Cate's Journey 

I can remember loving to run. Then I managed to fall pregnant in my first year of university. This time was INCREDIBLY difficult for me. SOOOOooooo many issues SSOOOOOooooo many emotions.

• young and pregnant
• still at university and pregnant
• youngest of a large catholic family and pregnant
• boyfriend young and I was pregnant.

I could go on but you get the message.

I will continue.

After having Brearne I tried to regain that fitness I had pre pregnancy but instead found my self fainting on numerous occasions or having to stop so many times on a run I was beaten by my friend walking the pusher to the supermarket. More difficult times were to come. I was diagnosed when Brearne was 2. I can vividly remember sitting in the office of my cardiologist at the time with my mum and boyfriend and hearing NO MORE CHILDREN and feeling SOooo happy that I was `given' my possum. She was a gift, the best surprise present I have ever received.

After about 18 months with that cardiologist I felt that I was just not happy with him I didn't feel a connection so decided I was right to follow my gut the first time when I knew something was wrong so went off to see John Gellman at Monash and Cabrini. He saved my life. He did further tests and eventually we found a level of adalat and wafarin that worked for me. I was stable for soo long he even reduced my medication levels thinking that maybe I didn't have it anymore?!! I knew that I did. I knew my body. I was right.

Being stable for such a long time and being able to more or less go on with a normal life, knowing my limits and keeping within them I was able to almost ignore my ph issues. One of which has been embarrassment when needing to explain why I'm tired and can't do stuff to keep up.

Brearne is now 18 and I have a wonderful new husband Shaun. I have dealt, or not dealt, with ph alone for a very long time. Now I am finding that I can no longer do things I used to and can no longer ignore it. I have also found that due to not dealing with it head on I am quite ignorant to many things ph related. I am now learning, and trying to deal with Ph head on. Informing myself and friends and family. Thankyou to the PHA for helping me do this.