My name is Les Howard, and I am living with hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy (HCM).
Looking back, I believe I may have lived with HCM for most of my life without knowing it. I was not diagnosed until I was 66 years old, despite experiencing symptoms that I now recognize as being related to severe obstructive HCM.
Before my diagnosis, I experienced significant fatigue, exercise intolerance, shortness of breath, and reduced stamina. Because these symptoms developed gradually over many years, I accepted them as part of normal life and aging. I did not realize that a serious heart condition was limiting me physically and affecting many aspects of my daily functioning.
After my diagnosis, I underwent a septal myectomy. The surgery successfully relieved the obstruction and dramatically improved my physical symptoms. However, what has surprised me most is what happened in the years afterward.
Over the four years since my surgery, I have experienced gradual improvements not only in my physical health but also in areas of mental and emotional functioning. I have noticed improvements in concentration, judgment, decision-making, patience, emotional stability, and impulse control. Family members and other people close to me have independently noticed these changes as well.
Before surgery, I often felt fatigued, mentally drained, and less able to engage fully in life. Looking back, I now wonder how much of that was related to the long-term burden that severe obstructive HCM placed on my body. I was unaware of the diagnosis, so I was not living with anxiety about having heart disease. Instead, I was unknowingly adapting to the physical limitations it created.
Since my myectomy, I feel that I have gradually become more engaged, more thoughtful in my decision-making, and more capable of handling complex situations. My experience has led me to believe that severe obstructive HCM can affect far more than the heart alone. While HCM does not directly impair intelligence, the chronic fatigue, reduced exercise capacity, poor sleep, and physiologic stress associated with the disease may affect mood, cognitive performance, and quality of life in ways that are not always recognized.
One of the most important lessons from my journey is that people can adapt to chronic illness so completely that they do not realize how much it is affecting them until effective treatment is received. In my case, the benefits of septal myectomy extended beyond relief of physical symptoms and contributed to meaningful improvements in my overall functioning and quality of life.
I hope that sharing my experience encourages greater awareness of HCM and helps other patients understand that symptoms such as fatigue, reduced stamina, depression, brain fog, and changes in daily functioning may deserve further evaluation. My story is a reminder that treating HCM can have a profound impact not only on the heart, but on a person’s ability to fully participate in life.
