ľ¹ÏÖ±²¥

Natalie Daugherty worked long hours as an orthopedic surgical post-operative nurse, caring for patients after surgeries to fix their bones, joints and muscles. The work was fulfilling — and exhausting — especially while the 31-year-old was pregnant with her second child.

At night, she would collapse in bed but struggle to sleep. A fluttering sensation in her chest kept her awake. She worried about her and her baby’s health. When Daugherty saw her doctor, tests showed she had an additional heartbeat for every second or third beat.

Otherwise, she was healthy and her doctor wasn’t overly concerned.

She gave birth to a healthy baby girl, Mallory, then settled into life as a working mom with two young children. On and off, and mostly at night, the feeling in her chest persisted. It felt like a butterfly flitting around behind her breastbone.

Daugherty went back to her doctor. Caffeine could be causing the heart palpitations, he told her. So she stopped drinking coffee, tea and even caffeinated soda. She scaled back on eating chocolate, too.

As Daugherty neared 40, she went to the doctor’s office one day for a sinus infection. While she sat in the waiting area, the fluttering sensation suddenly became overwhelming.

“Let’s do an EKG,” a nurse practitioner told her, referring to an electrocardiogram, which records the heart’s electrical activity.

The test showed Daugherty was experiencing atrial fibrillation, or AFib, a type of arrhythmia in which the heart’s two upper chambers beat chaotically (irregular or rapid). It can lead to blood clots, stroke, heart failure and other heart-related complications.

Daugherty made an appointment with a cardiologist, then an electrophysiologist — a doctor who specializes in diagnosing and treating issues with the heart’s electrical system. She started taking a beta blocker to control her heart rate. Still, the fluttering continued.

She never knew what might trigger her AFib. One day it happened after she broke her no-caffeine rule with a blended coffee drink. Another time, during a 12-hour shift in the hospital, her heart started pounding out of control.

In her late 40s, Daugherty had her first cardiac ablation. The procedure involves destroying a piece of heart tissue that’s causing the electrical issue. She tried other beta blockers, started medication for her high cholesterol and AFib. Ultimately, she had two more ablations.

Daugherty was determined to control her AFib. As a nurse she’d seen firsthand how AFib, if uncontrolled, can lead to changes in heart valves that cause blood to leak in the heart. If that were to happen, she’d likely need surgery to fix the leaky valves.

After one ablation, Daugherty felt lightheaded at work. She checked her heart rate. It was all over the place. She went downstairs to the emergency department. Doctors gave her a beta blocker to help get her heart back into rhythm. It didn’t work.

Then they tried a more hands-on treatment, a cardioversion. It’s a procedure that uses an electrical shock to restore a normal rhythm. Finally, her heart fell back into rhythm. Further testing showed Daugherty has Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes an overactive thyroid gland and increase the risk for AFib.

Daugherty was in her early 50s when she developed new symptoms: shortness of breath and edema, the buildup of extra fluid in body tissues. She struggled to catch her breath when walking from her car while doing errands, or when bending over to wipe off her dog’s paws. At the hospital, it was extremely difficult for her to push patients in their wheelchairs. She decided to take early retirement.

In another attempt to fix her AFib, she had Maze surgery, a complex procedure that creates a “maze” of scar tissue in the heart’s upper chambers to block faulty electrical signals that cause AFib. Doctors then discovered the real cause of her new symptoms, the complication Daugherty feared she might develop: The valve between her left atrium and left ventricle wasn’t closing properly, causing blood to flow backward into her left atrium. She needed surgery.

And, as it turned out, she had more issues.

In fall 2024, she had open-heart surgery to repair several faulty valves, plus a hole in her heart, a congenital defect that many people have, often without causing any problems. The operation went well.

Still, Daugherty, who’s 59 now, continues to have issues. She’s been diagnosed with congestive heart failure, meaning that her heart muscle doesn’t efficiently pump blood to the rest of her body. She also has pulmonary hypertension, a condition where the blood pressure in the lungs’ arteries is abnormally high, making it difficult for the heart to pump blood through. She’s been working with her cardiologist, a heart failure specialist, and a pulmonary hypertension specialist to adjust her medications. A new mix is working, and her breathing has recently improved.

Daugherty often wonders whether she should have been more insistent early on, before her AFib diagnosis, about additional testing.

“If they had caught it sooner, would I have been in the same situation I am in now, living with AFib for the rest of my life?” she said. “Maybe I should have pushed a little harder, but nurses and doctors can be the worst patients.”

Her oldest daughter, Paige Fowler, has learned from her mother’s experience. Fowler, who’s 31 and lives in Nashville, Tennessee, began taking charge of her own heart health after her mom’s open-heart surgery.

After meeting with a cardiologist, Fowler learned her cholesterol levels are slightly elevated. Results from genetic testing suggested she’s likely at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease. Now, she’s seeing a dietitian and a nutritionist, and she’s prioritizing finding healthy ways to manage stress.

“The doctor told me, ‘You came in at a great time. You’re young and healthy, and we can start taking care of things now,’” Fowler said. “I don’t know if there’s anything I can do to prevent AFib — unfortunately, you can’t change genetics — but you can have a healthy diet and exercise to help. I’m grateful my cardiologist ran the tests so I can make lifestyle changes now.”

Fowler’s younger sister, Mallory Daugherty, 27, also had genetic testing done and learned she’s also likely at a higher risk for cardiovascular disease.

As the sisters have paid more attention to their heart health, they learned about their family history, too. Knowing AFib and stroke run in the family — both sets of grandparents had heart issues — reinforces Paige’s decision to take an active role in managing her health.

“If you have extensive heart disease in the family,” she said, “even if you’re just in your 20s or 30s, get checked out and be proactive about it.”

Stories From the Heart chronicles the inspiring journeys of heart disease and stroke survivors, caregivers and advocates.