January 27, 2025 • 29 mins
February is American Heart Month, and we’re spotlighting the work of the American Heart Association! Host Blanca Quezada is joined by Melody Torno, development director for the American Heart Association Houston, and Ally Babineaux, the courageous “Bionic Bride,” to talk about the fight for better heart health.
Learn about the different types of heart disease, from congenital issues in babies to cardiac arrest and stroke in adults, and how the American Heart Association empowers communities through education, research, and advocacy. Melody explains why CPR training and knowing the symptoms of heart attacks and strokes are critical for saving lives.
Ally shares her incredible journey as a young athlete diagnosed with a rare heart condition that led to three heart transplants. She reveals the challenges and triumphs of living with donor hearts and the deep connection she felt with her first donor’s family.
Plus, get the scoop on the upcoming Houston Heart Ball! With a theme of “Illuminate a Path to the Future,” the event celebrates heart health and raises funds to support the American Heart Association’s vital work. Don’t miss this inspiring celebration that brings the community together to make a difference. Houston Heart Ball will be held on Saturday, February 15, 2025, at 6 pm, at The Hilton Americas Houston (1600 Lamar Street, Houston, TX 77010).
Key topics in today’s episode include:
· Types of heart disease and symptoms to watch for
· How CPR and early intervention save lives
· Ally’s emotional story of resilience and advocacy
· The role of community events like the Houston Heart Ball in driving change
Want to attend the Houston Heart Ball or learn more? Visit: https://www.heart.org
New Spotlight Houston episodes drop every Monday!
Do you have an idea or feedback for us? We’d love to hear from you! Follow us on social media, and don’t forget to leave us a rating or review on your favorite podcatcher:
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Truth be told, you know, cardiovascular disease is the
number one killer of men and women, not just in
America, but on a global scale, and stroke is number
2 on a global scale. So it's something that everyone is
going to be affected by in some way, whether it's a loved one,
whether it's a friend, whether it's yourself personally and
(00:22):
so the more preventative we can be with that, we hope it
leads to a healthier life for everyone and a longer life.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring you
the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. February is American
Heart Month, and today we're diving in to the life saving work of the
(00:45):
American Heart Association. From educating communities on heart health, to
the inspiring personal story of one of our guests, Ali Babineau, also
known as the bionic bride. This episode is packed with insights,
inspiration, and how we can all take better care of our hearts. Stick
around as we chat with Melody Tornow, development director for the American Heart
Association Houston. This is episode 122, originally
(01:07):
aired on Monday, January 27th 2025. If you're
listening to the audio version of this episode, please note that it's edited for
time. For the extended version, check out the YouTube channel. Spotlight
Houston is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now, here's your
host, Blanca Quesada. Hi. Did you
know February is American Heart Month?
(01:29):
Well, I knew it, so I wanted to share that information
with you. And so what does it all mean?
Well, it means that the American
Heart Association spotlights and encourages people, our
communities, to, focus on our cardiovascular
(01:49):
health, but it really doesn't take much, and it's not that scary.
And because and I'm telling you this because I've done it.
So, anyway, if you want any information,
it's on their website, and they show you, you know,
what their toolkit that contains facts and resources
that anyone can use to learn
(02:13):
about the risk of heart disease and the
importance of identifying and managing heart
related health conditions. You know me. I wanted to learn
more about the American Heart Association and what
all they can do for us, how they can help us,
and why the month of February is so important.
(02:34):
And and this month, of course, helps raise
the awareness of our heart health.
So with me today are 2 very, very, very amazing
women. They are so and they're here
to help us understand, and to pay more
attention to our heart. So welcome to the
(02:55):
show. Melody Tornow, the development director,
and she's also involved with a heart ball that's coming
up in a few days. And Ali Babinow,
survivor and advocate and also known as the
bionic bride. I'm intrigued. I wanna find out why.
And so, Melody, before we get started in
(03:18):
all that y'all are doing, would you give me a little
brief history about the American Heart Association, how long
it's been around, and why it was created?
Absolutely. It's such a pleasure to be able to join you and to talk
about heart month. You know, for the American Heart Association,
it's a heart day every day of the year, but
(03:41):
especially in February, it's exciting because,
all Americans are actually exposed to a
reminder of how important their heart health is.
And the American Heart Association was founded in
1924 by 6 cardiologists who got
together and saw the need, for this organization.
(04:03):
It later became a nonprofit. They turned it over into a
nonprofit, and so now it's actually the the largest and
the oldest nonprofit in America that
works heart health, cardiovascular health, and and dealing
with stroke as well. So we're really proud of that. We just celebrated a 100
years, last year. Yeah. Yeah. And people, I
(04:25):
think, they've heard maybe the name before, but they're a little
unsure what all the American Heart Association does.
Right. Being a national organization, we have a couple different
hats that we wear, different pillars of what we try to help
to do on a national level, but also within our local
communities. Right. And so we work in
(04:47):
everything from dealing with research and science to
help create a world of longer and healthier
lives for those individuals who are suffering from cardiovascular
disease. We also work in our local communities trying
to be preventative to advocate and help them to figure out what
kind of food should I be eating, what kinds of things should I be paying
(05:10):
attention to when I go to the doctor, what are proper
numbers and things, you know, for my for my heart health.
And we also work with teaching CPR,
trying to make sure that there's one person in every household that
knows how to do hands free CPR. It's a goal of the American Heart
Association, and we even work with the law. You know,
(05:32):
you might notice that there's no smoking in restaurants and things when you walk
in Right. Or secondhand smoke. Those are all things
that the American Heart Association advocates for
and works, at a legislative led level dealing
with. And, we even love to make sure we're
educating in schools as well and helping to
(05:54):
start that heart health journey at a young age. And truth be
told, cardiovascular disease is the number one
killer of men and women, not just in America,
but on a global scale, and stroke is number 2 on a
global scale. So it's something that everyone is going to
be affected by in some way, whether it's a loved one, whether
(06:16):
it's a friend, whether it's yourself personally. And so
the more preventative we can be with that, we hope it leads to a
healthier life for everyone and a longer life, and and there are lots of people
that never think they're going to have, you know, and they're suddenly very
surprised how quickly life can change. And Ali, who is
here, as an advocate and as someone who's experienced this for
(06:37):
herself, can speak to that firsthand. But Yeah. I know that was a long
answer, but has a long answer. It's a great
answer. But but, you know you know, there's a lot of
people that once they get diagnosed, they're
looking into their different websites trying to find out
as much information as possible, resources, and
(06:59):
services the thing can find from anywhere.
