Then she prayed for one more memory with her husband and baby daughter.
That was two years ago. Riegert, 32, of Liberty Twp., has recovered from her heart disease that was detected days after she gave birth to her daughter, Eloise Rose.
“You never know what’s hiding,” she said.
She was selected as one of the 22 heart disease and stroke survivors to share their stories as part of the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement.
Riegert, a licensed clinical psychologist and behavioral health consultant at TriHealth Physician Partners West Chester and Group Health Anderson, will serve as a year-long national volunteer, helping women understand cardiovascular disease is their greatest health threat and empowering them to take action to lower their risk.
She certainly didn’t appear to be a candidate for heart disease. She ate right, exercised daily and had no previous health concerns.
But toward the end of her pregnancy she experienced shortness of breath and swollen feet. She’s 5-foot-2, so Riegert figured the pain was caused by her baby’s body pressing against her lungs. Just days after after giving birth at Bethesda North, Riegert said her breathing became more labored.
Her husband, Ryan, drove her to a local urgent care where tests revealed her blood pressure was 160 over 100, nearly double its normal reading. Her heart rate was 133, beating twice as fast as normal.
An echocardiogram showed she had severe peripartum cardiomyopathy. She was placed on medications and told to stop breastfeeding and that she shouldn’t have more children.
“Quite a shock” was her reaction.
Then on July 4, 2019, her husband noticed the right side of her face was drooping. Paramedics were called, and she was transported to UC West Chester Hospital. While in the ambulance, a series on tests were run to see if she could move her extremities.
A clot was located near her brain, and she was flown from West Chester Hospital to University of Cincinnati Hospital.
She felt “so much better” a few days later, she said. But her motor skills were slow to return. She had difficulty communicating. She was shown a pair of scissors, and while she recognized them, she couldn’t say the word.
“It was so frustrating,” she said.
After weeks of physical therapy, the use of her arms and legs and speech returned. She has started exercising again.
Now she weighs herself every morning to see if she’s retaining fluids, checks her blood pressure and takes medications three times a day.
Riegert said her daughter is the “easiest baby” because she “knew what her momma went through.”
She has a message for other heart patients. The rest of us should listen too.
“Don’t worry about the little things,” said Riegert, a 2007 Hamilton Badin graduate. “There’s always hope after a stroke even when you don’t think you’ll feel normal again. Look for the light when you don’t see it all the time.”
Sometimes that light is the brightest when you’re thousands of feet in the air.
Go Red For Women fast facts
1. Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women, claiming the lives of one in three women
2. Physical activity reduces women’s risk for heart disease and stroke
3. Healthy eating is critical to managing weight and preventing cardiovascular disease in women
SOURCE: American Heart Association
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