As we kick off our Heart of it All Series for American Heart Month, I am so excited to welcome , Stacy Amstadt, Communications Director and Kelsey Gumm, Heart Disease Survivor and Volunteer at American Heart Association.
About Stacy:
Stacy Amstadt has been with the American Heart Association for 4 years. Her career at the AHA, is driven by her own experience as a congenital heart defect survivor. She was born with Aortic Stenosis with a Bicuspid Aortic Valve, and when she was 17, she underwent open heart surgery to repair her valve. Going through a major surgery at such a young age taught her not to let her struggles define her and to take everything day by day. It also helped lead her to her current career path. Her heart journey is not over yet…she will need to have to have her aortic valve replaced sometime in the next few years.
About Kelsey:
Kelsey Gumm was just a few weeks into Navy boot camp training, when she first passed out, She woke up in the back of an ambulance and doctors sent her on her way, after telling her she had overexerted herself and was dehydrated. These episodes continued over the next ten years, each with a trip to the ER and a diagnosis of dehydration, exhaustion or an anxiety attack.
But in 2016, Kelsey experienced an intense blackout. She couldn’t feel her arms and legs and a colleague commented on how gray she looked. The nurse practitioner decided to put in a cardiology consult. After two echocardiograms and an EKG, the doctor said, “Petty Officer Gumm, I don’t know how to tell you this, but your career in the Navy is over” and went on to explain that she has a rare heart condition called left ventricular non-compaction. All of the fainting that she’d been experiencing, was ventricular tachycardia, irregular heart rhythms that could have killed her.
Within a month of that doctor’s visit, Kelsey was medically retired from life in the Navy, a life that she had known and loved, and had to learn to live her new normal: a life with heart disease. She has since, had a pacemaker and defibrillator implanted in her chest and visits with her cardiologist regularly.
In 2019, Kelsey served as one of eight national spokeswomen for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women movement. She loves sharing her story, helping other women realize that there is still life after heart disease, and reminding them to be an advocate for their health.
Listen in as we learn more about the American Heart Association and Stacy & Kelsey share their personal Heart stories.
Learn more about : The On-Air Advocate at www.OnAirAdvocate.com or The American Heart Association at www.Heart.org