But we need to make sure that we're looking at the right website that are
gonna give us that information that we need. And, also, you
mentioned, you know, that anybody can get some
type of heart disease and that it is the number one killer.
But what I think the misconception is too that it's
(07:21):
usually the elder people that that have the
heart problems. Actuality, a lot of newborns
are are they have heart issues. Yes. And then it goes up
to, you know, little kids and teens and
young adults, and you you don't expect it. You don't expect
that that would happen. I know that there's been stories about
(07:44):
teens in sports having a heart issue that they didn't know
they had. So that's information that I think is
really important that, American Heart
Association can help with. Absolutely. I think
people have to realize that, you know, cardiovascular disease
comes in all shapes and sizes. And there are
(08:06):
babies in utero having their first heart surgeries
just like there are those who are elderly who are experiencing it for the first
time. And one of our largest spokespersons, Demar Hamlin,
he was a still is a professional
football athlete, and there he was on the field. And he
got hit in just a very specific way that stopped his heart.
(08:29):
And, you know, that can happen especially to athletes
that are healthy, that are living their best life and a sudden
impact to the heart. You know, the heart controls all of your
well-being for the body. And I think really works
hard to help people try to be aware that this could be
anyone. And even for mothers, for pregnant mothers, that's
(08:51):
something I had not realized, but it
is the highest cause of mortality
for mothers who are pregnant is actually in dealing with cardiovascular
disease, preeclampsia, conditions that are very
common for mothers who are expecting. So, you just
never know who it might be. And
(09:14):
Allie, I know you can speak to that too because I know you never expected
to be someone experiencing a heart condition. You know, when I started my
job at the American Heart Association, I didn't even know the difference
between or that there was a difference between cardiac arrest
and between a heart attack. And typically, when people think
about heart health, they're really thinking about those two things. A
(09:37):
a cardiac arrest is an electrical problem in the system,
something short circuits, and the heart stops bleeding, and you
have to be resuscitated. You may have seen the dramatic moment in
movement in movies where they pull out the AB and they Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Recharge and restart a person's heart or CPR when it's being
administered. That's gonna be someone whose heart has stopped.
(09:58):
But heart attacks, people who are experiencing heart attacks, that is a
plumbing issue in the body, and it's really
wild because someone could be sitting there looking at you and
they're in certain types of pain or they're not really registering that there's a huge
problem and they could be having a heart attack right then looking at you,
talking to you. I mean, it's a very different different experience.
(10:20):
I I, in my mind, had thought every time someone has a heart attack, they're
gonna be on the ground if you're doing CBR, but that's really not the
way that looks. And and for men and women, it can be very
different. A woman can have jaw pain, and and women experience pain
so so differently from men too. And and, of course, that's
just thinking about heart attack and cardiac arrest, but people experience
(10:42):
so many different heart conditions that fall
under cardiovascular disease. I don't think people would look at me
and necessarily immediately think I have high blood pressure, but I do.
Everyone might be surprised when they go into the doctor and
see their numbers and suddenly realize maybe something's going on with
their body. So really listening to your body and advocating
(11:05):
for yourself if you feel like something is not quite right. And the
symptoms and things are listed on our website, our national
site, and, you know, the American Heart Association, if you go to it, has
tons of free material to help you as you're trying to advocate
for yourself or even try to figure out if something is happening with your body
that is not quite right, and it has information also to help you
(11:27):
to live a healthier life to be preventative. Because the truth is, if a
person has good cardiovascular health at age 50,
you've actually expanded your your lifespan. For
women Yeah. You've added about another 6 years onto your life. For men,
about another 5. So good cardiovascular health is something we
all should hope to achieve looking down the road and hoping to really
(11:50):
have that long and healthy life. And, also, when you're
talking about high blood pressure, people don't understand what that
is and what the normal their normal
numbers should be. And so a lot of times, I think they go to the
doctor, and they don't really understand. And it's like, if the
doctor says it's too high, well, you know, they don't
(12:12):
ask the doctor why and and know what's the reason
behind that. It could be something genetic too.
Right? Right. Absolutely. And, you know, when
you talk about your blood pressure, the heart is supplying blood all over
the body. And, you know, of course, I am not a doctor. Just gonna preface
this right now as I say these answers. Please go to your
(12:33):
doctor to seek medical advice and care. Although, Ali's
pretty much a doctor by now with all of the medical care she's doing. Tell
you. Yeah. Even though I I am not the expert, what I will tell
you is blood pressure is so pivotal to the health of all of your
organs and to your entire body. And, you know, your blood
is also sending oxygen throughout the body as well, and so it
(12:56):
affects the function of everything. And, it can even
affect, you know, your mental clarity and well-being. And
so blood pressure is very important. And depending on different factors,
like your age, some of the lifestyle or hereditary factors,
A doctor might adjust some of the levels of what is
good blood pressure to have, but blood pressure
(13:19):
can cause many medical complications for
individuals if it is not properly being
monitored and at good levels. And so it's something to definitely stay aware
of. A healthy blood pressure, I think they've adjusted the numbers now. You
can be a top number. Do you know Allie's, like, 130? I think they do
now for top. It used to be 120 over 80, and I
(13:41):
believe they've moved it 5130 over
80. I think below 80. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. Because, I mean,
going from 80 to 85 is a huge jump even though it's only, like, you
know, very minute, but it's still in blood pressure
numbers. That that's a big chunk. Yeah. And and what, a lot of people
don't know if they do have blood pressure is that they don't have
(14:03):
to to have that blood pressure. That they
can change their eating habits or their health habits,
and that helps with the blood pressure. It's amazing how
food can be medicine. It really can be medicine for the
body. And just making a few changes to diet
and changes to your mobility, how much you're you're
(14:24):
moving and getting around, and that's something too. You know, after 2020,
as a society, we were sitting a lot more for a while being online or
being home, and we started seeing some of those heart
conditions and issues with cardiovascular disease start to rise
because people were not out getting the same normal,
healthy interactions and physical that they would be doing,
(14:47):
and even the quality of food. Are you cooking a healthy, well rounded meal? Are
you making sure you're getting that nutritious food that beats the heart? And
so, there are just different things like that that can help to be so preventative,
such an easy change to make in a diet if you just if you
know. And we, as the American Heart Association, even here in
Houston, we work with lots of groups that are
(15:09):
providing food where it's needed. Like, we have a lot of
partners who we come alongside, and we try to help and make
sure that not only when food is being provided for those
communities in need is it food, but it's also nutritious food
so that we're hopefully helping to feed that heart health long term. And,
of course, for women, it is just as important. Absolutely.
