So little fun fact about me. About 9 years ago, I had open heart surgery due to a very rare and dangerous heart condition.
Shout out to Kinzie at the Empowerment Studio for helping me embrace the beauty of my scar!
Basically, everyone has a heart sack that surrounds their heart. This muscle is a luxury that is meant to add an extra layer of protection to the heart. Mine however, was killing me. The muscle was shrinking around my heart causing extreme amount of tension and making it a LOT harder for blood to get to the rest of my organs. (Which, by the way if you were sleeping during biology class, is extremely important to staying alive.) At first we had no idea this was going on. I thought I just sucked at sports but then I couldn't play a single game without getting out of breath and this searing pain in my stomach. When I started going to doctors they didn't know what to say.
So at the age of 15, while everyone else is buzzing about their first year of high school and who they are going to the winter dance with, I was at the hospital getting blood tests, MRI's, ultrasounds, and more. Anything the doctors could think of that would give even an ounce of information as to why a perfectly healthy girl wasn't perfectly healthy at all.
And then one day, I couldn't walk a block without my lips turning blue and feeling like all the air in my lungs couldn't help me catch my breath. My parents rush me to my doctors for a few tests. We thought it would only take a few hours. On the drive there I was texting my friends. We were in pep band and it was the first basketball game of the season. We made plans to go to Andy's afterwards to hang out in the parking lot like most high school kids in small towns. When the doctors came into the room though, my entire life changed.
"You are going into heart failure. You will need to stay here at the hospital."
Heart failure? But I'm 15. And I can't stay. I have plans. How long will I have to stay? What do you mean heart failure? All these questions rush into my head and during my stay at the hospital I began to realize just how precious life really was. As a teenager, you have your entire life ahead of you. You think you will live forever. And now for the first time, my future looked very different from my peers. My heart was failing and the doctors estimated that, unless I was lucky enough for a heart transplant, then I had roughly 4 years to live. Luckily, through some genetic testing, my doctors realized that I had an extremely rare condition involving my heart sack. So maybe, if they could simply remove it then my heart would be able to function properly. I went into my open heart surgery knowing that this was my last chance. And it worked. The doctors removed my heart sack and my life was filled with a new purpose to never waste a single day again.
At age 15 I faced death and I was granted a second chance. There isn't a day that goes by where the scar on my chest doesn't remind me how lucky and precious life is. For most people, I am sure this scar would be a cause for embarrassment. It is by no means small and it always seems to work its way into a conversation (which is much better than people trying not to stare at it. That just makes it awkward for everyone really). For me though, from day one it has been a mark of my strength. It gives me confidence to own my life and make something remarkable out of it.
I wanted to share this story because overcoming this obstacle has been a major contributor to the person I am today. It is the scars we bear that builds our character and those scars should be celebrated. There is sooo much pressure to be perfect in every way. Or at least to come off as perfect to everyone else. But I am here to tell you that is a stupid rule. I want you to have the confidence to celebrate your scars! Celebrate your story, what makes you different from the rest. No one is like you so own that magic because it is your biggest strength.