Marianna's Story

Facing a lifetime with high blood pressure and cardiovascular problems with the heart of a champion.

Meet Marianna. Champion Masters Swimmer, mom, grandmother and truly heroic woman who's travelled the world to compete, only to face the biggest challenge of her life – heart disease -- with the help of Penn’s Heart & Vascular Center.

Now in her late 80s, Marianna first learned she had high blood pressure in her 20s. Tiny and tenacious, she wasn't about to let it stop her from pursuing her passion: competitive swimming. She knew she had to keep an eye on her heart, but she looked forward to her time in pool, coaching and travelling the world to compete in the sport she loved.

When a heart attack leads to a triple bypass.

At 50, on her way back from a swimming competition overseas, Marianna stopped overnight in New York. Not feeling well, she called her husband who immediately drove from Cherry Hill to the city to pick her up.

"At first I didn't think it was anything to do with my heart, it was more of a pain in my jaw. But with my history of heart disease, I wasn't going to take any chances."

Instead of going home, Marianna's husband took her to the hospital. She'd had a heart attack and underwent immediate bypass surgery. Her recovery went well, but during her routine follow-up, her doctor noticed she had atrial fibrillation.

Atrial fibrillation: an irregular, rapid heartbeat that can really slow you down.

"I was short of breath, and worst of all, out of the pool. I just couldn't trade a lifetime of swimming for a lifestyle that could no longer include the sport I love. So I got a second opinion from Penn Medicine."

After struggling with atrial fibrillation for years and enduring a lifelong battle with heart problems, Marianna went to see Dr. Fermin Garcia at Pennsylvania Hospital. He spent a great amount of time with her, discussing her history of heart problems and asking about her hopes for the future.

"When Dr. Garcia asked me what my expectations were, I told him: I need to swim! It's been my life -- coaching, training, competing – and now I can barely get to the other end of the pool."

After so many years of struggling with heart trouble, Marianna's turning point came when she met Dr. Garcia. He performed an ablation and Marianna was up on her feet the next day and swimming beautifully for a year. But soon her heart went into atrial fibrillation again. Dr. Garcia performed another ablation. Once again, with great results.

"Before long I was back to training – at 86, I was signed up for the Senior Olympics."

Marianna was back in the water. She felt really great, her endurance was better, and her training was going well. She wore a heart monitor for four weeks, taking it on and off to swim. Just before she was to turn it in, she got a phone call that would save her life.

Ventricular tachycardia is an emergency situation that must be treated immediately.

"My nurse called, telling me my heart was a ticking time bomb. I couldn’t drive, swim, anything. I needed treatment right away."

The heart attack Marianna had suffered 20 years before created scar tissue in her heart, which was causing the ventricular tachycardia. This time, Dr. Garcia recommended a pacemaker. Pacemaker surgery was scheduled almost immediately.

"Dr. Garcia is my hero. He saved my life. He completely rejuvenated me."

After surgery, Marianna counted the days until she could swim again. Soon she was back in the pool training for the 2015 National Senior Games, where she finished first in three events.

"I’ve been swimming my whole life. I can't imagine life without it, that's why I didn’t settle for anything less than the best care."