The first symptoms for the illness appeared after the first year and a half of my marriage. We were a young couple living in a tiny apartment and all of a sudden I realized that as I walked from my bedroom to the kitchen I was exhausted!

It seems that after this tiny amount of exertion I was unnaturally tired, the sensation that I had no air and no energy. For example, I would hang up my laundry and immediately have to sit down to regain my breath. On the way to work, even as I stepped off the bus, I would be tired and feel short of breath! On a journey of less than 600 meters, I would have to stop six times to rest along the way, and when I arrived at the office I was hardly breathing. It would take me several minutes to regulate my breathing and regain a normal pulse.

Every simple action, such as getting dressed or putting on my shoes, would drain my energy as if I’d just run a marathon. My mother passed away from pulmonary hypertension and my brother was concerned that I had inherited the disease from her. He forced me to go back to my family doctor who had previously dismissed me after a few simple tests, convincing me that there was no issue. I put my fears aside and went back to the doctor. The doctor was not very impressed by what I had to say, and felt I was simply experiencing anxiety or panic attacks. Only after I shared the information about my mother, did she do me the favor of sending me for an echo.

After three and a half months of waiting, my appointment date arrived. I asked the technician, who had a very serious expression on his face, what he saw, but he refused to answer me and called the doctor. The doctor told me exactly what I was hoping NOT to hear. That I too, just like my mother, have pulmonary hypertension.

I started to cry like a little girl. All I saw in front of my eyes was my mother. I couldn’t believe that my fate would be different to hers. I was most afraid of the worst possible outcome. I felt helpless and threatened.

Today, years later, I cope with my illness – I take medication which unfortunately doesn’t heal, but does improve my symptoms and allows me to live a relatively normal life.