“Being strong will always take you places”
Coach KaitI took a good look at my personal journey with POTS and purposefully chose individuals in different chapters of my life to help tell my story. These individuals helped me to navigate what I didn’t know at the time was living POTS Strong.
Meet a college friend and teammate Hannah.
When you first heard the term POTS, what were your thoughts?
When I first heard about POTS, I had absolutely no idea what it meant. When Coach announced that Kait had an issue, when she said it was a heart issue, of course I began to worry. Kait had mentioned being really sick in high school but didn’t elaborate much at the time. I did some research on POTS and truthfully didn’t understand how debilitating the sickness can be for some people until I dug into it a bit.
What was it like to have a teammate with POTS?
Kait is the toughest chick i know, hands down, so if she wasn’t feeling well, it was usually hard to tell, unless it was really bad. It was hard to understand, since it wasn’t something, I’d heard of before. With that being said, I also have a cardiac background, so I think I probably asked more questions than most of our teammates. Plus, we were close friends, so I felt comfortable asking, and I know if Kait didn’t want to share anything specific with me, she wouldn’t. I think she was extremely open with me about her condition. I had a hard time picturing her being so sick. It seems like such an “internal” issue, and since she is so strong, and has such an incredibly positive “carpe diem” sort of attitude, it made me really sad for her.
Seeing Kait perform at high levels of function, and at times fall victim to acute flares…what are your thoughts? How did she cope?
Kait is a doer. a MAJOR doer. She copes by DOING. That chick DOES.NOT.STOP. I think in college she coped through basketball. As we got older it was such a cool thing to watch her grow into the boss bitch she is today. There were a few times while she was pregnant where I think the people closest to her had to remind her to slow down a little. But she’s just not wired that way. She KNOWS how strong her body is, and better yet her mind, and knows better than most that if she wants to do something, pretty much anything, she ABSOLUTELY can. After her third baby I saw her channeling her motherly energy back into her passions. She’s so motivated with her several businesses and its absolutely inspiring to the rest of us. POTS or no POTS. That’s the thing, while we KNOW its there, she doesnt let it stop her from living her life. Quite the opposite, actually.
What is your take on the power of the POTS Strong Method?
Yes, yes, and YES. I don’t have POTS. But knowing the importance of those three things is essential to a healthy life for anybody. And for me, they are so closely tied together. Personally I think the mindfulness piece of the pie is most important, it’s the building block for exercise and nutrition for me. PMA is EVERYTHING BABY! (Positive Mental Attitude) and can be applied to all aspects of your life.
Additional comments?
I think it’s important to ask questions. I think that might help your loved one that may be struggling with POTS know that you’re engaged, supportive, and open to knowing more about what they are going through. Even if you can’t manage to put yourself in someone else’s shoes, sometimes opening the dialogue for discussion can make that person feel really supported and not alone. With my cardiac background I had genuine clinical questions, but other questions came from a place of concern, sympathy (know you hate that, Kait ;) ) and definitely love.
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