Mother’s Day-Keeping Mom in Good Health is the Best Gift of All {Interview}
Candy? Flowers? Jewelry? It can be tricky finding the perfect gift for mom on her big day. But this year, for moms who may be facing serious or life threatening health issues. Mother’s Day holds even greater meaning.
No matter how healthy your lifestyle, sometimes life tosses you a surprise that shows how precious and even fragile good health can be. For 28-year-old Laura Hernandez, the seemingly routine delivery of her 3rd child turned into a life-or-death situation. Shortly after her healthy baby boy was born, Laura developed pregnancy-related complications that led to cardiogenic shock, an often fatal condition where the heart is unable to pump enough blood and oxygen to the vital organs, causing them to fail.
Luckily, her doctor implanted a device that helped her weakened heart pump blood throughout the body and allowed it to rest, and she regained the strength she needed for her heart to recover and return home to her family.
Join me in a recent interview with Laura and Dr. Cindy Grines to hear her harrowing story, how this one tiny heart pump has made a big difference in her life and her health, and what we can all learn from her experience.
Click here for the entire interview: https://www.youtube.com/embed/VnmwhlahXfM
Website for additional information: abiomed.com/women
Bio for Laura Hernandez
Laura Hernandez, 31 years old, lives in Miami with her family.
In June 2015 shortly after a routine delivery of her third child at South Miami Hospital, Laura experienced pregnancy-related heart complications that caused a heart attack. The heart attack was so severe that she went into cardiogenic shock, an often fatal condition where the heart cannot pump enough blood to support the body’s organs and they begin to shut down. She was just 28 years old – with no history of heart or other major health issues. Hospital staff administered CPR for 30 minutes but Laura wasn’t improving as she needed to. Doctors decided to place a tiny heart pump, Impella CP®, to give her weak heart the support it needed. The Impella heart pump helped work for the heart to pump blood throughout the body, allowing the heart to rest and recover. Laura’s condition improved significantly and after several days in the hospital she went home to her family. Today Laura is an administrator at St. John’s Episcopal School, a busy mom, and a loving wife to her husband.
Bio for Cindy Grines, MD
Chair, Cardiology, Donald and Barbara Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell
Interim Chair, Cardiology, North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center
Academic Chair, Northwell Health System
As chair of cardiology for the Zucker School of Medicine, Cindy Grines, MD, is responsible for developing world-class cardiology research and education programs, and implementing them across Northwell Health. She also serves as interim chair of cardiology at North Shore University Hospital and Long Island Jewish Medical Center, and performs interventions and catheterizations at the Sandra Atlas Bass Heart Hospital at North Shore University Hospital. One of the nation’s preeminent cardiologists, Dr. Grines is a renowned researcher who pioneered primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for heart attacks. She has a long history of research, publications and clinical trial design with more than 400 publications, numerous book chapters and review chapters. As a passionate advocate for women’s heart health, Dr. Grines serves on Abiomed’s Women’s Initiative focused on heart recovery education and awareness for the unique needs of women. Prior to joining Northwell, Dr. Grines was vice president of academic and clinical affairs at Detroit Medical Center’s Heart Hospital. Dr. Grines holds a medical degree from Ohio State University. She completed her cardiology fellowship at the University of Michigan then served as director of interventional cardiology at the University of Kentucky before becoming director of the cardiac catheterization laboratory and vice chief of cardiovascular medicine at Beaumont Hospital in Michigan. She has designed and led numerous landmark research studies and is best known for the PAMI (primary angioplasty in myocardial infarction) trials where she determined primary angioplasty improved outcomes for heart attack patients compared to fibrinolytic therapy. Recognized as one of the “Best Doctors in America,” Dr. Grines serves on the editorial boards of several major journals, nationally and internationally, and she has co-edited several medical handbooks. She is editor-in-chief of the Journal of Interventional Cardiology. She has received numerous awards, including in 2016, the Alumni Achievement Award from the Ohio State University College of Medicine, the Annual Scientific Sessions (SCAI) – Luminary in Interventional Cardiology award, Detroit Medical Center Physician Difference Maker Award, and in 2017, she received the American College of Cardiology Distinguished Mentor Award.
*Interview courtesy of Abiomed