(15:32):
I think women, our number one goal is taking care of ourself and
strictly focus on our our husband and our work.
Mothers, grandmothers always wanna take care of their grandbabies,
their children first before they really do listen to themselves and be
like, am I really tired just because I've been running around with my 3 year
old all day, or am I tired because of why I have a heart, you
(15:53):
know, heart disease or heart issues that are coming up? That is the number
one advocacy thing that I do for women, and it's really just listening
to your body. And if there's that one little thing that's not
normal in your everyday normal, get it checked out because
that's the most important thing you can do is listen to your body, talk to
your doctors, and figure out a solution. Yeah. And I've also heard
(16:15):
stress can also cause high blood pressure, but then up and you
control stress. You know? I think it has to do with a huge
look on lifestyle, not just food
strictly, but lifestyle of going out and enjoying the
sun. That immediately, like, you're people don't understand how our
mental capabilities change just by getting enough vitamin
(16:37):
d or the happiness of going on a walk and saying hi
to your neighbors. Like, that's a whole different lifestyle change that's not
just focused on the food and the diet. But to me is just going
out and doing things that you normally wouldn't do, like sitting on the couch watching
a movie. Why not go out and have dinner and be social? That to me
changes a whole bunch with blood pressure, heart disease, and everything
(17:00):
else. Yeah. Yeah. Well, no. Just what Allie is saying. We have
entire like infographics that American Heart will share, and it's
like, take your 5 minute stretch break, get up and go outside and take a
walk. And they're all things that bring down stress.
And just like Allie was saying, get you in touch with vitamin
d, health healthy and and good endorphins, things being released in the body
(17:22):
that help to combat the toxic nature
of what can be stress in our bodies. And it's amazing
that taking care of yourself can look like, let's go for
a quick walk. Let's take a stretch. Let's drink some water. But it
can make a huge difference. Yeah. And and I think the most important
thing is to, I guess, talk to ourselves
(17:45):
and and decide that we're going to make that change. Mhmm.
That change is going to be what's going to help us.
Right? And it all starts with us. No one else can help you
but yourself. You know? Right. That's why being an advocate for yourself
is number 1, especially in my book. Number 1, no
matter where you are in the world, hospital, going to the park,
(18:08):
saying no to certain things, like, just being an advocate for yourself is the
number one most important thing to me in this world. Because if you
can take care of yourself, then you can take care of others, and then they
can take care of somebody else. And it's just a chain reaction. And then
everybody's happy. Everybody becomes healthier whether it's a little
bit or a lot. Right. So, Allie, now I wanna
(18:30):
know Sorry to hold on all that. To you.
Basically, I was a avid athlete. I was an avid
athlete growing up. I was on swim team from
the young ages of, you know, adolescence. And then I
got into dancing starting at the age of 4, so I did dancing and
swimming. I became a pre professional ballet dancer at the age of
(18:52):
10 and danced anywhere from to 20 hours
a week rehearsing for shows that we had multiple times a year. I've
done I was in Nutcracker with Allez Forte, the company that I used
to dance with, which is in Sugar Land, Texas. I was a dancer
with them for about eight and a half years until it was time for me
to go to college. And when I went to college, I joined the rowing
(19:13):
team because I wanted to be an athlete. I wanted to continue being
healthy. And then all of a sudden, it was like I got really tired
during the day. I got I I would wake up to go to classes, and
I couldn't go to class because I was so exhausted or I couldn't walk so
far. Breathing for me got really hard. It was like my lungs just
couldn't expand to their full capability to get enough
(19:35):
oxygen into my body to where my heart could pump, you know, because heart
is the main engine of the whole system. And if that doesn't work
well, then the rest of your organs cannot work right. And so that's really
what happened to me. And so I I had told my mom, you know,
things are are I I noticed some changes. And she was like, well, I think
you're just partying too hard. You know? You're a freshman in college. It's
(19:57):
a whole new world. And I was like, no, mom. Like, something is really
it's just it just it didn't feel right to me, and and just wholeheartedly,
it did not feel right. My mind was like, something is wrong. I kind of
ignored it. Our rowing team for Texas a and m, we ended up
going to Austin, and it's called our Erg Rodeo. So we're on rowing machines
trying to see who can row the fastest 2,000 meters,
(20:19):
fastest time he possibly could. Wow. I did. It's it's very
tough. My husband, who I met in college, he was the captain of the rowing
team. I believe he rode 2,000 meters in 7.25
minutes. Wow. And I ended up passing out when I was
when it was my turn. I had a 188 meters left, and that
number will never ever leave my mind. I ended up passing out.
