I’m Aware That I’m Rare: Nicole Reid, RN (246)

The phaware® interview

Nicole Reid, RN discusses her pulmonary hypertension diagnosis, its impact on her nursing career and the importance of clinical trials.

My name is Nicole Reid, and I have pulmonary hypertension.

I was diagnosed in December 2015. For at least four years prior to that, I had been having a lot of vague symptoms. Things like dizziness and exercise intolerance, and I gained a lot of weight. I kept seeing doctors. I see ENT, I saw cardiology, I saw my regular doctor, all kinds of doctors, and they kept telling me, “You have asthma. You’re just a little overweight. You need to work out more, and you’re just getting older. I mean, after all, you are 36, so you could expect to have a little change.” Then in October 2015, I turned 40 and I got married, and two weeks after my wedding, I could not walk up a flight of stairs without stopping, I was so short of breath. I was short of breath sitting on the couch.

So, I made an appointment with a cardiologist, the one who diagnosed me with asthma, and she came into the…