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CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Shadreada Rorie's greatest desire is to watch her little girl grow up. Last spring, she was lying in a hospital bed thinking she might not get that chance.

Just 22, Rorie was more than eight months pregnant with her first child in May 2007 when she learned that she had abnormally high blood pressure. She was admitted to the hospital only to hear that she had fluid on her lungs and would require an emergency c-section. Her little girl, Jakhiya, was born healthy, but Rorie kept getting worse. While her baby was in the nursery at Presbyterian Hospital, Rorie stayed in the intensive care unit for five days.
"I only saw pictures of her at first," said Rorie. "She looked just like me." Rorie, meanwhile, was diagnosed with heart failure. At 22, she suddenly felt her world crashing down on her. "They told me people don't recover from this...that I'd have to be on medication for the rest of my life. I just wanted to see my baby."

When Jakhiya was five days old, Rorie did just that. "The nurses spoiled her rotten, so she was sleepy when she got to me and wouldn't wake up. I didn't care--I was just happy to hold her." The journey was just beginning, though. Rorie and her baby were sent home just one day apart, but the following month, Rorie enrolled in the Presbyterian Heart Failure Program. She learned how to grocery shop, choose healthy recipes and manage her weight. "I was so scared of things like sodium intake at first, and I did everything I was supposed to do," she said.

Over the next four months, Rorie did so well that she was able to transition into Presbyterian's new Telehealth Program. This innovative program helps heart failure patients with mild to moderate conditions improve their quality of life from the comfort of their own homes. Participants weigh themselves each day on a special scale that asks them questions and transmits data to an experienced team at the Presbyterian Heart Failure Clinic. "It asked me questions I wouldn't have thought of and was easy to use," said Rorie. "I watched my weight, and it never fluctuated. The team called me every two weeks to check in."

After less than three months in the Telehealth Program, the team and Rorie's physician, Dr. Edward McMillan of Mid Carolina Cardiology, felt that Rorie was just about ready to leave heart failure behind. On January 8, her journey culminated in a graduation ceremony at the Presbyterian Heart Failure Clinic. Rorie was the first-ever graduate of the program. "It felt like I was graduating from high school all over again," said Rorie. "When they gave me my certificate, I thought I was going to cry. The program and the nurses have been a real blessing in my life, and I love them all."

Now that she is a proud graduate of the Telehealth Program, Rorie looks forward to possibly getting off her heart failure medications this May and, of course, watching Jakhiya grow up. "She just started crawling three days ago," Rorie said proudly. "One of the best lessons I learned was this: do what you need to do to be here for your children."

To learn more about the Presbyterian Heart Failure Telehealth Program, please call 704-384-8888.