(20:41):
And so I wake up. My whole team is around me, kinda
like I just lost my breath. You know? I wasn't breathing right while
exercising. And the the ambulance came, and they're like, you know, we think
you're just dehydrated. And to me, having that said, I was
like, there's no way. Like, my team, we drank enough water. We drank
Gatorade for electrolytes. We ate enough food to, like, give us the
(21:04):
protein and just, you know, being an athlete, like, preparing
yourself for something so rigorous. Yeah. As an athlete,
you know what you need. You know, you do. You do. And it
was just, like, to me, it just was not a good enough
answer. So they took me to the hospital, and they did all these tests, and,
of course, they didn't find anything. They're like, we need you to go to your
(21:25):
pediatrician. Oh, I still saw my pediatrician, but they were like, you need to go
to your doctor because there's only 18. I was like, why go to an old
adult doctor? My pediatrician who knows me for the last 18
years can figure out what's wrong. Same thing. He was like, I
think you're just dehydrated. I I I don't think you, you know,
did enough preparedness for, you know, what you're
(21:46):
doing. I still was not happy with the answer, so I kinda just ignored
it. You know, doctors know best, a parent. Right. But
in some instances, doctors don't really know everything.
And I went to go check out, you know, to pay my bill,
and I passed out again. Next thing That's enormous.
No. And so next thing I know, I'm waking up, like, you know,
(22:08):
something's wrong. They check my blood pressure. It is, like, too low,
like, not even registering on the machine. It was so low. Oh,
wow. My pulse was, I think, like, in the forties,
which for an athlete, yeah, 60 is good.
Forty is a little extreme, especially when you're not, you know, anything.
I mean, that's a little high you know, a little low. And so they
(22:31):
called my dad, and he rushed me to Texas Children's, which is in the Texas
Medical Center. They did test and came to find out
from the MRI that I had viral cardiomyopathy. And
I was first like, okay. What what medicine do we need to take?
How do we get rid of this? Like, you know, let's just What is it?
What is it? An antiviral, yes, virus. And, of course, I know all this now
(22:53):
because I'm so I'm very intellectual when it comes to heart disease and
heart transplants now that I at the time, I was like, viral card what
cardiomyopathy? Like, what that's a big word. That's a
big word. Right. And so I asked the doctor, and I was like,
what medicine do I need to take? She's like, no, honey. Like, this
isn't going away. I was like, wait. You like, what? And she's
(23:16):
like, no. This is this is not going away. Like, you're this is
heart disease. You are officially in the category of heart disease,
not heart issues or heart, you know, blood pressure or
anything. You have heart disease. That was a whole new, like,
whirlwind. My world just like blew up.
Yeah. Blew up. And so then Like, you hit a wall.
(23:37):
I I did. I hit a wall because I was like, I have a whole
new like, I just started college. I was a freshman, and, like, all
this just bombarded on me. Yeah. It's like, how is it possible?
What does it even mean? Yeah. And I'm what what
as a human, what do you like, what is the next step? Started
at that time, I stayed with, Texas Children's
(23:59):
because they would see me until I was, like, 19 or 20. They gave me
the option to see to stay with pediatrics or to
go with, adult. And I was like, well, you know what? I'm about to turn
19. I think it's time I get away from the kids, and let's go to
to more serious, like, adult stuff. So I did, and I the
doctors I had were still with Texas Children's, but they also worked
(24:21):
with my hospital, St. Luke's. And so with Baylor
St. Luke's. And so started medicine
therapy where I was on beta blockers, yeast inhibitors.
Like, and those are blood pressure medicines. Like, they some
medicines tell you how your heart should work, you know, with the electrical
issues, how to pump, you know, and stuff like that. I was And
(24:44):
you need to deal with all the side effects. Yeah. The side effects. That was
a whole another thing. And I was like, mom, I feel really sick, and she's
like, well, maybe it's one of the medicines. Well, I couldn't not take the medicine
because then I would get even sicker. So it's just, like,
a a tumbling effect that it just like, you did one thing, then
something worse would happen, and that was a whole another whirlwind that I
(25:06):
had to learn. Eventually, doing the medicine therapy, it
stopped working. My heart was just getting sicker. I did a
test after 6 months with the adult cardiologist, and
immediately after I was done after I finished, I was like, I
failed. Like, I totally failed. They were like my mom, of
course, was like, no. Let's just see. I was like, no, mom. I failed. My
(25:27):
doctor walked in and he was like, your ejection fraction would just it's
hard to explain. It's a mathematical equation of how
each chamber of your heart beats, and that
therefore, it it formulates a percentage. So my
a normal healthy human heart is anywhere from 55
to 65, maybe 70 if you're lucky, ejection fraction. That's a
(25:49):
healthy heart. Mine had started when I went to adult
cardiology at 40%. So I'd already lost 10, 15%.
Yeah. By the time I failed, within 6 months, I went
from 40% to 16% in 6 months Oh.
With medicine. So that just goes to show that you can take any type
of preventative, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee you a
(26:12):
100%. For everything's 99.9 because you have that
point, you know, percentage, you could be in that spot of
it's not gonna work. And it didn't work. So
I I eventually moved on to the heart
and lung failure center of St. Luke's, the Texas Heart
Institute, and I began my my looking for a
(26:34):
transplant. I started with an Elevate, a left ventricular assist
device, which is a non pulsatile
mechanical device that fit inside my chest. And
the motor went from 7000 to 12000 RPMs faster
than a race car, which my history, I've worked with race
cars for the last years. And that to me was
(26:56):
fascinating because I was like, the little motor inside my chest can go can beat
that race car on track any day. And so that
basically, the reason why it goes faster, the device was to made to
help the heart completely heal if that was a there's a
percentage in there that you could be that percentage that it heals the
heart or the heart stays the same or the heart got worse. Well, my left
(27:18):
ventricle had healed, which is the the part that needed
help. My right ventricle completely dilated. So I
completely I went into massive heart failure. Oh my goodness.
