PHELICIA Richardson, 26, fears she will not be around to see her two-year-old daughter grow into womanhood. Richardson, who suffers from a severe heart condition, is acutely aware that the valves tighten with each passing day, slowly draining the life from her body.

“Right now the valve is closing down. If I do not have surgery, I will die. But first there will be no movement in my joints because there will be no oxygen going to the body. It is urgent now, this year, when my body can manage the surgery,” she said.

Richardson’s cardiologist, Dr William Foster confirmed that the valves that circulate the blood in her body are closing inch by inch and that the longer she waits for surgery is the less chance she has of surviving.

But Richardson is unable to afford the surgery which costs approximately US$11,000.

According to Foster, the surgery has to be performed in Brooklyn, New York.

“This young lady is in need of open heart surgery that is not obtainable in Jamaica at this time. The patient has severe mitral stenosis, a narrowing of the heart valve that opens into the main pumping chamber of the heart, the left ventricle,” Foster explained.

Dr John Anderson, a cardiac surgeon of Brooklyn, USA has arranged for Richardson to have a mitral valvuloplasty, a non-surgical way of opening the valve. The discounted cost of this procedure is US$11,000.

Symptoms of the disorder include increase in blood pressure, shortness of breath, irregular or rapid heart beat, a plumb coloured flush and bleeding in the lungs. In pregnant women with this disorder heart failure has been known to rapidly develop. After the diagnosis beta blockers, digoxin and rapamil are prescribed to slow the heart rate. When drug therapy does not relieve the symptoms, valve replacement or repair surgery may be necessary.

Richardson became aware of her condition when she was pregnant. But even before she made the discovery, she recalled that she had been “sicky sicky” as a child.

“Even as young child I was sick. From 16, I suffered from shortness of breath. The doctors were always saying that I am anaemic and prescribe iron pills. They didn’t help. I had pain in my joints, fever and them things,” she said.

Incidentally, doctors say rheumatoid heart disease, the condition that leads to the narrowing of the heart valves, can be prevented in early childhood. Heart valve disorder in most cases results from rheumatic fever. It can also be a congenital condition found at birth that requires surgery to prolong the life of the infant. This disorder is known to occur mostly in older people who have had rheumatic fever during their childhood.

However, in Richardson’s case, early detection and treatment was not an option as her family could not afford basic medical care.

“I had sore throat all the times and my parents didn’t have it to send me to the doctor , so they give me cold bush,” she stated simply.

Richardson said her condition deteriorated further after she became pregnant.

In fact Richardson said the disease manifested “terrible” side effects during the nine months.

“The pregnancy was terrible. I had a lot of problems, she recalled. “I got little sleep because of shortness of breath. I couldn’t move up and down so I stayed at home. “One night I was laying down and my breath stopped. I started to vomit and cough a lot. My sister took me to the hospital in Linstead. The doctor sounded me and then put me on oxygen because I couldn’t breathe. Then he run chest test and he says that my heart was enlarged. From there he sent me to UC (University Hospital of the West Indies) with letter and a copy of my x-ray. At UC the doctor ran an echo test that confirm I have rheumatoid heart disease.”

Added Richardson: “In the last month of pregnancy, I had to stay at Spanish Town Hospital for two weeks and then Jubilee for the final two weeks before the baby was born. It was extremely difficult to breathe. They put me on oxygen every other day. Also a lot of injections and medicine at Jubilee, I can’t remember all the names. But thank God, there were no effect on the baby, my daughter is okay.”

Richardson is unemployed but gets help from her child’s father for her treatment which runs about $3,000 every three to six months for tests at the University Hospital and a monthly bill of $600 for medication. But surgery is desperately needed.

Dr Foster also appealed to Jamaicans for their assistance. “Any help you may be able to offer her would be highly appreciated.”

The Ministry of Health (MOH) has no policy in place to assist needy Jamaicans with medical concerns. Charmaine Rothbotham-Whyte, public relations manager at the MOH said: “We operate under a limited budget. We do sympathise with people who have medical problems, but we do not have the resources to help everyone.”

Donations can be made to BNS Linstead, account #40249.

Richardson can be contacted at 378-8192.