Go Red for Women: Living with an undiagnosed congenital heart defect

ZIONSVILLE — Monisha Mitchell lived most of her life with a congenital heart defect she didn’t even know she had.

Be persistent, advocate for your health and listen to your body those are the things Mitchell learned in her years long journey to getting a diagnosis.

“The first symptom I had was when I was 16 years old. I was at butler taking singing lessons and just kind of slide down the wall,” Mitchell said.

That was nearly 30 years ago, since then she’s dealt with odd symptoms like passing out and extreme fatigue that doctors couldn’t diagnose.

“In 2019 I had run my first 5k. I was in the best shape of my life and a couple days after my first 5k they thought I was having a heart attack,” Mitchell said

She said doctors still couldn’t figure out what caused it until a cardiologist was able to take a closer look.

This time inside her heart through what’s called an angiogram. That’s where they put iodine in the heart to see where problems are.

That’s how they found the rare congenital defect. Her coronary artery gets squished when her heart beats too fast.

“The doctor who diagnosed it has been a cardiologist for 40 years and had never seen a heart like mine,” Mitchell said.

The diagnosis now something she will always live with.

Mitchell said she’s often tired and has to cut back on physical activity.

“If they would have found it earlier, they could have done the surgery but at this point in my life the surgery is dangerous,” Mitchell said.

Not letting it stop her life, Mitchell said she’s empowered by her diagnosis.

“My faith is what got me through. I always say I am fearfully and wonderfully made. God made my heart different from everybody else’s and I feel like that’s really special, but it empowers me too to want to advocate to want to share my story and to want to fundraise as well,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell is one of nine women of impact being celebrated over the next few weeks.

Her message right now to women is to advocate for your health, stress isn’t always the reason for your symptoms and to take care of yourself first so you can take care of others.

Some symptoms women need to look for include:

• Chest pain
• Shortness of breath
• Nausea and vomiting
• Pain the arms, back, jaw and neck.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women.

The Go Red for Women campaign hopes to change that statistic.

Mitchell is hosting a benefit Friday February 10^th in Zionsville with live music, drinks and community.

All the proceeds from the Take Heart event will go to the American Heart Association.