I’m Aware That I’m Rare: Merle Reeseman (222)

The phaware® interview

Pulmonary hypertension patient Merle Reeseman discusses her PH diagnosis and the importance of being seen by a PH specialist who understands the disease and can diagnose and prescribe the proper medication.

I’m Merle Reeseman and a pulmonary hypertension patient.

It was back probably in the late 90s. I wasn’t feeling well, I was a very active person [who] went from this doctor to the next doctor. And one doctor says, “You need to see a specialist.” I went to a cardiologist and he said, “whoever read this EKG, or echo, doesn’t know what they’re talking about. You need to go to the Cleveland Clinic.” That’s where I went.

When I first went to the clinic, they said, “you have a clean body,” which meant I was not on any kind of medications. And would I mind trying to this and mind trying that. They went through a lot of trials, and I got to the point where they said, “that’s it, you need to be on medicine,” because they first tell you [that] you have two to six years to live without medications. And too many patients don’t hear the without medication…