And so I got married with Elvad, which is why I'm named Bionic
Bride. My my manager at the time, he was like, this is the name I
picked out for you. And I was like, like, no. Like, that
(27:40):
just it just why can't I have, like, a cool nickname? You know? I was
like, why did Bionic Bride? And and so I got married with
it. And then 6 months later, I ended up in a coma. I got a
transplant, like, 2 to 3 weeks later. For
all the way to 2023, I'm now on my 3rd heart
transplant, and that's literally the story. And I'm so sorry I didn't break for any
(28:02):
of that, but it's like No. That's okay. My squirrel sometimes.
No. That was perfect. My line of, of what
it all Sally. Well, thank you for share for sharing your story.
Yeah. Well, Melody, we're almost running out of time. So I
know you have your ball coming up pretty soon. Can you tell us a little
bit about that? So in Houston, we have
(28:24):
the Houston heart ball that we have once a year in February.
We always have it during the middle of heart month, and it's
a great opportunity for us to celebrate all
those through who, throughout the year, have given towards the American
Heart Association here in Houston. And it's also a great opportunity
for people to have that moment, not only to raise awareness, but
(28:47):
to be able to make that final giving also for the year that we're
pushing towards. We want always
to raise awareness for heart
health in Houston, for heart health among men, among women,
among children, and we're really blessed because we have so
many great supporters who come out. So I hope that
(29:09):
all Houstonians will come out and join us this year for the Houston Heart Ball.
Our theme is illuminate a path to the future and to a brighter
future at that. So we're excited to celebrate that. Ali's gonna be there
featured. So if you'd like to join us, you guys in Houston or
whoever, if you wanna come in from out of town, you can get a ticket
to the Heart Bowl or even purchase the table. Melody and
(29:31):
Ali, thank you so much for joining me for for this show.
It's so interesting. And, of course, I would like to thank you all as
well for joining me for this edition of Spotlight
Houston. And, also, if you have any comments
or story ideas, please let me know. Thank you
so much. K. Thank you.
Truth be told, you know, cardiovascular disease is the
number one killer of men and women, not just in
America, but on a global scale, and stroke is number
2 on a global scale. So it's something that everyone is
going to be affected by in some way, whether it's a loved one,
whether it's a friend, whether it's yourself personally and
(00:22):
so the more preventative we can be with that, we hope it
leads to a healthier life for everyone and a longer life.
Thank you for joining us for another episode of Spotlight Houston, where we bring you
the best people, places, and events in Greater Houston. February is American
Heart Month, and today we're diving in to the life saving work of the
(00:45):
American Heart Association. From educating communities on heart health, to
the inspiring personal story of one of our guests, Ali Babineau, also
known as the bionic bride. This episode is packed with insights,
inspiration, and how we can all take better care of our hearts. Stick
around as we chat with Melody Tornow, development director for the American Heart
Association Houston. This is episode 122, originally
(01:07):
aired on Monday, January 27th 2025. If you're
listening to the audio version of this episode, please note that it's edited for
time. For the extended version, check out the YouTube channel. Spotlight
Houston is brought to you by Storyzone Media. And now, here's your
host, Blanca Quesada. Hi. Did you
know February is American Heart Month?
(01:29):
Well, I knew it, so I wanted to share that information
with you. And so what does it all mean?
Well, it means that the American
Heart Association spotlights and encourages people, our
communities, to, focus on our cardiovascular
(01:49):
health, but it really doesn't take much, and it's not that scary.
And because and I'm telling you this because I've done it.
So, anyway, if you want any information,
it's on their website, and they show you, you know,
what their toolkit that contains facts and resources
that anyone can use to learn
(02:13):
about the risk of heart disease and the
importance of identifying and managing heart
related health conditions. You know me. I wanted to learn
more about the American Heart Association and what
all they can do for us, how they can help us,
and why the month of February is so important.
(02:34):
And and this month, of course, helps raise
the awareness of our heart health.
So with me today are 2 very, very, very amazing
women. They are so and they're here
to help us understand, and to pay more
attention to our heart. So welcome to the
(02:55):
show. Melody Tornow, the development director,
and she's also involved with a heart ball that's coming
up in a few days. And Ali Babinow,
survivor and advocate and also known as the
bionic bride. I'm intrigued. I wanna find out why.
And so, Melody, before we get started in
(03:18):
all that y'all are doing, would you give me a little
brief history about the American Heart Association, how long
it's been around, and why it was created?
Absolutely. It's such a pleasure to be able to join you and to talk
about heart month. You know, for the American Heart Association,
it's a heart day every day of the year, but
(03:41):
especially in February, it's exciting because,
all Americans are actually exposed to a
reminder of how important their heart health is.
And the American Heart Association was founded in
1924 by 6 cardiologists who got
together and saw the need, for this organization.
(04:03):
It later became a nonprofit. They turned it over into a
nonprofit, and so now it's actually the the largest and
the oldest nonprofit in America that
works heart health, cardiovascular health, and and dealing
with stroke as well. So we're really proud of that. We just celebrated a 100
years, last year. Yeah. Yeah. And people, I
(04:25):
think, they've heard maybe the name before, but they're a little
unsure what all the American Heart Association does.
Right. Being a national organization, we have a couple different
hats that we wear, different pillars of what we try to help
to do on a national level, but also within our local
communities. Right. And so we work in
(04:47):
everything from dealing with research and science to
help create a world of longer and healthier
lives for those individuals who are suffering from cardiovascular
disease. We also work in our local communities trying
to be preventative to advocate and help them to figure out what
kind of food should I be eating, what kinds of things should I be paying
(05:10):
attention to when I go to the doctor, what are proper
numbers and things, you know, for my for my heart health.
