“At age 30, I was physically tired and having heart palpitations. At one point, it was even hard for me to walk up the stairs,” says Ovuke' Emonina. “I’ve had cardiomyopathy since childhood,” she explains, “But I survived heart disease with the help of UAB.”

“The earliest I can remember, I probably was in the fourth grade, and my mother said, ‘You have a heart murmur,’ but I couldn’t really grasp the concept. I just heard them say, ‘You can’t play as much as the other children - you can kick the ball but you can’t participate in sports.’ Throughout my childhood, I was not able to take part in physical education or any type of sports.

“Most of the children in my family had heart murmurs - it’s genetic. As a concerned parent, my mom took all the necessary precautions, taking my brothers and me to the doctor.

“When I was in college, I was seeing a cardiologist, and I was diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is a thickening of the heart muscle. HCM was not as noticeable in my childhood but became more visible on my echocardiograms as I grew into adulthood. By age 25, I had to continuously be on medication and see my cardiologist regularly. Around that time I began going to UAB for my heart health care because this is where my mother received her heart transplant in 1995, and she recommended that I see Dr. Bourge as my cardiologist.

“Dr. Bourge noticed that my heart was gradually thickening more over time, which slowed down my heart rate; I was then diagnosed with bradycardia - slow heart rate. Dr. Bourge continued to monitor me. He would let me know, ‘Hey, you need to do some walking and lower your salt intake,’ things of that nature."

“In 2005, at age 30, I had just finished my master’s degree in counseling. But physically, I had become tired, and I was having palpitations. And I wasn’t doing anything to over-exert myself. I could just be sitting in my desk at work and begin to feel faint.

“I was hospitalized in June of 2005 because I was having palpitations, and my doctor said, ‘Ovuke', it’s time to get that implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD).’ He explained the whole procedure to me, told me about what type of ICD I would receive, and a list of Web sites where I could research it.

“On August 8, 2005, I underwent surgery to have an ICD put in. I came out of one-day surgery, and I went shopping the next day. So I was feeling better!

“After surgery, I had to take precautions to make sure the defibrillator leads didn’t come out. And it was three to five days before I could drive again. But there wasn’t much downtime.”

“I don’t get palpitations as much. Now I can keep going and going. My quality of life has definitely improved for the better. I am very blessed and give my thanks to God. I can keep a busier schedule and not feel as fatigued. I’m able to be more involved in church, civic and sorority activities. Now, if someone says, ‘Hey let’s go,’ I can go!

“I can also exercise a lot more than in the past - five or six days a week now, where I used to work out only one or two days. On the elliptical trainer, I used to be able to go only five minutes, but now I can go for 45.

“I continue to watch my diet, drink a lot of water, and eat in moderation.”

“My experience at UAB has been wonderful. I wanted to come to UAB because my mom had her transplant here in 1995 and they did such an excellent job with her. They have so many specialists here, and I knew I would get great care. They always informed me of what was going on. So my experience here at UAB, especially in the Heart Health area, has been great.”

“I continue to see two cardiologists – Dr. Bourge and Dr. Plumb at UAB – one to monitor my heart and one to monitor my ICD. When I come in to see Dr. Bourge and he asks, ‘Hey, how’s your Mom, how are your brothers?’ He’s concerned not just with my health but with my family.”

“If I had a friend who needed heart treatment, I would tell her about my experience and my mother’s experience here at UAB. And I’d say, ‘Find out as much as you can about women’s heart health.’ Women are complicated beings, so we have a lot of things going on. We should be more proactive in our health, not just certain areas but every area.

“I think a lot of women are so busy taking care of other people and so active in other people’s lives, they don’t take the time to take care of themselves. And women often think heart disease is a man’s disease.

“When I went into the hospital in 2005, a lot of people said, ‘You’re so young!’ I said, ‘You never know - have you taken a look at how you’re doing?’”