10 minute read
LIFE
The GIFT of LIFE
Woman Who Had Heart Transplant at 19 Being Honored as a Survivor at Heart Ball
MEGAN GAGLIARDI HILT
By Sam Prickett
Megan Gagliardi Hilt was 18 years old, on the cusp of graduating from Mountain Brook High School and starting college at Samford University, when she noticed that something was wrong.
“I was having shortness of breath, a really severe cough when I would go to lay down for bed each night, and I just felt really lethargic,” she said. “I thought I was sick with something but that it would go away. But I eventually realized that it wasn’t going away.”
She didn’t realize it then, but she was at the beginning of a years-long medical struggle – one that, nine years later, would lead to her being named the featured survivor at the American Heart Association’s Birmingham Heart Ball, being held March 14.
After briefly being misdiagnosed with a panic disorder, Hilt discovered that she had dilated cardiomyopathy – an enlarged heart.
“It wasn’t pumping blood to my organs and throughout my body very well,” she said. ‘I’d always been a healthy kid, never had any major issues, so this was a big shock to my family.”
She was placed on medication to remedy the issue, but it wasn’t effective enough. So in late 2011, she was placed on the national waiting list for a heart transplant.
“I got the call on my 19th birthday, which was in March 2012,” she said. “They notified me that they had a heart for me. It was the best birthday present I’ll ever get. Now when I have my birthday, we celebrate two birthdays – my actual birthday and then receiving my heart transplant, because that was such a huge thing for me.”
The transplant was done by surgeons at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and less than two weeks later, Hilt was told she could go home.
“If you’ve ever been through anything like this, you know it’s kind of a freakout moment, because you’ve been around nurses and doctors in a hospital setting. For them to say, ‘OK, you’re free to go,’ is a really nerve-wracking thing,” she said. “But fortunately, my house was about 15 minutes away from UAB, so I felt safe and comfortable knowing that the hospital was a short drive away if anything happened.”
She spent the rest of the spring recovering, taking medication to prevent her body from rejecting the new heart and slowly developing an exercise routine.
“That was my biggest objective, to get healthy again and be able to go out and exercise,” she said. It’s a habit that stuck with her. “I fell so much in love with exercising that I became really interested in running,” she said. “Since I had my heart transplant, I have run three halfmarathons.”
The Other Shoe Drops
Hilt returned to Samford for the 2012 fall semester, but by Christmas, she had once again started to feel ill.
“I was having night sweats, and one of the lymph nodes in my neck was completely enlarged,” she said. “It looked like a golf ball. I would have fevers that would pop up from time to time and then go away. It was December, so I thought maybe I had contracted pneumonia or the flu from someone.”
To be safe, she called her transplant team at UAB. They called her into the hospital, ran a series of tests and informed her that she had diffuse large B-cell lymphoma.
“It’s a type of cancer that can occur in transplant patients because of the large amount of immunosuppressant medication that they put you on,” Hilt said. “It was a complete shock to me. Here I was having gone through a heart transplant, and now I’m being told that I have cancer.”
What followed was a six-week round of chemotherapy, which took a physical toll.
“I had every type of typical cancer symptom that you can see with people who are going through chemo,” she said. “I lost my hair, I was very lethargic, very pale. I wore a mask all the time to protect me from germs, and, again, I took time off from school because I didn’t have enough of an immune system to be around anyone.”
The chemotherapy was successful; Hilt was soon declared cancer-free and returned to Samford, receiving a degree in journalism and mass communications. Now 26, she is married and works full-time as an event planner for a local hotel.
“What I’ve been through, it’s had a profound effect on me,” Hilt said. “To go through something like that at such a young age is really life-changing. It really makes you appreciate your every day.
“At that point in time, when you’re 18, you’re not necessarily thinking about your health. You’re more focused on having fun, being in college and hanging out with friends. To go through something like that really makes you appreciate the health that you do have.”
One of the Lucky Ones
“I am very fortunate and blessed that I did receive a heart transplant,” she said. “There are so many people out there that don’t receive them, who don’t get to continue on in this blessing of life that I’ve gotten to have … .
“People ask me all the time, ‘Do you wish that you had never been given any of this? Do you wish that you didn’t have to go through cancer or chemotherapy or any of that?’ And I always tell people, ‘No, it’s shaped me into the person I’ve become today.’ I’m so thankful for the life that I have.”
With her role as the featured survivor for the American Heart Association’s Birmingham Heart Ball, which will be at the Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum, Hilt hopes to turn that gratitude into fundraising that can help others afflicted by heart issues.
