The Tribune

By JEFFARAH GIBSON

Tribune Features Writer

jgibson@tribunemedia.net

FORTY FIVE year-old Cheryl Hepburn wants the hole in her heart closed. From birth, doctors discovered one of the valves in her heart had a hole and told her parents as she got older it would eventually close. It never did. Ms Hepburn has severe valvular heart disease.

It is a condition where the valves in the heart do not function they way they are supposed to.

According to Medicine.net: “The heart valves lie at the exit of each of your four heart chambers and maintain one-way blood flow through your heart. The four heart valves make sure that blood always flows freely in a forward direction and that there is no backward leakage.”

To correct the problem, Ms Hepburn has to undergo a life saving surgery. Doctor say her valve has “aged like a seventy year old person”.

Although her heart condition was identified as a child, Ms Hepburn said she was diagnosed with severe valvular heart disease last Christmas.After making her way home from a trip to Cat Island, Ms Hepburn said she felt a tightness in her chest. When the plane landed she went to the clinic.

“After all of the testing they sent me to the heart center. They told me my heart was already failing. My heart has already enlarged slightly. I have to have surgery as urgently as possible,” Ms Hepburn said.

Ms Hepburn has to undergo aortic valve replacement surgery. The surgery costs $38,000. So far, the Ministry of Social Services has donated $4000 towards Ms Hepburn’s operation. An account has been opened at Doctor’s Hospital for individuals to donate.

Ms Hepburn and her family are appealing to the public for assistance. They are holding a Cookout and Family Fun Day on September 29.

“I cannot wait. If I wait too long then the organs in my body will begin to deteriorate, and the surgery will be of no use to me, my doctors told me,” Ms Hepburn said.

Ms Hepburn hopes to have a speedy surgery so that she can get back to her normal life. The things that some people take for granted, are the things Ms Hepburn wishes she can do. For instance, something as simple as walking, Ms Hepburn cannot do without the help of someone else. Most things she was accustomed to doing before she fell ill, she can no longer do.

“Before getting ill I spent a lot of time with my children and I was a very adventurous person. But my illness has taken all of that away from me. I am bedridden. I always have to have someone help me. I cannot go anywhere I have to stay in the house. I cannot drive, I cannot do any physical activities. I can go to the bathroom and take showers on my own. Anything else, someone has to assist me.”

“I do not have a normal life and want to be able to do all of the things I once did,” she said.

Ms Hepburn said she has also been placed on strict diet.

“The doctors put me on a diet so that the can medication can work. I have to eat mainly soft foods. I cannot eat rice because it is not going to digest. I also cannot eat any hard meats. The only meat I eat is fish, tuna, and cornbeef. But nothing ever has any taste. I also have to eat lots of fruits. I have to measure my liquid intake every single time I drink something,” Ms Hepburn said.

Ms Hepburn is optimistic that after the surgery, everything else in her life will fall back into place. She also hailed the medical team of Dr Duane Sands who has cared for her throughout the entire experience.

“I have an excellent team of doctors, who have taken great care of me. I am grateful to everyone that has assisted me during this time including all my children, family and close friends,” she told Tribune Health.