Woman With New Heart Didn't Stop Believing, Prepares for 5K

'I did not take it very well'

Groen was diagnosed at 13 with having heart disease after physicians heard a “gallop” in her heart during a sports physical, a genetic affliction she would learn to deal with in her adolescence.  

“As a teenager, it was not the best day of my life ever,” she said. “I did not take it very well.”  

The diagnosis placed strict limitations on her physical activity while growing up.  

“For me as a normal teenager, I thought it was normal to have chest pains and be out of breath,” she said. “To me that was normal. I didn’t know how else to live.”

Groen acknowledges she was able to live a normal teenage life by keeping her physical activity in check, but when she went off to college at Western Michigan University after graduating from Rochester High School in 2001, her symptoms began to resurface.  

“One summer I came home to visit, I remember very vividly,” she said. “I was eating at the kitchen table and felt a palpitation.”  

The pains became so severe, Groen found it difficult to walk and had to crawl across the floor to get her family’s attention.  

Doctors found the top and bottom of Groen’s heart were not communicating electronically—the upper portion was beating between 100-200 BPM, while the bottom heart beat in the normal 60-100 BPM range.  

Groen was 20 at the time and was displaying symptoms more commonly associated with elderly heart patients, she said.  

Doctors administered shocks and laser-based procedures to varying degrees of success, but the symptoms would always persist.   

Waiting for a new heart

At 27, Groen had a pacemaker installed, but after two years her heart started to fail. It was at this stage, Groen said, that she knew a heart transplant was in her future.  Whether the transplant would come in her 20s or later in life depended on the results of a battery of tests.  

In December 2011, it became clear to Groen that a heart transplant would have to happen soon. The problem was, Groen was in the middle of planning her April 2012 wedding and had until Jan. 1, 2012, to make her decision.  

“When I talked to the doctors, I asked, ‘Can you please let me get married first?’” she said. “At the time I had two jobs and was going to school.”  

The doctors obliged on the condition Groen drop one of her two jobs and cut back on taking college courses.  

Groen was able to get married in April and after school finished in mid-June, she and her husband embarked on their honeymoon.  

Groen returned to the hospital on June 25, the day after coming home from her honeymoon, and remained there until a heart donor was found in early August.

During her stay, her heart was in such a fragile state that alarms would sound at the slightest exertion of energy.  

“My heart was going so fast, every time I’d walk my alarms would go off,” she said.  

Groen received her transplant in August, but suffered lung complications less than a week later that further delayed her recovery. Once she came to, she had to relearn everyday tasks such as walking and tying her shoes and came home by the end of August.  

Ten months later

Nearly 10 months later, Groen says her recovery is on pace as doctors frequently check for signs of her body rejecting the new heart. She is unable to work, but maintains a blog at myspecialheart.org and will be participating in the Ticker Trot for Cardiomyopathy 5K on June 1 at the Paint Creek Cider Mill in Oakland Township, which boasts runners from Rochester and surrounding communities who have recently undergone heart transplants.  

The course will traverse a mix of gravel and paved roads, part of the Paint Creek Trail and will navigate several hills in the area.

For someone who grew up unable to participate in sports, the experience will be completely new for Groen.  

“I’m not a runner,” she said. “Put me on a bike, in a kayak, have me climb a mountain, I just don’t enjoy running,” she said, laughing.  

She began training for the 5K in February, learning to half-walk and half-jog every minute, mostly sticking to the treadmill. So far she is able to do 4-5 minutes of jogging.  

Meanwhile, the chorus from Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” still resonates for Groen.  

“I keep thinking of the day I was on the operating table,” she said.  

The song still brings out a flood of emotions for Groen, so she says she might not be ready for it to be on her playlist on the day of the 5K.  

“Maybe on June 25 I’ll listen to it,” she said. “It will be a year (since the hospital visit) then.”

If you go

• WHAT: Ticker Trot 5K
  
• WHEN: June 1, checkin from 7:15-8:15 a.m.
  
• WHERE: Paint Creek Cider Mill 
  
• PARKING: At Paint Creek Cider Mill and Goodison Veterinary Center, 4379 Orion Road. 
  
• REGISTRATION: $30 pre-registration online through May 31 at www.signmeup.com/90380. Day-of registration also permitted for $35.
• MORE INFORMATION: www.tickertrot.com.