Third Time was the Charm
By: Mitzi Franklin
My name is Mitzi Franklin, and I was diagnosed with hypertension at age 16. The last thing you expect is a diagnosis of hypertension at such an early age, but that was my diagnosis and that’s where my heart journey began. I’m now 52 and between my diagnosis at 16 and now, I have had three open-heart surgeries. One was to fix an aneurysm that was about to rupture in my aorta. The second was to repair my mitral valve. The third was to replace my mitral valve and to fix other issues from my first surgery.
I found my biggest struggle after all three surgeries was my mental health. No one really can or does speak about what your mental health might look like. No one tells you the mental recovery could and would be as hard as the physical recovery. That’s one reason why I always talk about mental health and its importance as often as I can. The depression, anxiety and/or PTSD can be debilitating, and it was for me. It wasn’t until I got more involved with the American Heart Association that I realized these are actually normal feelings to experience after a cardiac event and that I was not alone.
After my third, and hopefully last, open-heart surgery in June 2022, most days I feel good, but I do have days when I struggle. Days when I’m tired of fighting. Days when I’m tired of struggling. Days when I’m just plain tired. One of the many things I have learned through my journey is that it’s OK to feel how you feel mentally and physically. It’s OK to be tired, but you have to keep going.
For me, reaching out to other heart survivors has been life-changing because most don’t understand the journey of a heart survivor. Not only am I a survivor, I’m also a caregiver, and, boy, is it hard to cull out time for yourself! But this is another thing I’ve learned through my journey. Whether a survivor, a caregiver or both, it’s a necessity to have time for you. Time for you to feed your soul, whatever that means to you. For me, it’s quiet time doing things I love, such as coloring, reading, painting my nails. Just small little things to quiet my mind.
So many people ask how I manage to always be in a positive mindset after “everything” I have been through. I tell them that first of all, I’m not always positive and happy and that I struggle with my mental health often. I then tell them that the best lesson I’ve learned is to try and live a life of thankfulness and gratitude. To try and be thankful and grateful for the good, the bad and the ugly. I tell them this is the best I have felt in 10 to 15 years, and so far, it looks as if the third time was the charm.♥️
For more information on this topic, visit www.heart.org.
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