30 Days of PH: Keep PHighting Hard – for Yourself and Others

Photo courtesy of Lisa Chapman

Day 10 of 30

This is Lisa Chapman’s (@Lisa_Chizzapman) story:

My name is Lisa Chapman, and I am a “PHighter.” I have been sick since May 11, 2019. I have been my own biggest advocate since then — with no other choice but to “PHight” for myself.

This illness came out of nowhere, and it took 13 months and three major hospitals to diagnose me. My journey took me from Loma Linda, California, to UCLA, and then finally to Mayo Clinic Rochester, in Minnesota.

So many emergency room trips, so many scans and tests, and too many doctors asking if maybe I was just stressed and overwhelmed being a mother and wife. So many tears cried out to God to save me and open the eyes of the doctors.

My journey involved a failed right heart cath (with no recourse, I might add), and ended with a grateful heart for Hilary DuBrock, MD, and her team at Mayo. All of this to say that my journey was rough.

I knew my body was failing even if the doctors couldn’t see it.

If you’re unsure of what’s going on, don’t give up. Keep PHighting! Advocate hard for yourself and don’t accept the unknown, or doctors calling it “stress.”

Raise awareness after you’ve been diagnosed so that more physicians become familiar with our disease and can save many more lives. God has given us this gift of modern medicine, but it is flawed. It’s up to God’s timing and your PHight to reach a diagnosis! Remember that you’re strong.

Today, I’m praising God for the gift of perspective this diagnosis brings. I am thankful for every extra day I get to live, to be with my husband and children, to study God’s word, and to try to be a light.

Pulmonary Hypertension News’ 30 Days of PH campaign is publishing one story per day from someone who has been affected by the disease for PH Awareness Month in November. Read the full series for more stories like this, and follow us on Facebook and Instagram, using the hashtag #30DaysofPH.