Mortal and Strong - Voice No. 88 - Kerrie

Next up on the Mortal and Strong Podcast, is the wonderful Kerrie.Kerrie talks us through her journey of being born with congenital heart disease, eventually being formally diagnosed with Aortic Stenosis experiencing her first open heart surgery as a baby.After this, Kerrie grew up mostly unaware of her heart condition until the age of 27 when she found out she also had a bicuspid aortic valve, a heart valve abnormality where the aortic valve has two leaflets instead of the usual three. This lead to yet another open heart surgery, where Kerrie had to have her complete aortic valve replaced. Devastatingly, Kerrie's body rejected this valve and she was forced to undergo yet another surgery for a further replacement. She talks us through this whole process, giving a detailed insight into this intense surgery and the mental and physical toll this took on her.Things were looking up, Kerrie got married, had a child, and was finding her feet again when she abruptly got a heart infection that went Septic. Kerrie speaks so eloquently about this horrific time, and the emotional trauma she faced; from not being diagnosed straight away, to being told she needed surgery and the doctors not thinking she would make it. After being in an induced coma for 20 days while the doctors rebuilt her heart, including another aortic valve replacement, Kerrie beat the odds and woke up!Kerrie's story is intense, but full of hope, self advocation, and a fierce determination to live. We are so grateful to Kerrie for sharing her powerful story with us for the Scars of Gold Campaign!Scars of Gold is a health awareness campaign sharing the voices of 100 women facing their mortality at a young age with life changing or incurable health conditions. Produced by charity @mortalandstrong (No.1209448).#podcast #podcastprevious #interview #mortalandstrong #scarsofgold #kintsugi #cardiac #cardiology #healthpodcast #sepsis #congenitalheartdisease  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.