I’m alive!

A patient counts her blessings

Noreen Maher of Jersey City has so much to be thankful for. She has a beautiful daughter. She can look into a future where someday she might hold her grandchildren. But 17 years ago when Maher was just 29 years old, she thought for sure she was going to die.

“I had gotten sick,” she recalls, “and for two-anda- half years I went to doctors who told me that nothing was wrong with me.” Maher remembers how sick she was. “My legs were blue from the knees down. My arms were blue from the elbows down and my fingertips were purple. I knew I was dying.”

Looking for a diagnosis
A friend introduced her to Deborah Heart and Lung Center, and Maher was soon seen at the hospital. “The nurse asked me, ‘What would make you more upset—that something is wrong with you or that nothing is wrong with you?’ I told her if nothing is wrong with me, then I must be crazy. The nurse said, ‘You’re not crazy.’” Maher was admitted on the spot.

Maher, who had an undiagnosed case of rheumatic fever as a child, needed her aortic valve replaced. After Maher’s valve replacement at Deborah, she adopted a 5-day-old baby, Paige, who has grown into a lovely 9-year-old.

Giving thanks
“I’m blessed to be alive,” Maher says. “My daughter is my life, and I know that no matter what happens, I’ll be strong and healthy for her. I’m here because of Deborah, and Dr. Sena [Sumathisena, M.D.] is wonderful. I thank everyone from the janitorial staff who had a smile every morning to the wonderful nurses on Four Lesser to the surgeon who did the operation, but my heart totally thanks God the most.

“How can I put into words how I feel? Through it all, Dr. Sena would look at me, smile, and say he’d take care of me,” says Maher. “If I ever need care again, there’s nowhere else I would ever go but to Deborah!”

Stay heart healthy!
Visit www.deborah.org to learn more about how Deborah Heart and Lung Center can keep your heart beating strong.