一个快乐的出生，接着是心脏衰竭

Although Danecia Williams was 24 and healthy, her first pregnancy took a toll on her body. Her blood pressure spiked, straining her heart and other organs.

Doctors diagnosed her with preeclampsia and closely monitored her and the baby for months. 他们为她分娩时可能发生的情况做好了准备. Indeed, 她的心率急剧上升，而婴儿的心率急剧下降, 紧急剖宫产手术.

Williams greeted her new baby boy, Isaiah, as her blood pressure continued to climb. She stayed in the hospital for a week until her numbers stabilized.

She'd been home in Wichita, Kansas, for only two days when she started gasping for air. 她的腿肿了起来. Williams' mother rushed her to the doctor, who said an X-ray showed heart failure.

Williams thought heart failure was a condition for old people, not for a new mom in her 20s.

“我快要死了吗??" she thought. “我有了一个全新的孩子. 谁来照顾他呢?"

威廉姆斯直接去了医院. An echocardiogram showed her heart was functioning at 25% capacity. 医生确定她患有围产期心肌病, a rare condition in which the heart muscle weakens during or right after pregnancy.

They told her that people with similar heart function typically have around five years to live. 她接受了植入式心律转复除颤器.

威廉姆斯感到沮丧和焦虑. 她无法停止担心. 为了不去想她的诊断，她变得活跃起来. She spent time with her son, went out with friends every weekend and became active with her church.

六年后，她越来越累了. 爬楼梯到她的卧室很困难. 她感到胃部不适.

A few days after Christmas, Williams was in the kitchen getting cantaloupe for Isaiah. Across the room, 她哥哥看着她把一块掉在地板上, 然后把它捡起来放进她嘴里.

“他立刻意识到有些不对劲, 有些东西没有联系, 因为这不是我的正常行为," Williams said.

她能听到，但无法回应. 她哥哥打了911. 在医院，扫描显示她中风了. 在急诊室的时候，她得了另一个.

她的语言和行动并没有受到永久性影响. 但她的心.

她的心脏功能现在只有10%到15%, 医生把她列在等待心脏移植的名单上. 一年后，她的心脏功能进一步下降.

"Doctors told my mom, 'We need to do something or she's going to die,'" Williams said. "The hardest part for me was accepting that I might have left this earth and my child."

Doctors implanted a device that performed the workload for the left side of her heart. The left ventricular assist device enabled her to attend a mother-son dance at Isaiah's elementary school.

“这确实提高了生活质量，”她说.

A year later, she was getting ready for bed one night when the phone rang. 是俄克拉荷马城的移植医院. “他们说:‘我们已经为你接受了一颗心. 你有兴趣吗??"

她必须在三小时内赶到.

威廉姆斯的姐姐会喜欢以赛亚的. 在去他阿姨家之前, Isaiah slipped a framed photo of himself into his mom's bag and said, “你会需要这个的."

12个小时的手术很成功. 在她开始出现健康问题的八年后, 在移植名单上待了两年之后, 威廉姆斯有一个新的, strong heart.

She was told her donor was a teenage girl who'd been in a car accident. Williams figured out her identity: 17-year-old Rylee Malone, a high school senior from Texas.

Williams wrote the family to thank them and to tell them that because of their daughter, 她就能看着以赛亚长大.

家人回信了. 他们继续通信，然后通了电话. In September, on the four-year anniversary of Williams' transplant, they met in Texas.

Bart Malone listened to his daughter's heartbeat in Williams' chest. 当他这样做的时候，威廉姆斯说:“它很强壮，嗯?"

“它很强大，非常强大，”马龙流着泪说.

这次会面对威廉姆斯来说意味着结束. 对马龙来说，这是一种安慰.

“我妻子得了绝症, so hearing from Danecia when we did was one of God's smallest blessings," he said. “她是一位美丽的年轻女士，有一个美丽的故事. 我们觉得女儿的心脏很好."

发自内心的故事 chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.

If you have questions or comments about this story, please email (电子邮件保护).