The doctor came in, they talked to us, they let me know that I needed

to have an emergency surgery and that I would be having a. I needed

a pacemaker. And so we thought, pacemaker,

me, you know, I'm someone that. I've been

a pescatarian for over 20 years. I don't eat beef or pork.

I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. So I thought, nah, this can't be happening.

I don't need a pacemaker. But it was happening and

it showed me, it doesn't matter. You can. It's great to live a good

holistic lifestyle. And what I learned later on, that's one of

the reasons I'm still here. But it doesn't mean that this won't happen to

you. You know, just because you eat a certain way or you live a certain

way, it doesn't mean that these types of things won't show up at your

doorstep. Because it did for me. Welcome to

Open Heart Surgery with Boots, where we explore the journey

of heart health through the eyes of those who live it every

day. I'm your host, Boots Knighton, and in season

five, we're focusing on what it truly means to

thrive. We'll dive into cutting edge medical advances,

share powerful stories from both sides of the stethoscope,

and learn how to be better advocates for our own health.

From candid conversations with cardiac patients to

insights from dedicated healthcare professionals, each

episode brings you closer to understanding the complex world

of heart health. Whether you're navigating your own cardiac

journey or supporting someone who is, you're in the right

place. So let's get to today's story.

I thank you for being here for supporting

this podcast, for showing up in the world

and shining your bright light. It is not easy being a

heart patient, and if you are new to me and this

podcast, I welcome you with a open heart and open

arms. I started this podcast for

all heart patients worldwide, and as of this recording,

I have now been downloaded in 65 countries,

which is just really astonishing to me and

so thank you. I love you. I see you, I

hear you. I am here for you. Please send an email

bootsheheartchamberpodcast.com that was the

original name of this podcast and I want to hear from you.

If you're just now finding this podcast and tell me what you need to

hear more of, what you need support with, and then find

us on Patreon at Open Heart Surgery with Boots.

And that is a great way to support the show and

get involved with the community that I'M slowly getting going

as I still continue to navigate my own heart

story. I am so excited. I

cannot believe that we are now in our fifth season

and we are so excited to welcome today a

friend of mine, a newer friend through this heart

journey. And I want to speak about that really quick.

When you step into the world

of heart surgery or heart diagnosis,

your world changes and be open to

the miracles. Be open to the glimmers. I like to

say the positivity because it's

there. And Keena Lucom. Am

I saying that right? You are. You are totally saying that right.

Yes. It's important to pronounce your new friends names correctly. Came

into my life via Women Heart. I have spoken

about Women Heart in the past. It's an incredible organization

for women with heart disease. And Kena and I

got to meet in person in Washington, D.C.

in 2024 and it was life changing for

me. I live in Idaho, Kena lives in Florida,

and I would not have had the opportunity to meet her

and get to know her and see what she's bringing to the world

without women Hart. So, Kena, thank you for saying yes to

this. Thank you for being woo. You are doing amazing

things. You've been through the ringer yourself and

I brought you on because you are just a light

for heart patients. So thanks for saying

yes today. Wow. Thank you. Thank you for having me.

It's a pleasure to be here. And you are in sunny

Florida and it's snowing right now where I am. And I'm jealous.

So you should be. It's great.

You have quite the story to tell. But what

I'm also even more impressed by is what you've done with

your story and going into this fifth season

of open heart surgery with boots. And I've, I've done this in the past

with previous heart patients, but even more so,

I am looking to frame our

collective experience as heart patients. I don't want to engage

in toxic positivity, but I do

believe that we are the lucky ones that

we get to see life in a whole new

way that you can't get from a book, you can't get from a

movie, or even maybe a belief system. It's like

we have been put into this ex. What's the word I'm looking for?

Experiential learning exercise that we didn't have a

choice. But we do have a choice what we, what we do with

it. And so I'm framing season five with

like, joy, gratitude

and just a lived experience

of we're not Getting out of this alive. And

so let's make the most of while we're here.

And you really embody that.

Absolutely. I like that. I do.

In fact, I spoke recently about it when we had our

annual Hearts of Valor black Tie gala back on December

7th. And when I was speaking and addressing the

audience and I told them, I said, I don't wish this on anyone,

but it has helped me tremendously. It's changed me as a person.

