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Debbie Reader, 51, who had never smoked and went to the gym twice a week, was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy |
‘I was basically dead... It was an incredibly scary diagnosis’
A rare heart condition struck a healthy ‘adventurer’ and left her family ‘gobsmacked’
WHETHER it was scuba-diving in Australia or climbing Scottish mountains, Debbie Reader has always led a healthy lifestyle.
The 51-year-old adventurer, who has never touched a cigarette, was a keen swimmer and went to the gym twice a week.
So it was a real surprise when the Holborn receptionist found herself struggling to climb her staircase.
She said: “I was absolutely exhausted all of the time – I thought it must be some kind of infection.”
But it wasn’t an infection and Ms Reader, who has lived in Dombey Street, Holborn, for 25 years, was diagnosed with the serious heart muscle disease dilated cardiomyopathy and told she needed a heart transplant.
“I was in complete shock and I cried for about half an hour,” she said.
“My family and friends were gobsmacked.
“They knew me as someone who swims off the Great Barrier Reef, climbs Arthur’s Seat in Edinburgh, goes shopping in Thailand and doesn’t sit still for a minute.“
Dilated cardiomyopathy affects one in 2,500 people of all ages, including babies, and is the main cause of heart transplants. It happens when the heart muscle is too big and fails to pump enough blood around the body.
A normal heart will pump out about 75 per cent of the blood round the body during each beat. But Debbie’s heart was only pumping out 15 per cent.
“I was basically dead,” she said. “It was incredibly scary.”
In many cases the cause is not known, though it can be inherited and brought on by chemotherapy and pregnancy.
Specialist drug treatments and cardiac rehabilitation classes have helped Debbie’s heart to work better and doctors have told her a heart transplant is no longer necessary.
She said: “Because the condition can be inherited my two sons Daniel, 26, and Frankie, 18, and my 49-year-old brother John Reader will continue to have regular heart checks to ensure they are well.”
This week is Cardiomyopathy Week and Debbie is hoping to raise awareness of the condition and the work of the Cardiomyopathy Association, a charity that supports sufferers.
She said: “Cardiomyopathy is the biggest cause of sudden death in the under 35s, but nowadays there are very good treatments for it.
“With proper care most sufferers can go on to lead a long and full life.
“If people have cardiomyopathy in the family, it is important that close family members have heart checks so they can be diagnosed early.”
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