“(The American Heart Association) are such huge advocates for raising awareness of heart disease,” she said. “What boggles my mind is, they do so much fundraising work, collecting donations that always go toward research. That always puts it into perspective for me … .
“Medicine changes each and every year, and it just blows my mind how they continue to grow in what they study and what they learn. I’m just very thankful for them and the work that they do.”
For more information about the Birmingham Heart Ball, visit heart.org/en/affiliates/alabama/ birmingham#events.
Picture Perfect
BCRFA Fashion Luncheon Celebrates the Beauty of Breast Cancer Patients, Survivors
Photos courtesy Gretchen B Photography BCRFA board President Jill Carter, who will be modeling at the event. Far right, Amy Passey.
By Emily Williams
With the start of the new year, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation presented its largest donation to date, $1,050,000, to the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Those funds were raised throughout the year via a wide variety of events – golf tournaments, casino nights, a motorcycle ride and an archery competition, among others.
On Feb. 21, it is all about fashion for the BCRFA as the organization hosts its You Are Beautiful Luncheon.
Held at the Harbert Center, the luncheon seeks to “celebrate what makes you beautiful,” featuring a fashion show with clothing from B. Prince modeled by cancer survivors and women who are currently undergoing treatment.
“I was diagnosed in 2008 with triple negative breast cancer and I have been free of cancer since 2012,” said BCRFA board President Jill Carter, who will be modeling at the event.
During the show, Carter and her fellow models will wear either wigs or turbans styled by event partner Jodi Johnson of J. Wigs.
As of January 2020, there are more than 3.5 million women in the United States with a history of breast cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, including women currently being treated and those who have finished treatment.
For many, the journey through breast cancer treatment does not simply take a toll on the body inwardly or spiritually, but also results in apparent physical changes. Hair loss is among those changes that can be immediately noticeable.
According to a statement by Dr. Marisa Weiss, chief medical officer for breastcancer.org, “There are studies that show that for many women, losing their hair is worse than losing a breast. That’s because you can conceal the loss of a breast, but hair loss is so obvious and apparent.”
Celebrating the style and beauty of these patient and survivors, event partner Gretchen Birdwell of Gretchen B Photography will be photographing each model.
Each of those portraits will be presented in a live auction. Winning bidders will receive a $500 studio credit with Gretchen B Photography, and the portraits will go to their respective models.
The funds raised will feed back into the BCRFA and its support of the O’Neal Comprehensive Cancer Center at UAB as well as its partners.
“This is really personal to me,” Carter said, “the impact that it has had on my life, my family and friends and the community in general.”
Statistically speaking, one in eight women and one in about 883 men are expected to develop breast cancer at some point during their lifetimes.
By working with the BCRFA, Carter has a way to create change and help other breast cancer patients by funding research and treatments.
“This is one way that I see to make a positive difference moving forward so other people don’t have to go through what I went through,” she said.
JaWanda’s Sweet Potato Pies
5291 Valleydale Road, Suite 111 Hoover, Alabama 35242
205-874-9880
www.jawandasweetpotatopie.com
Hours of Operation
Thursday ~ Friday 10:30 - 5:30 Saturday 10:30 - 4:00
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by Judy Butler
Think of Going to Bayshore Retreat as “Going to Camp”
This is the time of year that parents plan or explore Summer Camp for their children. Coming to Bayshore Retreat can be considered Camp for adults. Summer camp is where children interact with many different friends instead of the ‘regular’ friends from their neighborhood and school. Coming to Bayshore Retreat offers interaction with others through the day-to-day activities: meals, gym trips, yoga, Life Skills activities and group sessions. Most importantly, with only six clients at a time, they get to hear and understand that they are not alone in this struggle with addiction. I recently spoke with someone who is planning to come to Bayshore Retreat soon. His wife lost her life to cancer a couple of years ago and afterward his life spiraled out of control with alcohol. Formerly a social drinker, now he drinks to numb the pain. We can’t bring his wife back, but we can give him a new perspective for his future through the different forms of counseling we offer, with at least two individual sessions a week. Often, grateful previous clients call just to check on us and remind us how important their time was at Bayshore Retreat. Our goal is to get clients healthy physically and mentally with a new lease on life for the future. If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction from a life trauma or just life in general, Bayshore Retreat can help. Call us today! We might be the “Retreat” or “Camp” needed to get life on track. Bayshore Retreat is Different that can make a Difference.
