{"id":669,"date":"2020-09-02T03:54:09","date_gmt":"2020-09-02T03:54:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/?p=669"},"modified":"2020-09-02T03:54:09","modified_gmt":"2020-09-02T03:54:09","slug":"amazing-things-cherie-aimee","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/amazing-things-cherie-aimee\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazing Things: Cherie Aim\u00e9e"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Cherie Aim\u00e9e had been having trouble breathing for weeks. \u201cBut no one could figure out what was wrong with me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d she says. \u201cOther times, I\u2019d start hyperventilating until I collapsed.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 35-year-old cancer survivor had already made one trip to a local emergency room in the spring of 2010. Her husband, Doug, rushed her there a second time that spring, when she started complaining her \u201carms felt heavy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As it turned out, her heart was failing. Within 10 minutes of arriving at a hospital near their home in Connecticut, Cherie went into\u00a0cardiac arrest, with a flatline on the monitor that wouldn\u2019t budge.<\/p>\n

When Cherie\u2019s heart failed to restart, her care team continued CPR while a cardiologist began a temporary life-support treatment called ECMO. By means of catheters, Cherie was connected to equipment that drained her blood, circulated, and oxygenated it outside her body, then re-infused it into her vascular system.<\/p>\n

Cherie\u2019s doctor then reached out to NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia University Irving Medical Center, which sent members of the cardiac surgery department by ambulance to Connecticut and returned with Cherie in their care.<\/p>\n

At NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia, Cherie underwent surgery to take her off ECMO and put her on a more durable cardiac support system.<\/p>\n

But that wasn\u2019t the only problem Cherie was facing. During CPR, several of Cherie\u2019s ribs were broken and she was bleeding into her lung, forcing her to keep relying on the machine for oxygenation as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe was unconscious, and she developed multiple complications,\u201d recalls\u00a0Dr. Yoshifumi Naka, director of the Cardiac Transplantation Program at NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia, who, with\u00a0Dr. Hiroo Takayama, director of the Aortic Surgery Program, treated Cherie. \u201cShe almost died a million times.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cherie remained on life support at the hospital and was put into a medically induced coma for several weeks.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cI was scared but soon realized that I could rely on the emotional support of the entire staff. They all played a role in my recovery.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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When Cherie\u2019s family feared the worst, her doctors\u2019 confidence helped them have faith. \u201cMy family would not have gotten through it without the assurance Dr. Naka and Dr. Takayama gave them,\u201d she says. \u201cEvery day, Dr. Takayama said, \u2018She\u2019s young. She\u2019s going to be fine.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen my condition finally improved, the doctors allowed me to wake up,\u201d she says. \u201cI was scared but soon realized that I could rely on the emotional support of the entire staff. When I talk about staff, I don\u2019t just mean the surgeons, the medical doctors, the nurses, the physician assistants. I mean right down to the people who cleaned the rooms, who washed the floors, who emptied the trash every day. They all played a role in my recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Not Her First Battle<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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Before she was hospitalized for heart failure and cardiac arrest, Cherie had been diagnosed with a type of cancer called Hodgkin lymphoma in 2008. At the time of her cardiac arrest, her cancer was in remission, but the medications she had taken to treat it, including Adriamycin, a common chemotherapy drug also used for breast cancer patients, can progressively weaken the heart and cause heart failure.\u00a0Though Cherie had a history of arrhythmia, or an abnormal or irregular heartbeat, her doctor had taken her off her anti-arrhythmia drug during the chemotherapy.\u00a0<\/span>At that time, \u201cthe priority was becoming cancer-free,\u201d explains Cherie, who had been in remission for eight months at the time. \u201cManaging my heart rate got lost in the shuffle.\u201d<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

After weeks of support from the heart pump, attempts were made to remove it, but they were unsuccessful. Cherie\u2019s heart had permanent damage from the chemotherapy.<\/p>\n

\u201cCherie was not heart-transplant eligible at that time because her history of cancer was too recent to give any certainty of cure,\u201d recalls\u00a0Dr. Paolo Colombo, director of the Center for Advanced Cardiac Care (Heart Failure, Cardiac Transplantation and Mechanical Circulatory Support) at NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia. \u201cSo the decision was made to transition her to a more durable heart pump that would allow her to go home \u2014 a left ventricular assist device [LVAD].\u201d<\/p>\n

An LVAD is a heart pump that has several components: a pump that is implanted next to the heart and works in parallel with the heart to deliver blood into the big artery, aorta, which eventually distributes blood to the rest of the body. The second component is a cable that connects the pump to a small computerized controller, which is outside the body, attached to a belt, and powered by two external batteries that last up to 12 hours each.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe best way I can describe the LVAD is that you walk around every day as if you\u2019re carrying a baby,\u201d says Cherie. \u201cYou can\u2019t drop it, kink the wire, or twist the wire.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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A Long Wait<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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After receiving the LVAD, Cherie had to wait several years to be sure that her cancer was unlikely to come back. She was then put on the heart\u00a0transplant\u00a0waiting list.<\/p>\n