You know, it's helped me to be more

open, more understanding. As you stated, none of us are getting

out of here alive, not one. So with the time that we

have left, you know, it's very important that we're very

strategic on what we do with that time and that energy. So. And

that's what this has done to me. Wow. Well, we will

get to Hearts of Valor in a moment because it's really incredible what that

organization is doing. But walk us back to

2019, because that's when your journey started.

Yes, that's when my journey started.

February 2019, actually. I had

gotten up in the morning, just like any other morning to do yoga

meditation, and I collapsed unexpectedly.

I collapsed during a yoga

session. My husband found me unresponsive. Thank God. He

is a nurse as well, although he's. His passion is real

estate and that's what he does, but he also is a pediatric

nurse. So he found me. He knew exactly what to

do. We didn't see it coming. We weren't prepared for it. We have

four children, so it was a really

devastating time for us. Of course, I was taken to the

emergency room. And let me just say this. This happened to be my

21st wedding anniversary. Okay. So

this was. And it's Valentine's Day. Can you

believe that? I was married on Valentine's Day.

And this happened. This happens to me on

Valentine's Day. Heart for a heart. Right.

So. So I'm there. And we

didn't realize how serious it was until we got there. We. Well, we knew, you

know, this is not good because we're both in the medical field. And so when

they came in, the doctor explained at that time, my heart

rate, for those of you that don't know a regular heart rate, you

want between 60 and

60 and over and under 120. Just. Just an average heart

rate. My heart rate was in the low 30s when I arrived,

and within the first few moments of being there, it got. Had

gotten as low as 29. Yeah. Beats per minute. So I was

pretty much on my way out. And so

the. You know, the doctor came in, they talked to us. They let me know

that I needed to have an emergency surgery and that I would be

a. I needed a pacemaker. And so we thought,

pacemaker, me, you know, I'm someone that.

I've been a pescatarian for over 20 years. I don't eat beef

or pork. I didn't drink, I didn't smoke. So I thought, nah, this can't be

happening. I don't need a pacemaker. But it was

happening, and it showed me, it doesn't matter. You can. You

know, it's great to live a good holistic lifestyle. And what

I learned later on is that that's one of the reasons I'm still here.

But it doesn't mean that this won't happen to you. Just because you

eat a certain way or you live a certain way. It doesn't mean that these

types of things won't show up at your doorstep, because it did for

me. And so that was hard for me to digest. But

we're here. And so I went on to have the

surgery. It was just a minor surgery with a pacer. I will

be paced for the rest of my life. At that time, my heart

was enlarged, which is cardiomyopathy. There were so many

different things going on. And I thought, why. Why didn't I know this? I've

been a nurse for 20 years. You know, why. Why didn't I

know or understand? And. And sometimes

you're so busy with other things that you don't really pay attention to

what's going on with you. And that had to have been the case with me

because I knew I was gaining weight. I knew I was experiencing

shortness of breath. I knew that when I would climb my stairs, I

would have to. Once I. My bedroom's upstairs. So once I

climb my stairs, I'd have to sit down for a few minutes before I could

do anything, before I could go to the restroom, anything. I would have to sit

for a while, catch my breath. And I thought, oh, my

goodness, I'm getting really out of shape. I even hired a personal trainer

because I. I was trying to take care of things. I started

the intermittent fasting. Cause I noticed I was gaining weight. It was just a lot

going on, but I still didn't know

what was going on with my heart until that incident. And. And

so, yeah, it was something that, like I said, I didn't see

it coming, but it happened. So. And

we're here. Incredible. And I find that so

interesting that you wrote it off as

all these Other things. Which makes sense because, like, why would

you ever think about your heart? I mean, I. I experienced the same thing with

my. When my journey started. It's like you suspect

it, and. And there's like, this. There's this,

I don't know, maybe thought process that we shouldn't

assume the worst, but here's where maybe assuming the worst

is actually beneficial because people die every

day of heart stuff. And, yeah, it's like, I don't know, you could go

either way with that, but that's incredible. How long did. How long

did the breathlessness go on, do you think?