And we also work with teaching CPR,
trying to make sure that there's one person in every household that
knows how to do hands free CPR. It's a goal of the American Heart
Association, and we even work with the law. You know,
(05:32):
you might notice that there's no smoking in restaurants and things when you walk
in Right. Or secondhand smoke. Those are all things
that the American Heart Association advocates for
and works, at a legislative led level dealing
with. And, we even love to make sure we're
educating in schools as well and helping to
(05:54):
start that heart health journey at a young age. And truth be
told, cardiovascular disease is the number one
killer of men and women, not just in America,
but on a global scale, and stroke is number 2 on a
global scale. So it's something that everyone is going to
be affected by in some way, whether it's a loved one, whether
(06:16):
it's a friend, whether it's yourself personally. And so
the more preventative we can be with that, we hope it leads to a
healthier life for everyone and a longer life, and and there are lots of people
that never think they're going to have, you know, and they're suddenly very
surprised how quickly life can change. And Ali, who is
here, as an advocate and as someone who's experienced this for
(06:37):
herself, can speak to that firsthand. But Yeah. I know that was a long
answer, but has a long answer. It's a great
answer. But but, you know you know, there's a lot of
people that once they get diagnosed, they're
looking into their different websites trying to find out
as much information as possible, resources, and
(06:59):
services the thing can find from anywhere.
But we need to make sure that we're looking at the right website that are
gonna give us that information that we need. And, also, you
mentioned, you know, that anybody can get some
type of heart disease and that it is the number one killer.
But what I think the misconception is too that it's
(07:21):
usually the elder people that that have the
heart problems. Actuality, a lot of newborns
are are they have heart issues. Yes. And then it goes up
to, you know, little kids and teens and
young adults, and you you don't expect it. You don't expect
that that would happen. I know that there's been stories about
(07:44):
teens in sports having a heart issue that they didn't know
they had. So that's information that I think is
really important that, American Heart
Association can help with. Absolutely. I think
people have to realize that, you know, cardiovascular disease
comes in all shapes and sizes. And there are
(08:06):
babies in utero having their first heart surgeries
just like there are those who are elderly who are experiencing it for the first
time. And one of our largest spokespersons, Demar Hamlin,
he was a still is a professional
football athlete, and there he was on the field. And he
got hit in just a very specific way that stopped his heart.
(08:29):
And, you know, that can happen especially to athletes
that are healthy, that are living their best life and a sudden
impact to the heart. You know, the heart controls all of your
well-being for the body. And I think really works
hard to help people try to be aware that this could be
anyone. And even for mothers, for pregnant mothers, that's
(08:51):
something I had not realized, but it
is the highest cause of mortality
for mothers who are pregnant is actually in dealing with cardiovascular
disease, preeclampsia, conditions that are very
common for mothers who are expecting. So, you just
never know who it might be. And
(09:14):
Allie, I know you can speak to that too because I know you never expected
to be someone experiencing a heart condition. You know, when I started my
job at the American Heart Association, I didn't even know the difference
between or that there was a difference between cardiac arrest
and between a heart attack. And typically, when people think
about heart health, they're really thinking about those two things. A
(09:37):
a cardiac arrest is an electrical problem in the system,
something short circuits, and the heart stops bleeding, and you
have to be resuscitated. You may have seen the dramatic moment in
movement in movies where they pull out the AB and they Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Recharge and restart a person's heart or CPR when it's being
administered. That's gonna be someone whose heart has stopped.
(09:58):
But heart attacks, people who are experiencing heart attacks, that is a
plumbing issue in the body, and it's really
wild because someone could be sitting there looking at you and
they're in certain types of pain or they're not really registering that there's a huge
problem and they could be having a heart attack right then looking at you,
talking to you. I mean, it's a very different different experience.
(10:20):
I I, in my mind, had thought every time someone has a heart attack, they're
gonna be on the ground if you're doing CBR, but that's really not the
way that looks. And and for men and women, it can be very
different. A woman can have jaw pain, and and women experience pain
so so differently from men too. And and, of course, that's
just thinking about heart attack and cardiac arrest, but people experience
(10:42):
so many different heart conditions that fall
under cardiovascular disease. I don't think people would look at me
and necessarily immediately think I have high blood pressure, but I do.
Everyone might be surprised when they go into the doctor and
see their numbers and suddenly realize maybe something's going on with
their body. So really listening to your body and advocating
(11:05):
for yourself if you feel like something is not quite right. And the
symptoms and things are listed on our website, our national
site, and, you know, the American Heart Association, if you go to it, has
tons of free material to help you as you're trying to advocate
for yourself or even try to figure out if something is happening with your body
that is not quite right, and it has information also to help you
(11:27):
to live a healthier life to be preventative. Because the truth is, if a
person has good cardiovascular health at age 50,
you've actually expanded your your lifespan. For
women Yeah. You've added about another 6 years onto your life. For men,
about another 5. So good cardiovascular health is something we
all should hope to achieve looking down the road and hoping to really
(11:50):
have that long and healthy life. And, also, when you're
talking about high blood pressure, people don't understand what that
is and what the normal their normal
numbers should be. And so a lot of times, I think they go to the
doctor, and they don't really understand. And it's like, if the
doctor says it's too high, well, you know, they don't
(12:12):
ask the doctor why and and know what's the reason
behind that. It could be something genetic too.
