“There are so many points where I feel like I could have been dead, and every day I wonder why I’m still here… because I didn’t think I would be.”
Kerrie Kent, sitting on a bench overlooking the wharf in Bristol, had told her future husband Tom that she had congenital heart disease and that she was “probably going to have a rough ride in life”.
“I told him this was his chance to get out now,” said the now 39-year-old. “But it was too late: we were too in love then.”
And Kerrie has had a rough ride since then — but sadly, she’s underestimated that fact.
The East Sussex resident was born with the condition, a birth defect that affects how the heart works, but wasn’t diagnosed until she was five months old.
“Despite my paleness, cold legs and feet, bouts of excessive sweating and labored breathing, my mother was repeatedly told by doctors that I would ‘grow’ out of my difficulties,” Kerrie told Metro.co.uk.
After being diagnosed, she had surgery to correct the narrowing of the aorta and immediately began to ‘bloom’, living a ‘normal childhood’ save for occasional checkups.
It wasn’t until she was 28 years old and living in London that things changed after she attended a routine test at the Royal Brompton Hospital.
“During the MRI scan, I heard them say something wasn’t right, and it was immediately clear that something was seriously wrong,” says Kerrie, who is now an artist and creative director of her own company, The Brand Studio.
“I had a tendency before that because I had panic attacks when I was on the Tube, and I didn’t understand why, because there were no other symptoms.”
They found that her aortic valve wasn’t working properly, allowing blood back into her heart — and it was enlarged to twice its normal size.
Six months later, she underwent open heart surgery to replace it with a pig tissue valve, and in 2015 she had to be replaced again with a cow tissue valve.
She said she married Tom, 40, in 2013, Kerrie said: ‘Oddly enough, having a baby was something I never really thought about. But I was told at the Brompton that my condition would make it difficult for me to carry a baby, and it would have to be pre-planned if we decided this is what we wanted and I would have to be under close supervision. stand.
“I thought, ‘I’ll fucking do that.'”
What is a congenital heart defect?
According to the NHSCongenital heart disease is a general term for a range of birth defects that affect the normal functioning of the heart.
The word “congenital” means that the condition is present from birth.
It is one of the most common forms of birth defect, affecting nearly 1 in 100 babies born in the UK.
Symptoms, especially in infants and children, may include:
- high heart rate
- fast breathing
- Swelling of the legs, abdomen or around the eyes
- Extreme fatigue and fatigue
- A blue tint to the skin or lips (called cyanosis)
- Fatigue and rapid breathing while feeding a baby
These problems are sometimes noticeable soon after birth, although mild abnormalities may not lead to problems until later in life.
After six months of recovery from her second surgery, she was told a board of directors at the hospital had to sign it if Kerrie wanted to try to conceive.
“The concern was that my heart wouldn’t be able to handle the strain of a nine-month pregnancy and it could be a risk to my life,” she explained.
“I became hysterical at that point because I had to wait for the green light from all these medical professionals to get pregnant.
“I had high blood pressure during my pregnancy that I was on medication for and that meant my baby was born smaller than it normally would have been.”
She welcomed son Walter, now 5, after what she said was a “terrible time” when she had to fight to have a cesarean section.
“I finally got little Walter out and he’s perfect,” she said.
“Everything was going well and I loved being a mother. We bought a house, renovated it and sold it and then bought a bigger house to renovate.’
But in May last year, Kerrie said she got “very, very sick” and 2021 turned out to be “the most traumatic year” of her life.
“The first thing I knew was that I was giving a presentation to a potential new client and suddenly I started speaking my words,” she said.
“I told myself to keep sipping my drink and I’ll be fine. Then I felt breathless like someone stepped on my chest.’
When she got home, she called her husband to tell him that something was seriously wrong.
“Deep down I knew I was dying, though I didn’t tell him,” she said.
Curry had a very high temperature that led medics to believe she had coronavirus – but the next day Tom took her to the emergency room at Tunbridge Wells Hospital in Pembury.
Then doctors discovered she had sepsis caused by infective endocarditis, a rare and potentially fatal infection of the inner lining of the heart. Her organs, including her intestines and liver, started shutting it down.
“A skin bug had entered my bloodstream from a small cut somewhere,” Kerrie said. “The bug went straight to the weak part of my heart, the replaced valve, and sat on it. It actually destroyed my heart.
“I was told it had been going on for two months without my knowing.”
Kerrie was told that her only chance of survival was a very risky surgery, forcing her to say goodbye to her family.
The operation lasted 19 hours and a vein was taken from her left leg to place in her heart, leaving Kerrie incapacitated.
Her surgeon said “he had never seen such an infected heart,” added Kerrie.
Her chest was open for four days, she was in an artificial coma for 20 days and then in the hospital for three months.
As she slowly woke up from her coma, her husband Tom said to her, “You must come back to us now.”
Kerrie said, “And from then on I did.
“I had to relearn how to speak and walk and use my hands again… it was horrible.
“At that point in the hospital, when I was going through this, I just didn’t think about having a child because my body was just saving its energy for the vital things. I still feel guilty about that.
“I don’t even think the doctors and the surgeon could believe I made it…because I couldn’t.”
Although her kidneys have been badly damaged and are functioning at 36% of maximum function, doctors are currently “very happy” with the condition of her heart.
“I haven’t asked what the future holds because I’m afraid to hear the answer,” added Kerrie. “However, I know it cost me years of my life.
“Right now I feel really good, although I have PTSD from what I went through last year.
‘I call it ‘getting stuck in chapters’. On any given day, I can get stuck in any chapter of that journey and relive it.
‘Other days I focus on the here and now. It’s a constant challenge.
“But I’m just glad I’m still alive and my goal is to be a mummy for as long as possible.”
As she goes through her ordeal, Kerrie launched a range of merchandise to raise money for the British Heart Foundation (BHF) and the Brompton, including a set of enamel pins engraved with the word ‘brave’.
She has since been nominated for the innovative fundraising award at the BHF’s Heart Hero Awards in December, for which Metro.co.uk is the media partner.
The British Heart Foundation Heart Hero Awards 2022
A BHF Heart Hero, with Metro.co.uk as its media partner this year, can be anyone from a caregiver who does exceptional work, to a young person with a heart condition who has shown incredible courage and determination, to an inspiring fundraiser who has creative ways found to help fund research.
The nominees will be invited to an awards ceremony in London on Thursday 1 December, where the winners will be announced.
Scottish footballer Scott Allan and TV and radio host Will Njobvu are among this year’s celebrity judges, with Vernon Kay hosting.
There are eight categories to vote for, including Young Heart Hero, CPR Hero, and Innovative Fundraiser.
The award ceremony raises awareness of the ongoing need for funding for the groundbreaking research that is making science fiction a reality and bringing hope to more than seven million people in the UK living with cardiovascular disease.
For more information about the categories or to make a nomination, visit the website of the British Heart Foundation.
Entries will close at 5pm on May 31, 2022, but certain categories will remain open all year round. Good luck!
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