Oh, gosh, for quite some time. I would say

at least a good six months. You know, it got

worse, you know, towards the end, but I would notice

just working out on, you know, running on the treadmill or

even just walking. Sometimes I remember we were in Disney World and we were

walking, and I started feeling like I was going to

pass out. And I said, boy, I'm really out of shape. I'm just

letting myself go. I need to get on a more, you know,

rigid program because something's wrong here. But I just thought it was

physically, you know, I'm not doing as much as I should be doing, you know,

because I was working a lot and everything, so. And I homeschool my kids,

so I had a lot going on, so I thought maybe I just need to

buckle down and really get into this fitness thing a lot more.

So. But, you know, that wasn't the case.

Right. And I know a lot of listeners would completely resonate with

what you just said, especially parents like yourself

with a big herd of children like you have.

It's. Yeah, you're managing a lot and. And

running the household and being a wife and. Wow. I just.

Kudos to you for sticking with your yoga practice. I mean, it almost took you

out, but. So,

okay, now you have this pacemaker and. But, like, what the

heck? Why? You had cardiomyopathy.

Why? So medically,

the clinical explanation for that would be that I went into complete

heart block, electrical heart block, which is totally

different from, you know, a lot of times when people hear heart block, they

think, you know, your arteries are clogged, you

know, high cholesterol. I didn't have any of those

things. And that's another reason why it was probably kind of

tricky for me to be diagnosed until I was already in complete heart

block, because there's three stages, and I was in the

final stage, the end stage of heart block. And again, mine was

electrical, which means it's like turning On a light switch, and the

light not coming on. It's. The heart is just one chamber

is not communicating with the other, so your heart stops beating.

So me being in complete heart block, it triggered cardiac

arrest where I stopped breathing and my heart stopped

beating. Wow. Yeah. You're like, my first cart. A

heart block friend. It. That is. That is

wild. And thank you for explaining it with, like, the light

switch, because I was reading about it prior to us having this conversation, and

it's. It's. It's hard. It's kind of hard to understand.

The heart is so complicated. Okay,

so now you have the pacemaker. I mean, can it be reversed?

Is it permanent? No, I'll have a pacemaker for the

rest of my life. Every 10 to 15 years, I'll have just a minor

surgery to get it replaced. I have a dual chamber, and

so I'm 100% paced. So. Yeah,

there's no reverse in that. Right. Well, I mean, I understand

that part, but. So once you have heart block, you always have heart block.

Oh, no, no. The block itself has been corrected.

Oh, okay. Via. Because of the pacemaker.

But if something were to happen, then we'd be

back at square one, you know, if I didn't. Yeah. Continue

to have a pacer. And it's only been corrected because you wear

a pace. You have a pacemaker. If you didn't have it, we wouldn't

be having this conversation. No, we would not.

Yeah. When we think about that as a

possibility, how does that land for you?

It's heavy. Like I said, I. My diagnosis was

in 2019. And I just got busy. Really,

really busy with life. Okay. And just. I got

another. I got a promotion. I got another

degree. Just busy. And I

actually, you know, ended up starting an organization, but it took

me four years. And I remember the date. It was November 3,

2023. And I had gotten up, and I was meditating,

and it just hit me like, you almost died.

