My name is Dana and I'm 28 years old and have a heart defect that I've had since I was born. It is called Eisenmenger’s Syndrome. I was born in Colorado Spring, Colorado with complications and was flown to Denver for my first heart surgery. I had to have four heart surgery's and my last one was when I was 15 year's old and living in Oklahoma.

The doctors kept telling my Grandma that I would only live to be a certain age but I kept having birthdays so they quit giving me a time limit on my life! I had a good childhood, somewhat sheltered but I know that Grandma was cautious due to my condition. My Grandma and Grandpa raised me. We lived several places and I got to experience a lot of different things. I’ve lived in California, Oklahoma and Iowa. I miss Grandma and Grandpa very much. Grandpa went to be with the Lord in 1993 and Grandma met him there in November 2004. I now live with my brother, sister-in-law, niece, and nephew.

I’ve only been back in California for 8 months now and it has been a long struggle trying to find a doctor that will treat me. I understand that there are not many people living with my disease and that our local doctors do not deal with congenital defects so my sister-in-law had to do a lot of research to find my current cardiologist. My cardiologist is in Fresno, California. It is an hour from where we live but I enjoy seeing him. He is an adult Cardiologist and says that my condition is stable even though I am on oxygen 24/7 and have low O2 sats.

This May I will be visiting the Adult Congenital Heart Clinic at UCLA. I will undergo an echocardiogram and create a game plan so if I start to have complications my cardiologist in Fresno knows what is going on with me. I would love to chat with anyone who has visited the UCLA Clinic. I am nervous but know that I will be in good hands. I continue to grow and mature everyday because my family allows me to do things I have never experienced. I go to an Adult Day center where I live and have many friends and a boyfriend there. I enjoy going and hate it when I have to miss a day! Great Health for Everyone!