is amazing how much reviews make a difference
Speaker:with the heart patients finding me on Apple and Spotify.
Speaker:And if you can think of someone in your life today that needs to
Speaker:hear this story, share it with them. I would really appreciate
Speaker:this. We are a Spirit Small podcast and don't have a huge
Speaker:budget so I need all the help I can get from fellow heart buddies
Speaker:to help this show continue to grow around the globe. So
Speaker:thanks again. Be sure to come back next week and remember, I love
Speaker:you, you matter and your heart is your best friend.
