This is why we (Heart) Walk
For the fifth consecutive year, wholly owned Leidos subsidiary QTC proudly participated in the American Heart Association’s (AHA) Heart Walk with Leidos. Cardiovascular disease is the number one killer of Americans, and sadly, too many of us have our own stories of how it has affected us.
But that doesn’t stop us from taking a stand (or a walk) to help save lives.
By participating, we help fund lifesaving science advancements that prevent and treat heart disease and stroke. We also get the opportunity to connect with and inspire our coworkers, family, friends, and even people we’ve never met.
For Quality Assurance Specialist Jasmine Tribu, Heart Walk is an event that means a great deal to her, as she has a son with a functional heart murmur.
When Jasmine’s son, Caleb, was born, she was told that he would grow out of his heart murmur. But with every year that passed, it was still there. At his six-year wellness check, she was told that the heart murmur had not resolved itself and Caleb would need a full work-up, to include an electrocardiogram (EKG) and an echocardiogram with blood work.
Shortly after his wellness check, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and Caleb was unable to get a new patient appointment anywhere for the tests his pediatrician ordered.
At the time, Jasmine was working in a pediatric specialty clinic as a Clinical Medical Assistant/Electroencephalogram (EEG) Technician and started seeing patients again only three months into the pandemic. “I had never been so afraid in my life. I had a child at home, and we did not know what was going on with his heart,” she said. “Yet here I was, working in a clinic around people every day.”
“We would try to limit the amount of time we spent in a patient’s room, but as an EEG Technician, I was in the room and close to the patients in order to run the tests." It became a routine for Jasmine to change her clothes before she left work and immediately go home to shower and throw all her clothes into the washing machine.
About six months later, Caleb was finally able to see a cardiologist, who determined he had a functional heart murmur that he would not grow out of but could comfortably live with. Other than tiring easily, he can live a normal life and checks in with his cardiologist annually to ensure his condition hasn’t worsened.
“We were one of the lucky ones,” Jasmine said. “Today, my son is seven years old and doing well, but as a mother, the worry lives on.”
For more information on taking care of your heart, visit the American Heart Association’s website, where you can also learn more about improving your heart health during the pandemic.