And I just started to cry, and I couldn't stop because that was the

first time I'd ever grieved about what happened to me

or shed one tear about it. You know, I just. I got out

of the hospital. I just went right back to life, you know,

just got busy excelling. I felt. I got busy winning, and

I thought that that would, you know, suffice, and I didn't want to be

a victim, and. But because of that, I didn't really deal

mentally with what had taken place with me. So, like I said,

it took me that long. But I remember, and it was just such a

relief because I literally cried for about 90 minutes,

like I couldn't stop. And every time I thought it was over, it would

just come out, you know? But afterwards I felt so

relieved. And then it triggered something in me, and I actually went back

and pulled all my medical records and really sat down

and read my, you know, my medical records and really

took the time to understand just how close I was to death,

you know, And I'm grateful to be here, but it

was just really, really overwhelming. So when you ask that question, yeah,

it's heavy because it's. It's surreal. You

don't expect it. I didn't expect it at my age. I didn't expect it in

my. Just the lifestyle that I was living. So just to kind of

know that I was just that close, you know, and to know

there's always a possibility, you know, when you're a heart patient, you know

that things happen, and sometimes you have one issue, one

diagnosis, it affects something else. So just kind of just coming

to terms with that and just knowing, okay, while I'm here, I'm

going to do just exactly what I'm guided, and I feel like I'm called to

do, but I know that I'm not going to be here forever. That that's a

given. So, yeah. For those who just are finding this

podcast or maybe missed the episode, I

interviewed a cardiac psychiatrist from the Mayo

Clinic that Keena and I both had the privilege of

listening to speak at the symposium she and I went to

Dr. Lara Suarez Pardo. The

episode is in. It aired in December of

2024. It's worth your time.

And I, I. It's worth everyone's

time. She, she. We cover a lot, her and I,

on how to change, make changes, the importance

of grieving. And Kena, just with you sharing how

it took four years for the grief to hit you, that's

just like another example I've heard how grief will come find you when

it's ready, when it feels safe to finally come out.

And if what I'm hearing you say is, you know,

it finally felt safe for it to be expressed out of your

body. But doctor, Dr. Pardo said something that

I continue to think about, which is we need to be

given permission to grieve the loss of our health.

And, you know, I look at you, Kina, and I remember meeting you in person.

You are healthy in so many ways. You're vibrant,

you're thriving. Dare I say you're thriving. Thriving, right. And,

and, and it's just like we're. You're a

vessel that is mostly okay minus

this, you know, life threatening situation

that is thankfully, you know, fixed with the benefits

and beautiful aspects of science. But it's, it's

this line we walk, you and I, of being

that forever heart patient and being labeled as that. We need to be labeled as

that because our doctors need to be aware. But it's this really interest,

interesting duality to exist in, like, hey, I'm

thriving in life and continuing to move forward and making a

positive impact, but I still have like this thing going on under the

hood for sure. How old were you?

Because you keep referencing your age. And

also, what is the cause of heart block if it's

not blockages? I don't think we cover

that. So I'm, I was

43 when that happened to me. I will

actually be 49 this Thursday. Boots

Thursday, yeah, I'll be 49. So.

And then as far as the electrical heart block,

it's a mechanical issue.

Now when I spoke to my EP doctor, she seems

to think that it's congenital.

It's. I was born with a heart

murmur that never caused any problems. I've served

in the Air Force, you know, nothing. I was

cleared to, to join the military. And so. But

she thinks that it, it stemmed from the murmur and,

and that's congenital, something that I was born with and pretty

much genetic. Now I will share this after

she and I had that conversation, because I kept asking like, how did

this happen to me? Why has this happened to me? And they were pulling my

records. They even pulled my military records to look. And

that's what she came up with. She thinks that I may have had

Covid before they really knew what it was and it triggered it.

But they're thinking congenital and that's what. And so I spoke to my

mom about it and she and my mom said it could be, you know, your

grandmother died at 41 from a hard block.

Thanks. Yeah.

So how. That's revelatory. That's how

I felt when he said it casually. Right. And

so, yeah, she tried. Oh my God. At

41, that would have been helpful to know like a decades

ago. Exactly. And

so I did. And that also motivated me to start asking

questions throughout my family, doing research. And I, and I, so far I've come up

with eight family members with heart blocks,

electrical heart blocks. I'm the only one

that lived to talk about it. Everyone else is on the autopsy report

or death certificate. And the reason we have a lot of

autopsies is because several of my cousins have died under the

age of 40. So of course you have to have enough.

So. Yeah. I'm so sorry. That is awful.

It is, but. And I guess, too, and what it teaches all of us

is the importance of sharing. Again, if we all feel like something's

going on and we don't share, look at that. You have eight family

members, all under the age of 45 that are

gone. And so I'm just grateful to be here

to talk about it and to share. There's no way that I'm going to keep

quiet, especially knowing what I know and discuss discovering what I've discovered

within my own family. We're going to talk about it. I call. I have

56 cousins. I'm a Southern girl from Louisiana. My

grandparents had 13 kids, so I have 56 cousins.

Okay. You know, all their. I.

Yes, we. We're close. Yeah. We didn't have friends. We

had each other. Yeah, we didn't. We

didn't need friends. And so I. But I. I call

them. We have family chats. I, you know, I communicate. We have

Facebook groups with family members, and I let them know, guys, this is

what happened. This is what's going on. Get checked out. My children have all been

checked. So it's. It's changed the course of our family and how we communicate

when it comes to things like that. So I'm still stuck on 56

cousins. That's

amazing. I'm like four, so.

