Blooming Hope – a Column by Anna Jeter

On May 21, I celebrated 22 years of survival. On that day many years ago, I underwent a heart catheterization. Halfway through, doctors came out to inform my parents that the only diagnosis option was pulmonary hypertension (PH). My parents had previously been told that this was the worst-case…

Having grown up with a complex diagnosis that includes pulmonary hypertension, I was always interested in the field of healthcare. I still remember being 10 years old and telling people I wanted to be a pediatric anesthesiologist when I grew up. This was because of the anesthesiologists who had been…

When people ask to hear my story, I always offer the same opening line, “When I was 4 years old, I was diagnosed with a rare heart-lung illness,” as if I did not exist prior to that fated day. In some ways, this feels true. If I have learned anything…