I’m Aware That I’m Rare: Sarah Sizemore (354)

The phaware® interview

PAH patient Sarah Sizemore discusses being diagnosed with pulmonary hypertension at a young age in Denver, her family’s decision to move from altitude and how positivity helps her face this disease.

My name is Sarah Sizemore. I live in South Carolina. I have idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. I was diagnosed at four years old in Denver, and then we had to move to South Carolina for sea level. My dad owned his business in Colorado and my mom’s an ER charge nurse. I started having seizures. Dr. Dunbar Ivy is the one who diagnosed me. He said at the time just being diagnosed, I couldn’t handle the altitude. I was diagnosed in spring and that next year we moved. We sold our house. My dad quit his job. Then, my mom relocated to a hospital here in South Carolina. We moved to South Carolina, because my mom loves the beach. We did an in-between in North Carolina, a couple of hours, there’s mountains so we decided it was the perfect spot.

I have a sister and brother. I’m the baby. My brother’s 27 and my sister’s 23. I think their…