Cristine Fischer has always been an athlete, even while growing up in the 1960s when it wasn't cool for girls to play sports.
"I was the last person one would expect to have heart problems. That's why it came as a surprise when I learned my heart's electrical system wasn't working very well," says Cris, who was diagnosed with heart disease as an adult.
Since moving to St. Louis from Rochester, Minnesota, in 2016, she has been under the care of Barnes-Jewish Hospital cardiac teams led by Phillip Cuculich, MD; Douglas Mann, MD; and Ralph Damiano Jr., MD, chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery. She has undergone two lifesaving surgeries at the hospital and a third procedure to implant a cardioverter defibrillator, affectionately known as "Thumper," which tracks her heart rate and will prevent cardiac arrest.
"I'm so grateful. It's amazing what modern medicine can do to help us live a normal life," says Cris, who is back to playing tennis, doing yoga, walking 3 to 4 miles at a time and even jogging a bit. "I'm feeling extremely well."
She says she owes it all to Drs. Cuculich, Mann and Damiano and their teams. "I've been very blessed and have received such outstanding care from them. They did everything they could to get me back to normal."
As a result, Cris has made a gift from her trust to The Foundation for Barnes-Jewish Hospital in support of congestive heart failure research.
"It is because of the exceptional care I received that I chose to make this gift," she says of her cardiac team. "Quality health care is expensive, and a legacy gift is a great way to acknowledge excellent care and support further advances in health care."