{"id":2982,"date":"2018-02-21T16:56:04","date_gmt":"2018-02-21T16:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.osfhealthcare.org\/blog\/?p=2982"},"modified":"2019-07-11T16:30:14","modified_gmt":"2019-07-11T21:30:14","slug":"long-heart-journey-encourages-others-to-keep-faith","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/osf-blog.live.imagescape.com\/blog\/long-heart-journey-encourages-others-to-keep-faith\/","title":{"rendered":"Long heart journey encourages others to keep faith"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Christine Thirty years. That\u2019s how long Christine Bathe was unaware that she had a heart condition.<\/p>\n

In 1992, Christine Bathe, 30 at the time, was working as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center<\/a> in Bloomington, Illinois.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started having severe pain in my upper back,\u201d Christine said. \u201cBut I thought I was too young to be having heart-related issues.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christine\u2019s primary care physician suggested she get an echocardiogram (EKG) done on her heart. It came back abnormal.<\/p>\n

Christine was admitted to OSF St. Joseph and was diagnosed with myocardial bridging \u2013 a condition where a coronary artery is buried within the heart instead of sitting on top of it.<\/p>\n

Thinking her condition could be controlled by medication and regular checkups with Dr. James McCriskin, her cardiologist, she would soon find out her heart journey was only just beginning.<\/p>\n

Without a pulse<\/h2>\n

It was late one evening in 1993. Christine was working a night shift at OSF St. Joseph. She was standing at the nurses\u2019 station reviewing patients\u2019 charts when she felt her heart rate go up.<\/p>\n

Suddenly, Christine collapsed.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last thing I remember was telling the two nurses next to me that I didn\u2019t feel well,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

Christine was gray and didn\u2019t have a pulse. A Code Blue was called \u2013 a code to alert a specific care team that someone is in cardiac arrest. Fortunately, Christine opened her eyes after receiving oxygen and CPR.<\/p>\n

Christine was admitted to OSF St. Joseph, where she underwent further testing. It was determined her myocardial bridging was the source of her heart stopping. Her medication was adjusted from the result of that heart episode.<\/p>\n

A heart attack a half a world from home<\/h2>\n

In 1995, Christine had the opportunity to go to Vladimir, Russia, with Dr. Stephen Matter, Dr. McCriskin and a few other nurses from OSF St.\u00a0Joseph and another local hospital to teach cardiac medicine.<\/p>\n

On day two of the trip, the group was touring a hospital when Christine started to feel ill. She alerted Deb Berry, a nurse she had traveled with, and Christine fell to the floor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I opened my eyes, Dr. McCriskin was giving me rescue breaths, and Deb was straddled over me giving me chest compressions,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

Christine was admitted to the ICU in a Russian hospital for two days, and was released to be cared for by Dr. McCriskin and the health team that Christine came with. She stayed for the remainder of the two-week trip, but wasn\u2019t able to teach her courses due to her heart attack<\/a>.<\/p>\n

After arriving back home from Russia, Dr. McCriskin determined Christine needed open heart surgery to repair her myocardial bridging.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy left descending coronary artery was buried inside my heart. When my heart contracted, it completely occluded the blood flow in that artery,\u201d Christine said. \u201cSo, they cut a v-shape in my heart muscle and pulled my artery out of my heart and placed it back on top of my heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

In addition to her open heart surgery, Christine also had a pacemaker put in. When Christine\u2019s heart rate dropped to 65, it would stop. The pacemaker was set to 70, so her heart rate would never dip below that.<\/p>\n

A heart full of love<\/h2>\n

\"ChristineAbout a year and half after her open heart surgery, Christine married the love of her life, Mike. A little over a year after they were married, the couple was expecting a baby girl.<\/p>\n

At five months pregnant, Christine didn\u2019t feel her daughter move as much as usual. Christine was put on bed rest and had weekly non-stress tests.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the extra fluid when I was pregnant was taxing on my heart,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

On April 6, 1999, three weeks before her due date, Christine\u2019s blood pressure was too high and she was immediately induced. Christine delivered a healthy baby girl, Courtney.<\/p>\n

Soon after the birth of Courtney, Christine starting having more upper back pain. She developed scar tissue from her first surgery, which pushed the artery back into her heart. In June 2000, she had to have a second open heart surgery to repair it.<\/p>\n

After the surgery, Christine didn\u2019t experience any issues with her heart for the next decade.<\/p>\n

But on Easter Sunday 2010, she felt an abnormal heart rhythm, was dizzy and felt like she may pass out. The following day, Christine followed up with Dr. Patrick Murphy \u2013\u00a0the cardiologist she began\u00a0seeing when her insurance changed.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was able to look at my pacemaker history and found that I had episodes of ventricular tachycardia<\/a> [a condition where the lower chambers of the heart beat quickly], which can be life threatening,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

As a precaution, Christine had a defibrillator put in, which internally shocks the person if it senses an abnormal heart rhythm.<\/p>\n

\u201cLuckily, I haven\u2019t been shocked to this day,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

A staggering diagnosis<\/h2>\n

In 2015, Christine had a cardiac catheterization for recurrent chest pain. The results showed noticeable changes in her heart.<\/p>\n

In addition to her myocardial bridging, Christine was diagnosed with apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy<\/a> \u2013 which isn\u2019t common.<\/p>\n

Apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is a condition where the heart muscle is thickened, leaving less space for blood to fill the heart. When the heart contracts, it\u2019s unable to push all the volume of the blood within the heart out because of its thickness. Symptoms can be shortness of breath, chest pain with activity and fatigue.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart doesn\u2019t fill with the accurate amount of blood needed because the space inside the heart muscle is too narrow,\u201d Christine said.<\/p>\n

To treat her new diagnosis, Christine\u2019s medication was altered and her pacemaker was reprogrammed.<\/p>\n

Christine\u2019s condition \u2013 apical hypertrophic cardiomyopathy \u2013 is genetic, but she hasn\u2019t been able to find a single family member who has her same condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born with the heart condition but we didn\u2019t know it back then,\u201d Christine said. \u201cI passed out quite a bit as a child, but didn\u2019t give my heart a thought.\u201d<\/p>\n

Christine\u2019s advice to others going through a difficult heart-related journey \u201cis to keep praying and keep trusting God.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe way I look at everything I\u2019ve gone through is it was in God\u2019s plan,\u201d Christine said. \u201cOne of the reasons I believe was when I was still working in the ICU. I had the opportunity to share my story with my patients \u2013 especially younger patients \u2013 and let them know there is a good outcome at the end of their journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Christine is living a healthy life with her family, working as a patient placement nurse at OSF Saint Joseph.<\/p>\n

\u201cI encourage anyone to get checked out by their doctor \u2013 even with the smallest of symptoms,\u201d Christine said. \u201cIt could save your life.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thirty years. That\u2019s how long Christine Bathe was unaware that she had a heart condition. In 1992, Christine Bathe, 30 at the time, was working as an Intensive Care Unit nurse at OSF HealthCare St. Joseph Medical Center in Bloomington, Illinois. \u201cI started having severe pain in my upper back,\u201d Christine said. \u201cBut I thought […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":25,"featured_media":2985,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[105,223],"tags":[113,655,339,722],"coauthors":[690],"class_list":["post-2982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cardiovascular","category-patient-story","tag-heart-attack","tag-osf-cardiovascular-institute","tag-osf-st-joseph","tag-pacemaker"],"yoast_head":"\nLong heart health journey encourages others to keep faith<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Thirty years. 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