Episode 14: Heart Resilience: Trina’s Journey with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy

In this episode, we hear from Trina O’Brien Leggott, a heart patient with inherited hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). Trina’s familial journey with HCM began when her youngest brother experienced unusual symptoms, leading to his diagnosis of HCM. This discovery led to family screenings that traced the condition back to their father, 40 years previous.

Trina’s personal experience with HCM escalated in January 2012, after suffering a⁠ cardiac arrest⁠ while watching a movie with her husband. Thanks to a timely emergency response and a successful⁠ implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD)⁠ procedure, Trina recovered and returned to her regular routine within weeks.

Despite experiencing mixed emotions related to her ICD, both discomfort at relying on a device and gratitude for the role it plays in keeping her heart functioning, her perspective on life has forever shifted. Trina reflects on her journey with gratitude, recognizing her heart condition and ICD as something that will always be a part of her life – “It’s about learning to live with a tool that helps you carry on.”

Trina emphasizes the importance of life-long learning, being an informed patient, and the level of engagement that blossoms from developing a deeper understanding of one’s own treatment and care. Her engagement with healthcare has continued to grow with her work as a Patient Partner on the ⁠VIRTUES CIED project⁠, contributing to research aimed at improving remote monitoring by reviewing terminology and gauging how patients might respond to different ways of presenting information.

Join Trina as she shares her story of resilience and her hopes for the future of cardiovascular care.
Hear more about Dr. Ratika Parkash’s VIRTUES CIED project on her Ticker Talk episode⁠ here⁠.