“The world gives me hope. Everywhere I look I see a million reasons as to why I should never give up…”

by Erica Hutchison

“My symptoms were dizziness, falling, chest pain, near syncope, shortness of breath, vision problems, extremely high blood pressure, and inability to exercise or walk as far as I normally could. I also lost the ability to play my wind instruments, and since I’ve been a musician my entire life, I was crushed. Luckily, I’m starting to gain lung capacity again to at least sing.

The world gives me hope. Everywhere I look I see a million reasons as to why I should never give up or give in to this horrible disease. My wonderful family, my two crazy dogs and so many friends that I consider my family also give me hope. I’m so lucky to be surrounded by love. My doctors’ and nurses’ compassion also gives me so much hope. Even in the darkest moments, they are there by my side. The people I’ve met from social networking sites for pulmonary hypertension (PH) have been so amazing to me.

The first three friends I made are sadly gone now, but their lives have inspired me so much that I can’t help but have even more hope that one day, one day, this disease will be eradicated or at least it will be more easily treatable. I wish that no person on Earth has to go through what the rest of us have. With the years of waiting, and false diagnosis from professionals that are simply unaware of the disease itself, I hope even more for awareness.”