Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/870419
t m c » p u l s e | s e p t e m b e r 2 0 1 7 25 talk about it much." But as she grew older, and her first surgery at age 10 turned into a second at 17 and a third at age 30, she began to view the scar in a different light. She recalled the time a stranger approached her and asked if she'd had open heart surgery. When she answered yes, the woman replied, "I have to have open heart surgery. And I'm look- ing at you, and you look so healthy. I'm not as nervous anymore." A typical childhood illness left unchecked led to Walker's heart issues. Strep throat missed by her pediatrician turned into rheumatic fever, which advanced into rheu- matic heart disease. It destroyed her mitral and aortic heart valves. "When I had my first heart surgery, I was 10 and weighed about 47 pounds—50 at the most. I was pretty much skin and bones," she said. Walker had valve replacement surgery in 1985 at Texas Children's Hospital, under the care of legend- ary heart surgeon Denton Cooley, M.D. Seven years later, on the verge of adulthood, Walker had outgrown the valves and underwent a second surgery by Cooley, this time at CHI St. Luke's. And in 2004, doctors discovered cartilage had built up around the valves and replaced both. "I always feel this rejuvenated energy when I come out of surgery. When you go under the knife, you really have to go in there preparing for that to be it," Walker said. Before her last surgery, she wrote notes to close friends and family that she left on her bed, in case she didn't make it through the procedure. "When I come out of it, I have all this urgency and energy toward trying to do everything," she said. "Life is so short. We have this finite amount of time and we have to get everything done." That sense of urgency has compelled her to speak openly about her experiences and to give her time to the American Heart Association to raise awareness of heart-related issues. "We only get one heart, and you have to really know how to take care of it and know the signs when something's not right," Walker said. While she emphasized the seriousness of heart disease, she also said she wants people to know life can be just as full after open heart surgery. "It doesn't have to be a death sentence, or you walking around with a cane or in a wheelchair," she said. "I do everything everybody else does." In a quiet room, the audible ticking of her valve replacements is a constant reminder of life after surgery. Sometimes other people notice. "What's that noise?" they ask. As a kid, it embarrassed her. Now, the ticking and the scar are just a part of who she is. "It's a badge of honor. A warrior scar. You've been through some things," she said. "Everybody has scars, it's just that you can actually see mine." — Shea Connelly Jacy Jordan Car accident J acy Jordan danced and leaped her way through childhood. Trained in several dance disci- plines and gymnastics, Jordan was in her element whenever she was in motion. But a horrific car accident 13 years ago threatened to take it all away from her. On Oct. 2, 2004, her mother was driving them home from the Pasadena Livestock Show & Rodeo, where Jordan, then 7, was named Miss Pasadena Rodeo. A car in the next lane suddenly merged in front of them, forcing her mother to swerve violently out of the way. The car flipped four times, throw- ing Jordan out of the vehicle. The accident broke Jordan's left leg in two places. The skin on her leg was completely scraped away, from her hip down to her toes. Jordan was rushed to Ben Taub Hospital, where doctors told her mother she might not make it through the night. The damage to her leg was extensive and there was a chance they would have to amputate. If they did, it would mean hindering her ability to do what she loved: dance. Thankfully, doctors were able to salvage her leg. After more than 20 surgeries and eight pins, Jordan had reason to hope again. She underwent intense physical therapy five times a week and even- tually regained the use of her left leg. She began walking and danc- ing again, while the extensive scar- ring remained a constant reminder of her strength and resilience. "I can't change what happened," Jordan said. "I'm going to be with it forever, so you might as well learn to love it and see how it makes you unique and how it makes you your own person." Jordan, who spent most of her childhood competing in pageants, said her scar has redefined her perception of beauty. "In beauty pageants, it was all about what you wore and how you looked on the outside," she said. "But now I think that beauty is all about what's on the inside and how you see yourself and being confident despite whatever happens to you—whether it leaves you physically, emotionally or mentally scarred." After the accident, Jordan continued to train in dance and gymnastics. For two years, she wore a bandage around her leg during practice to hide her scar. But one day, she decided to accept her leg, flaws and all. It was who she was and there was nothing she could do to change it. "It's learning to love yourself, being okay with people staring and looking at you in public, and just knowing that your scars are what make you unique," she said. "There's literally no one else that has the same exact scar as you do." Now a sophomore majoring in biology at The University of Texas at Dallas, Jordan said she was inspired by the care she received at Ben Taub and is determined to pur- sue a career in medicine in hopes of one day helping others the way the doctors helped her. "I think it's amazing how they were able to change my life so much," she said. "I'm just really thankful for that. If I could do that for someone else, that would be everything to me." — Shanley Chien