At the time that her cardiac arrest occurred in 2010, Cherie was running her own digital tech marketing firm with a staff of 20 that offered website development and digital marketing services.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I got home from the hospital all my muscles had atrophied, so I was in a wheelchair,\u201d says Cherie. \u201cI had also just recovered from cancer, so there was no way I could continue my tech firm.\u201d She shut down her business and lost touch with many of her friends. \u201cIt was the ultimate devastation,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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\u201cFrom the first day I came in, dead on arrival, myself and my family have never seen such exceptional nursing care.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Facing a loss of income, Cherie and her husband, who was injured in an accident in 2011 and had to file for disability insurance, lived off their savings and the insurance, which quickly started to run out.<\/p>\n

These changes affected Cherie\u2019s emotional state. Though she was grateful for the LVAD \u2014 \u201cI would not be alive today without the LVAD; my heart was not strong enough to continue on its own\u201d \u2014 she also struggled with the reality that she had to be connected to a machine to live.<\/p>\n

\u201cNobody understands what it\u2019s like to be kept alive by a machine,\u201d she says. \u201cWhen you\u2019re at home, and no longer surrounded by the hospital staff, there is a constant level of fear. \u2018\u2019<\/p>\n

At this low point, Cherie found solace in spending time at a scenic reservoir near her home. The daily visits offered a time of quiet reflection, which she used to learn how to love herself again.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had always been a go-getter and now it was like, \u2018Who am I dependent on a life-support device, with very few friends left?\u2019\u201d Sometimes she uncovered the answers through tears; other times she felt peace.<\/p>\n

With the help of her care team and a hospital support group, Cherie not only regained her sense of self; she began to thrive again. \u201cThankfully, NewYork-Presbyterian has a thorough heart-transplant program, which incorporates group training and therapy for those on the LVAD awaiting transplant,\u201d she says. \u201cBoth the patients and their caregivers can attend. This group helped me prepare physically and emotionally for surgery.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n

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Walking Through Fire<\/h2>\n<\/header>\n
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In late October 2014, Cherie received the call she had been waiting for: A donor heart was available. She returned to NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia to undergo a transplant. But it did not go as planned. Instead, a harrowing turn of events occurred when the donor heart didn\u2019t start right away, and Cherie was again placed on the same temporary life support, ECMO, that saved her years before. The heart recovered quickly and began functioning, and the life support was removed a little over a week later.<\/p>\n

After spending three months recovering in the hospital, Cherie returned home to Connecticut and slowly restarted her life. She began an exercise regimen. \u201cWith my new heart, I could run where I never could before,\u201d says Cherie, who is also back to running her own digital branding firm that offers client consultations and online personal branding training.<\/p>\n

Cherie says the past seven years have had a profound impact on her outlook, and she credits the care she received at NewYork-Presbyterian\/Columbia with putting her on the path to good health.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom the first day I came in, dead on arrival, myself and my family have never seen such exceptional nursing care,\u201d says Cherie. \u201cIt\u2019s hard for me to even share it without tearing up. Everybody in that cardiothoracic intensive care unit treated me like family from the moment I came in there. And I\u2019ll never forget, one of the nurses said to my mother, \u2018I know she\u2019s your daughter and I know you\u2019re terrified, but she\u2019s my daughter now and it\u2019s my responsibility to keep her alive.\u2019 I get goose bumps every time I think of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Once shy, Cherie says she now lives boldly. Before, she never tried to lead people. Now, she stands in front of international crowds speaking about her experience. \u201cMy talk is called \u2018How to Walk Through Fire.\u2019 It\u2019s about teaching people how to bounce back, how to be resilient, and how to find peace and love for yourself amidst the fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

In May, she traveled to Italy to share her story of triumph at a business retreat with 50 other entrepreneurs. \u201cIt\u2019s a miracle my heart was given enough time to rest on the LVAD, buying me time as I waited on the transplant list for a donor heart. There are no words to describe the gift of the LVAD device,\u201d she tells people. \u201cIt\u2019s the reason I\u2019m healthy and able to live out my purpose around the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cherie is growing her brand, Live Big Be Happy, into an inspirational platform, encouraging people to live their best life. The platform will showcase her upcoming podcast show, interviews with special guests, speaking events, books, articles, and resources.<\/p>\n

She is also a contributor and partner at Influencive, where she shares her message of hope with millions of readers.<\/p>\n

Soon, she plans to write a letter to her heart-transplant donor family to thank them for the gift of life.<\/p>\n

\u201cLives are being impacted through me thanks to the generosity of their loved one\u2019s heart,\u201d she says. \u201cAny lives I touch are touched by everyone who helped save my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source:\u00a0healthmatters.nyp.org<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cherie Aim\u00e9e had been having trouble breathing for weeks. \u201cBut no one could figure out what was wrong with me,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019d wake up in the middle of the night and feel like I couldn\u2019t breathe,\u201d she says. \u201cOther times, I\u2019d start hyperventilating until I collapsed.\u201d The 35-year-old cancer survivor had already made one […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2307],"tags":[2511,2510,2509,2517,2507,2519,2508,2518,2514,2513,2506,2516,2505,2512,2515],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":671,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669\/revisions\/671"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.talksomuch.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}