On the 73rd Episode of The Paul Cardall Podcast, HeartCharged Executives Hannah and her sister Bethany Keime talk about their personal experience with Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) and what they’re doing to help others live longer. Their disease is a common cause of sudden deaths among athletes. Paul, Bethany, and Hannah describe the disease and what they are doing to bring awareness and legislation to ensure a defibrillator is in every school and public building.
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https://paulcardall.com/podcast
ABOUT THE HEART IN HEARTCHARGED
Website: http://getheartcharged.org
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartcharged
According to the HeartCharged website, “Once upon a time we were average high-school girls. Then we were diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), which is better than not being diagnosed but not as good as not having it. We were extremely athletic and HCM is the #1 killer of student athletes. It is asymptomatic so it most often kills without warning. But we were screened and found out we had it.”
“We were immediately put on medications and made life-style changes so that our heart rates wouldn’t go up causing our hearts to fibrillate causing us to die. Then the condition got worse and those precautions weren’t deemed enough, so we had defibrillators implanted. The device would shock our hearts if they went out of control. Of course, we still take medications and are careful how we live.”
They continue, “We are so grateful to have found out and be managing our conditions. With that gratitude, we are trying to warn the world. Childhood deaths from undiagnosed heart conditions are preventable. We can end them. But we need people prepared to act in an emergency and our children evaluated to discover these life-threatening conditions.”
Because I have been given much, I too must give;
Because of thy great bounty Lord, each day I live; (Grace Noll Crowell)
- Because we were screened and it saved our lives, we want all children to have the heart screenings they need.
- Because we had each other to share the day-to-day dealing with our conditions with, we want others to be able to connect with fellow heartcharged warriors and know patient-to-patient what this life means.
- Because we have grown with gratitude, we want to express it so others know it exists.
- Because our hearts still quiver, we want others to know we walk on without surety.
- Because there are still sorrows in the world, we want people to feel our tears.
- Because our souls still find joy, we want others to smile loudly.
Join The Jolt
- Follow us on Instagram @heartcharged
- Stop preventable deaths. Prepare yourself and your community for a sudden cardiac emergency. Ensure heart conditions are found and treated.
- Share patient-to-patient information. Understand and embrace the HeartCharged Warrior life.
ABOUT BETHANY
We of HeartCharged take great pride in our Instagram account, The Jolt @heartcharged. We consider it our home base because it is really where we started connecting with our international HeartCharged friends, and those that care for them and care about them.
When you look at that account, we believe you will see a put-together page. The look is coordinated though the content is mixed. Gratitude and grace, facts and funnies, self-awareness and selfies are all apparent. Posts cover red days, blue days, happy days, what-is-happening days. You see the person, the patient, the giver, the receiver. And knowledge is unleashed so action can follow.
And as is the page, so is the page’s creator, the visionary who puts it all together, Bethany.
Bethany will tell you herself that when she was told she needed a defibrillator implanted that she, of course, worried what it would look like. She was, and is, a dancer, earning her BFA in Dance Performance. She communicates with her body. She had already been diagnosed with HCM for 5 years when she passed out a time then two. And all of a sudden, her doctors told her one day that in 10 days she would have a defibrillator implanted.
She will tell you herself about the days of doubt between the implanting and the unveiling. She spent weeks waiting for the bandages to come off to finally see who she had become. And when she saw, and it was no particularly small thing she saw especially in comparison to her small body, she looked on her new look and smiled. She did not see imperfection but strength and resiliency. And each day since, she has at her side that reminder of what is important and why it’s important and why she needs to do what she does.
Each piece of The Jolt page was picked with a purpose like Bethany’s outfit on a Saturday night. Even the color scheme – blue, red, white, gold - has HeartCharged meanings. Beta-blocker blue, heart red, oxycodone white, winner’s gold. The page is aptly named The Jolt because that is what a defibrillator sends to get someone's heart back in rhythm, and the page is ready to send a needed jolt to get someone's life back in rhythm. The first post up on The Jolt is perhaps Bethany’s mission statement. It is a quote, “One day you will tell your story about how you overcame that battle you went through, and God will send you the exact people who need to hear that story.”
And so on the page you will see her story. You will see her bulge in her bikini and know her battle. You will see her in a hospital gown and still grasp her glow. You will see her in leotards and lingerie, being charged or getting recharged. You may find that she flaunts her defibrillator, but she does so with a little girl’s fears and a strong woman’s faith. You may see her wonder and weep, strong and proud or down and out. But you will be able to see her. Her open-book approach to The Jolt page and her life makes her story just that easy to read and her battle just that easily known.
Bethany has gone down a path which others are traveling and she offers to take their hand as they do. She saw herself, she accepted herself, she showed herself, she showed gratitude. She is happy to help them do the same. And now that you know her, you can walk with her as a friend.
Email her at Bethany@getheartcharged.org
ABOUT HANNAH
If you’ve seen our Instagram account, The Jolt @heartcharged, then you’ve already met Hannah. And you really are lucky to have met her because how many people can say they know somebody who has been shocked twice by their defibrillator while lip-syncing to Celine Dion’s "All By Myself" on their high-school stage and gone on to finish the performance? (and not even mention it so she could get the pity vote and take 1st place instead of 2nd.)
You’ve been delighted by her quirky sense of humor (sharing spaghetti a la “Lady and the Tramp” with her ‘heart’ for her diagnosis anniversary).
You’ve been treated to her dramatic prowess (was she actually the one with HCM in One Tree Hill?).
You’ve enjoyed her editing skills, her directing talents, and her ability to really put together something out of almost nothing - all talents she is using now while studying film in college. (The Bionic Woman, what surgical instruments did they use for that implantation?).
You’ve observed her outreach (gathering World Heart Day wishes from dozens of her HeartCharged friends around the world).
You've seen her political passion (voting, campaigning, interning, trying to elect those who will support the HeartCharged cause even if it’s while dancing on the streets in an apple costume).
You see her putting to use the power of the spoken word (a Thespian and Spoken Word performer in high school, a tour guide, a podcast guest).
You know she’s done some death-defying acts (not dying in her sleep after going into sudden cardiac arrest, that’s a good trick).
You know she’s a constant at the cardiologist (awww there she is with Dr. Avila).
You know her condition is being managed by meds (and lots of them plus activity restrictions, meaning her approved sports are shuffleboard and darts). You know she has a genetic condition (same genes as her sister, aunt, mom - but they definitely look severely different in her). You know she comes at her mission to see all children receive heart screenings from a variety of angles (including standing in a pool to photograph her bionic sister in a bikini). You know she likes to dress up and put on wigs (you gotta love that, she’s had to change roles plenty in life as well). And you will find that she is a person of intense faith (she spent 17 months serving a full-time ecclesiastical mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the honest-to-goodness best mission in the world, Utah Salt Lake City Temple Square).
Meet Hannah. Love Hannah. Enjoy Hannah. We do!
Email her at Hannah@getheartcharged.org
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