So tell us about the incredible impact you are making.

So Hearts of Valor.

Sure, sure. It's an incredible organization. And,

yeah, just brag all about it. Okay. Well, Hearts of

Valor was, of course, inspired just through me wanting to help other

people share my story. And then in doing

that, I went live one year on Facebook, actually,

and I had so many people inbox. I just. After that

happened and I came to terms with what happened to me, I

decided to share and be more open about it. But this

particular day, I'd gone live on Facebook and I

had over a hundred inboxes where people were saying, hey,

you know, I'm a runner. And I had. I found out I have

congestive heart failure. And just all sorts of stories.

And I thought. And a lot of. No one knew. They didn't share it

with a lot of people, but they felt comfortable telling me because I'd shared my

story. And in me sharing my story, that was the first time a

lot of my family members knew what happened to me outside of my immediate

family, because I, you know, when it happened, I was

embarrassed to be honest with you, I was embarrassed because of my age

and because of the, the, the lifestyle that I was living in. I was always

encouraging people, you know, eat plants, eat, you know, fruits and

vegetables and be careful with this. And, and

so, and then it happened to me and I didn't have the answers

initially and I, I didn't know why or, you know, like, why did

this happen? So, and I just didn't want to talk about it, so I didn't

share. And, but when I did decide to share

and I realized that the impact it made on others

and, and so we started with that, just the patient support

where I would talk to people, and then it kind of evolved into some

that were going to the hospital or have family members with issues. They didn't

know what type of questions to ask the physicians. So

they would call me from the doctor's office, hey, can I put you on

speaker? I don't really know what type of questions to

ask. And so I would assist with that. And then I started pulling some of

my other friends in that are also in the medical field. Hey, can you help

me? And, and so we kind of started that where we were

assisting in that area, and then we started going into the communities. I formed a

clinical team of physicians and therapists

and nurses as well. And we would go out and do

head to toe assessments and then we would do heart risk assessments. And it

just continued to grow and we got more and more support from the community and

here we are. And what community do you

serve exactly? In Florida? So we serve Tampa

Bay, so both Hillsborough county and Pasco County.

Okay. Okay. Any interest

in going bigger than that or are you just keeping it

small? Oh, yes, we actually, we have a chapter in

Kentucky and so we also have

boots on the ground in Texas. So we're working, we're

working on starting a chapter in New York as well.

So, yeah, we're, we're growing. Incredible.

That's got to feel so gratifying.

It does, it does. Especially when I see people that

are really kind of coming to terms with what happened to them. Because believe it

or not, when I had my first conference for the

organization, my keynote speaker had had a heart attack

and no one in her household knew, not the spouse, not

the kids. Yeah, yeah. And

so. She hid, she hid the

fact that. She hid the fact. Yeah. And she's a physician. She hid the fact

that she had had a heart attack. She said she was away on, on business,

you know, and that was the first time. But because of

me sharing my story and then her coming in and speaking,

she announced it during her. The conference. For the first time, she just

let it out. I'm a heart attack patient. I had a heart attack

and I didn't know. And we were friends outside of this.

So it really shows me that especially with

women, we don't like to tell because we

already feel that things are stacked up against us. I know for me,

I didn't want to feel even more vulnerable than I already feel in this

life. So it's like I felt like that put me in a

vulnerable position when I didn't know better. And I just felt like

I don't want to be vulnerable. I don't want anyone to know I'm a heart

patient. I don't want anyone looking at me or judging me, you know, and.

And you find that a lot of women, especially professional women, are dealing

and coping with that. So that's really gratifying for me

just to encourage and to see that camaraderie. And we're all talking

and we're all admitting. You mentioned Women Heart. That's the one thing that

Women Heart did for me. Women Heart has done a lot for me,

but that's what stands out to me the most. Women just participating and

becoming a member of WomenHear helped me to admit to the fact

that I am a heart patient and just accept it, you know?

And so, yeah, so I appreciate that

organizations like Women Heart for that. And I have to

admit to you, I. I didn't

realize that

women wanting to keep

what had happened to them private. I. I'm.