Right? Right. Absolutely. And, you know, when
you talk about your blood pressure, the heart is supplying blood all over
the body. And, you know, of course, I am not a doctor. Just gonna preface
this right now as I say these answers. Please go to your
(12:33):
doctor to seek medical advice and care. Although, Ali's
pretty much a doctor by now with all of the medical care she's doing. Tell
you. Yeah. Even though I I am not the expert, what I will tell
you is blood pressure is so pivotal to the health of all of your
organs and to your entire body. And, you know, your blood
is also sending oxygen throughout the body as well, and so it
(12:56):
affects the function of everything. And, it can even
affect, you know, your mental clarity and well-being. And
so blood pressure is very important. And depending on different factors,
like your age, some of the lifestyle or hereditary factors,
A doctor might adjust some of the levels of what is
good blood pressure to have, but blood pressure
(13:19):
can cause many medical complications for
individuals if it is not properly being
monitored and at good levels. And so it's something to definitely stay aware
of. A healthy blood pressure, I think they've adjusted the numbers now. You
can be a top number. Do you know Allie's, like, 130? I think they do
now for top. It used to be 120 over 80, and I
(13:41):
believe they've moved it 5130 over
80. I think below 80. Yeah. Yeah. I think you're right. Because, I mean,
going from 80 to 85 is a huge jump even though it's only, like, you
know, very minute, but it's still in blood pressure
numbers. That that's a big chunk. Yeah. And and what, a lot of people
don't know if they do have blood pressure is that they don't have
(14:03):
to to have that blood pressure. That they
can change their eating habits or their health habits,
and that helps with the blood pressure. It's amazing how
food can be medicine. It really can be medicine for the
body. And just making a few changes to diet
and changes to your mobility, how much you're you're
(14:24):
moving and getting around, and that's something too. You know, after 2020,
as a society, we were sitting a lot more for a while being online or
being home, and we started seeing some of those heart
conditions and issues with cardiovascular disease start to rise
because people were not out getting the same normal,
healthy interactions and physical that they would be doing,
(14:47):
and even the quality of food. Are you cooking a healthy, well rounded meal? Are
you making sure you're getting that nutritious food that beats the heart? And
so, there are just different things like that that can help to be so preventative,
such an easy change to make in a diet if you just if you
know. And we, as the American Heart Association, even here in
Houston, we work with lots of groups that are
(15:09):
providing food where it's needed. Like, we have a lot of
partners who we come alongside, and we try to help and make
sure that not only when food is being provided for those
communities in need is it food, but it's also nutritious food
so that we're hopefully helping to feed that heart health long term. And,
of course, for women, it is just as important. Absolutely.
(15:32):
I think women, our number one goal is taking care of ourself and
strictly focus on our our husband and our work.
Mothers, grandmothers always wanna take care of their grandbabies,
their children first before they really do listen to themselves and be
like, am I really tired just because I've been running around with my 3 year
old all day, or am I tired because of why I have a heart, you
(15:53):
know, heart disease or heart issues that are coming up? That is the number
one advocacy thing that I do for women, and it's really just listening
to your body. And if there's that one little thing that's not
normal in your everyday normal, get it checked out because
that's the most important thing you can do is listen to your body, talk to
your doctors, and figure out a solution. Yeah. And I've also heard
(16:15):
stress can also cause high blood pressure, but then up and you
control stress. You know? I think it has to do with a huge
look on lifestyle, not just food
strictly, but lifestyle of going out and enjoying the
sun. That immediately, like, you're people don't understand how our
mental capabilities change just by getting enough vitamin
(16:37):
d or the happiness of going on a walk and saying hi
to your neighbors. Like, that's a whole different lifestyle change that's not
just focused on the food and the diet. But to me is just going
out and doing things that you normally wouldn't do, like sitting on the couch watching
a movie. Why not go out and have dinner and be social? That to me
changes a whole bunch with blood pressure, heart disease, and everything
(17:00):
else. Yeah. Yeah. Well, no. Just what Allie is saying. We have
entire like infographics that American Heart will share, and it's
like, take your 5 minute stretch break, get up and go outside and take a
walk. And they're all things that bring down stress.
And just like Allie was saying, get you in touch with vitamin
d, health healthy and and good endorphins, things being released in the body
(17:22):
that help to combat the toxic nature
of what can be stress in our bodies. And it's amazing
that taking care of yourself can look like, let's go for
a quick walk. Let's take a stretch. Let's drink some water. But it
can make a huge difference. Yeah. And and I think the most important
thing is to, I guess, talk to ourselves
(17:45):
and and decide that we're going to make that change. Mhmm.
That change is going to be what's going to help us.
Right? And it all starts with us. No one else can help you
but yourself. You know? Right. That's why being an advocate for yourself
is number 1, especially in my book. Number 1, no
matter where you are in the world, hospital, going to the park,
(18:08):
saying no to certain things, like, just being an advocate for yourself is the
number one most important thing to me in this world. Because if you
can take care of yourself, then you can take care of others, and then they
can take care of somebody else. And it's just a chain reaction. And then
everybody's happy. Everybody becomes healthier whether it's a little
bit or a lot. Right. So, Allie, now I wanna
(18:30):
know Sorry to hold on all that. To you.
Basically, I was a avid athlete. I was an avid
athlete growing up. I was on swim team from
the young ages of, you know, adolescence. And then I
got into dancing starting at the age of 4, so I did dancing and
swimming. I became a pre professional ballet dancer at the age of
(18:52):
10 and danced anywhere from to 20 hours
a week rehearsing for shows that we had multiple times a year. I've
done I was in Nutcracker with Allez Forte, the company that I used
to dance with, which is in Sugar Land, Texas. I was a dancer
with them for about eight and a half years until it was time for me
to go to college. And when I went to college, I joined the rowing
(19:13):
team because I wanted to be an athlete. I wanted to continue being
healthy. And then all of a sudden, it was like I got really tired
during the day. I got I I would wake up to go to classes, and
I couldn't go to class because I was so exhausted or I couldn't walk so
far. Breathing for me got really hard. It was like my lungs just
couldn't expand to their full capability to get enough
(19:35):
oxygen into my body to where my heart could pump, you know, because heart
is the main engine of the whole system. And if that doesn't work
well, then the rest of your organs cannot work right. And so that's really
what happened to me. And so I I had told my mom, you know,
things are are I I noticed some changes. And she was like, well, I think
you're just partying too hard. You know? You're a freshman in college. It's
(19:57):
a whole new world. And I was like, no, mom. Like, something is really
it's just it just it didn't feel right to me, and and just wholeheartedly,
it did not feel right. My mind was like, something is wrong. I kind of
ignored it. Our rowing team for Texas a and m, we ended up
going to Austin, and it's called our Erg Rodeo. So we're on rowing machines
trying to see who can row the fastest 2,000 meters,
(20:19):
fastest time he possibly could. Wow. I did. It's it's very
tough. My husband, who I met in college, he was the captain of the rowing
team. I believe he rode 2,000 meters in 7.25
minutes. Wow. And I ended up passing out when I was
when it was my turn. I had a 188 meters left, and that
number will never ever leave my mind. I ended up passing out.
