Episode 124 - Brooke Keith

Brooke Keith is a pulmonary hypertension patient from Mason City, Iowa.  She was diagnosed in 2007 at age 8. She is now 19, a freshman in college majoring in biochemistry. Thank you for letting me share my story. Together we can be agents of change offering hope and help through educating, advocating, funding research and raising awareness by sharing with others. If you see me around or online, my PH is probably invisible to you. Most days I can keep up with anyone and do whatever I want including working out with friends and going on a run. Some days I need to self limit and have more downtime. And a few days have been very scary. This was a rough year, I was hospitalized for several weeks my last semester of high school and again the week before Christmas. I was well aware that I went to the hospital on what should have been my friend, Qadri's, 23rd birthday but he passed his senior year at the age of 17. I also lost my best PH friend, Nicole, last summer. The hardest part was wanting to see one another and not being able to because we were in different hospitals across the country. I have met lifelong friends and people I consider family by becoming involved in the PH community. The amount of support is truly phenomenal and the amount of loss devastating. We need a CURE which comes through research requiring funding. If you love someone with PH, please ask how you can help. If you are living with PH, it's important to take care of yourself in body, mind and spirit. Be as physically active as you can, surround yourself with positive people and do things for others. Pray for everyone. When I'm not feeling well, I rely on Faith, family and friends to help me through. Always have something to look forward to. Have short term and long term goals. Make a list of things you want to do in life and do them. When something doesn't work out as planned, pray and make a new plan. Give thanks for every small thing. Learn more about pulmonary hypertension at phaware365.global. Never miss an episode with the phaware® podcast app. Follow us on twitter, youtube & linkedin @phaware #phaware