CrossFit Athlete and Scuba Diver Discovers PFO is Blocking Her True Potential
Trisha, age 42, has always kept herself active and living a full life, participating in CrossFit, super league level netball, adventure racing, scuba diving, and travelling. While Trisha had always suffered from unexpected migraines, or feeling faint after performing high intensity leg exercises, she chalked it up to dehydration or overexerting herself during training.
It wasn’t until her diagnosis with Lipoedema, a genetic disease that causes an accumulation of fat in women’s legs, did she also have to undergo a Transcranial Doppler test, leading to her PFO diagnosis.
According to Trisha, “to be honest I was very adamant that I didn’t have one when he (Dr Lekich) suggested it as I was so fit and into endurance events.”
She also initially doubted the existence of her PFO as she had previously undergone half a day of extensive testing by a cardiologist in the public system prior to a surgical procedure in 2019, during which no hole in the heart was found.
After the results of the TCD test sunk in however, Trisha faced coming to terms with her PFO and had to alter her lifestyle for her safety. She was most disappointed by being forced to halt her scuba diving course, as a hole in the heart greatly increases the chances of an Arterial Gas Embolism due to the hole potentially allowing a bubble of inert gas to enter a blood vessel and cause an interruption to the blood supply.
The results can be severe, with potential to cause stroke, seizures, loss of consciousness, shock, and even death, from seemingly safe diving depths.
“Mentally it has been hard to train as hard and as often as I was scared of having a stroke, it was like having a ticking time bomb in my chest,” Trisha remarked.
Much to her relief, Trisha has since had her PFO closed with no issues. After the closure procedure she sensed immediate changes, feeling ‘strangely awake’ without any of the brain fog she had become accustomed to. Trisha has reported only one or two migraines with no pain since the closure, and during exercise has felt none of the previous light headedness.
Trisha has already rebooked her scuba course for next winter and is thrilled about returning to CrossFit in earnest and competing for the coming season.
