Dora loves to walk around her Germantown neighborhood, and even three miles up Germantown Avenue all the way to Chestnut Hill. Eight years ago, when breathing during those walks started to become a real struggle for her, she went to see her family doctor.
Her cardiologist diagnosed her with cardiomyopathy, a condition in which enlarged heart muscle makes it harder for the heart to pump blood to the rest of the body; it can lead to heart failure. When it came to her heart, however, Dora wanted a second opinion from doctors at a hospital that she knew specialized in cardiac care—so she went to Temple. “I’ve been there ever since,” she says.
Dora’s Temple cardiologists treated her with medications, which worked well for years. But eventually she began feeling short of breath whenever she increased her walking pace or went up a flight of stairs. She also often felt a burning sensation in her chest.