Before Chris and I even got married, we talked about getting wedding rings tattooed on our ring fingers. We ended up just going the traditional route and having actual wedding rings. Over the years, I would have to not wear my rings at times because my fingers were swollen. After my hospitalization in 2016, when…

Sometimes I forget I have scars in places that most people don’t. When I look at myself, I just see me and usually don’t even notice my scars anymore. I’ve lived with most of them for my entire life, so they’re normal for me. I know other people notice them, though. When my oldest niece,…

First, there was shortness of breath. I attributed that to my heart disease for the longest time. Then, there was coughing up blood. That’s when I knew something else was going on with me. In 2006, after lots of tests, the doctors at Emory diagnosed me with Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension (PAH). My PAH is secondary…

By now, you know I was born with a heart defect known as Transposition of the Great Arteries (TGA). So, what does that mean? It means I was born with the pulmonary artery and the aorta being transposed, or switched, which means oxygen was not getting to my body. In normal hearts, the right side…

One of the signs or symptoms, I’m not sure which, of my congenital heart disease is my dark purplish lip color. I do not wear lipstick. I use lip balm that is colorless. I have some vivid memories regarding my lip color, and most of these memories are not positive. One of the earliest memories…

In my welcome post, I shared that I have a congenital heart disease and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension. I have tried my best throughout my life to not let those diseases define who I am. I’ll share posts providing more information on those. So, who am I? In a nutshell, I’m a lover of books, animals,…

Welcome to Lifesavers for Latasha! Here I’ll be posting updates, stories, photos, etc. about living with congenital heart disease and Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension, as well as documenting my journey to heart and double lung transplant. Help be a lifesaver today by sharing and/or donating through the GoFundMe or Venmo links. Thank you!