I'm just such an open book myself that it just doesn't occur to

me to. I mean, I don't broadcast everything, but, like,

it just doesn't occur to me to. To hide such

a diagnosis. So that's. I'm just sitting with that for a minute,

and I'm feeling. I'm feeling really sad about it, that

there's a thought process that women,

you. The people you're interacting with, feel like they have

to hide it like that. That's hard. That's hard for

me to hear. I'm really sad. Yeah.

And we don't have to. We just don't know. Like,

for me, I just felt like I didn't know better. And it wasn't until

I came around other women experiencing the same thing as me,

you know, that I had that platform to

express it. And then I thought, what do you mean? Like, have to.

Like, it's like a rule in society, but it's like this. Oh, yeah,

it's, like, implied. Right? It's implied to me that I

need to stay hidden or quiet or whatever. You know, like,

it's right. We're still unraveling

some programming that isn't helpful or

beneficial to our mental health as a society, is what I'm

saying. Absolutely. And I was actually going up for

promotion around that time, so I really felt the

pressure of not saying a word. You know,

I'm very open with it. And I can say this. Once I

did share, you know, with the organization that I'm employed by

exactly what happened to me, my condition. They

were very supportive. I mean, I have special equipment. I have standing

desks. I work from home, and I have standing desks for my circulation.

So it was beneficial to share. I just

didn't know, you know, in the beginning, I didn't feel comfortable enough to do it,

so. Gotcha. Kina. This has been

such a fun, if we

can say it, fun conversation. I say that

gently because it's not. It's not a fun topic. But I

guess my point is, like, see, if you frame it in joy and

gratitude and service

at serving others, it is amazing

what we can do with the hand that we're dealt. And if I

could just, I don't know, praise you for a second and be like,

woman, what have you not done? I mean, you. Thank you for

serving. Thank you for serving our country, thank you

for being a nurse, for raising four

incredible children. I haven't met them, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that

they're amazing. And thank you for starting Hearts of Valor.

I can hardly wait to see what 2025 brings you

and the rest of us through you.

It is amazing that you are thriving despite the

circumstances. And if there's any heart patients listening today

that are grieving, that are

feeling like the future is looking a little dark at the moment.

First of all, we see you, we get you, but just use

our example. I've started a podcast and Keena has.

Doing her work that you just heard about Women Heart. Like, you

can go on to live a really purposeful and beautiful

life despite your heart diagnosis. Yes, you

can. So any. Any other parting words of wisdom

for us? I feel like I could talk to you all day.

I would just say trust the process. Do understand

that. That none of us will be here forever. So just be mindful of what

you do with your time and. Okay. Yep. And be

mindful. If I could add, be mindful of what you

choose to take in what you choose. Like, you know, not

only your actual food diet, but your energetic diet.

Who you choose to be around. Visit people like Keena,

get involved with Women Heart. If you're a female, listening to this. If you're a

male, there's also other organizations you can be involved in.

Like choose to be in joy and around people that have

hope and inspiration. Because if you're looking for

negativity, you will find it. If you're looking for hope and

healing, you will also find it. Absolutely.

Keena, thank you. And I will have

to get a hold of you. Do you just want to verbalize to us

how you would like to be? If people want to find you, follow you

support. Sure. We're on

Instagram, TikTok Tock and Facebook under Hearts of

Valor, Inc. We also have a

website, heartsofvallor inc.com and

yeah, so reach out to us. We have lots of events coming up. We have

a 5k coming up here in Tampa Bay. So

wonderful. Reach out. We have resources and we're willing

to help. Awesome. Awesome. Thank you

everyone for for sticking to the end of this beautiful episode.

And of course, if you haven't already, be sure

to follow Open Heart Surgery with Boots wherever you get

your podcasts. And you know, I have a big

request. If you haven't already, would you please

leave a review? Your reviews help this podcast

get more traction. We are already downloaded in 75

countries, which is amazing, but I know we can reach so many

more heart patients. So please be sure to share this episode

with a friend. Tell everyone about Hearts of Valor.

Tell folks about this podcast and be sure to come back next

week for another episode. And in case no one's told you today, I

love you, you matter, and your heart is your best

friend. Yes, it is.