Jo-Anne Gonzales

 Peripartum Cardiomyopathy Support Network

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My name is Jo-Ann Gonzales

I had an emergency C-Section on December 5, 2001. My son, Joshua, did not want to come down the birth canal and decided to increase his heart rate. My OB decided that it was time to have a C-Section. After 4 days in the hospital, Iwas discharged and the next day Joshua came home. Two days later, I started feeling tired and having a hard time breathing. I thought that it was just me adjusting to the C-Section incision. I called the advice nurse line and was told that it was probably my body compensating for my incision, so I'm breathing differently. The next night, I was unable to lay down b/c I thought Iwouldn't catch my next breath. I called the advice nurse line b/c I thought I was getting the flu. They advised me to rest and drink lots of fluids. Then the following night, I did not sleep at all, I began to cry trying to figure out why I was having such a hard time breathing. By that point, I was having a hard time walking from my bed to the bathroom. I knew something wasn't right. I called the advice nurse line and this time the nurse advised me to come in and be seen because she thought I may be coming down with pneumonia. I had my sister take me to the clinic (it was a Saturday) and I had to be wheeled in b/c I was having a hard time catching my breath. The doctor that I spoke with took my vitals and my history and suggested a Chest X-ray and then he noticed that I was out of breath just sitting on the exam table. He then recommended that I go to the ER instead (5 minutes away) because they'll be able to take multiple tests andhopefully figure out what was wrong with me faster. That doctor had thought that I was coming down with pneumonia b/c he had noticed that my lungs were crackling upon examination.I got to the ER and all the same questions were asked again and the ER doctor noticed that my legs, feet and hands were still swollen. They did a chest x-ray and found that I was retaining fluids and that my heart was swollen. They decided to put me on Lasix as I rested in the ER. The oxygen also helped a lot. Then the cardiologist walked in and examined me and gave me two different possibilities - the first was postpartum cardiomyopathy and the other was that I could have clots in my lungs. I was sent off to get a CatScan and that eliminated the possibility of clots. I was admitted into the hospital for 2 days and was sad because my newborn was at home without me. My husband stayed with me the whole time and didn't even go home to change or anything. I was happy and relieved that he was strong enough to get through this.Although, he did break down and cry when we were alone.My cardiologist ordered an echocardiogram and that's what confirmed that I had postpartum cardiomyopathy with my EF of 37%. I was discharged and sent home to continue with Lasix, Enalapril and Digoxin. I stopped taking the Lasix 10 days after and I am continuing the Enalapril and Digoxin. I just had an echocardiogram on February 13, 2002 and my EF was 50%. I found a new doctor at Stanford Medical Center, Dr. Vagellos. I started seeing him in March of 2002, he soon took me off of the Digoxin and I continued on the Enalapril until March 2003. I have had echocardiograms every year (EFs in the normal range) and in April 2006, Dr. Vagelos told me he no longer needed to see me unless I get pregnant or I feel sick again. He told me that there is a possibility that I wll have PPCM with another pregnancy but thinks that it can be caught early as we know what to look for now. He was also hopeful because I had recovered in a short amount of time with few medications. We're hoping to have another but I'm still scared.