(20:41):
And so I wake up. My whole team is around me, kinda
like I just lost my breath. You know? I wasn't breathing right while
exercising. And the the ambulance came, and they're like, you know, we think
you're just dehydrated. And to me, having that said, I was
like, there's no way. Like, my team, we drank enough water. We drank
Gatorade for electrolytes. We ate enough food to, like, give us the
(21:04):
protein and just, you know, being an athlete, like, preparing
yourself for something so rigorous. Yeah. As an athlete,
you know what you need. You know, you do. You do. And it
was just, like, to me, it just was not a good enough
answer. So they took me to the hospital, and they did all these tests, and,
of course, they didn't find anything. They're like, we need you to go to your
(21:25):
pediatrician. Oh, I still saw my pediatrician, but they were like, you need to go
to your doctor because there's only 18. I was like, why go to an old
adult doctor? My pediatrician who knows me for the last 18
years can figure out what's wrong. Same thing. He was like, I
think you're just dehydrated. I I I don't think you, you know,
did enough preparedness for, you know, what you're
(21:46):
doing. I still was not happy with the answer, so I kinda just ignored
it. You know, doctors know best, a parent. Right. But
in some instances, doctors don't really know everything.
And I went to go check out, you know, to pay my bill,
and I passed out again. Next thing That's enormous.
No. And so next thing I know, I'm waking up, like, you know,
(22:08):
something's wrong. They check my blood pressure. It is, like, too low,
like, not even registering on the machine. It was so low. Oh,
wow. My pulse was, I think, like, in the forties,
which for an athlete, yeah, 60 is good.
Forty is a little extreme, especially when you're not, you know, anything.
I mean, that's a little high you know, a little low. And so they
(22:31):
called my dad, and he rushed me to Texas Children's, which is in the Texas
Medical Center. They did test and came to find out
from the MRI that I had viral cardiomyopathy. And
I was first like, okay. What what medicine do we need to take?
How do we get rid of this? Like, you know, let's just What is it?
What is it? An antiviral, yes, virus. And, of course, I know all this now
(22:53):
because I'm so I'm very intellectual when it comes to heart disease and
heart transplants now that I at the time, I was like, viral card what
cardiomyopathy? Like, what that's a big word. That's a
big word. Right. And so I asked the doctor, and I was like,
what medicine do I need to take? She's like, no, honey. Like, this
isn't going away. I was like, wait. You like, what? And she's
(23:16):
like, no. This is this is not going away. Like, you're this is
heart disease. You are officially in the category of heart disease,
not heart issues or heart, you know, blood pressure or
anything. You have heart disease. That was a whole new, like,
whirlwind. My world just like blew up.
Yeah. Blew up. And so then Like, you hit a wall.
(23:37):
I I did. I hit a wall because I was like, I have a whole
new like, I just started college. I was a freshman, and, like, all
this just bombarded on me. Yeah. It's like, how is it possible?
What does it even mean? Yeah. And I'm what what
as a human, what do you like, what is the next step? Started
at that time, I stayed with, Texas Children's
(23:59):
because they would see me until I was, like, 19 or 20. They gave me
the option to see to stay with pediatrics or to
go with, adult. And I was like, well, you know what? I'm about to turn
19. I think it's time I get away from the kids, and let's go to
to more serious, like, adult stuff. So I did, and I the
doctors I had were still with Texas Children's, but they also worked
(24:21):
with my hospital, St. Luke's. And so with Baylor
St. Luke's. And so started medicine
therapy where I was on beta blockers, yeast inhibitors.
Like, and those are blood pressure medicines. Like, they some
medicines tell you how your heart should work, you know, with the electrical
issues, how to pump, you know, and stuff like that. I was And
(24:44):
you need to deal with all the side effects. Yeah. The side effects. That was
a whole another thing. And I was like, mom, I feel really sick, and she's
like, well, maybe it's one of the medicines. Well, I couldn't not take the medicine
because then I would get even sicker. So it's just, like,
a a tumbling effect that it just like, you did one thing, then
something worse would happen, and that was a whole another whirlwind that I
(25:06):
had to learn. Eventually, doing the medicine therapy, it
stopped working. My heart was just getting sicker. I did a
test after 6 months with the adult cardiologist, and
immediately after I was done after I finished, I was like, I
failed. Like, I totally failed. They were like my mom, of
course, was like, no. Let's just see. I was like, no, mom. I failed. My
(25:27):
doctor walked in and he was like, your ejection fraction would just it's
hard to explain. It's a mathematical equation of how
each chamber of your heart beats, and that
therefore, it it formulates a percentage. So my
a normal healthy human heart is anywhere from 55
to 65, maybe 70 if you're lucky, ejection fraction. That's a
(25:49):
healthy heart. Mine had started when I went to adult
cardiology at 40%. So I'd already lost 10, 15%.
Yeah. By the time I failed, within 6 months, I went
from 40% to 16% in 6 months Oh.
With medicine. So that just goes to show that you can take any type
of preventative, but it doesn't necessarily guarantee you a
(26:12):
100%. For everything's 99.9 because you have that
point, you know, percentage, you could be in that spot of
it's not gonna work. And it didn't work. So
I I eventually moved on to the heart
and lung failure center of St. Luke's, the Texas Heart
Institute, and I began my my looking for a
(26:34):
transplant. I started with an Elevate, a left ventricular assist
device, which is a non pulsatile
mechanical device that fit inside my chest. And
the motor went from 7000 to 12000 RPMs faster
than a race car, which my history, I've worked with race
cars for the last years. And that to me was
(26:56):
fascinating because I was like, the little motor inside my chest can go can beat
that race car on track any day. And so that
basically, the reason why it goes faster, the device was to made to
help the heart completely heal if that was a there's a
percentage in there that you could be that percentage that it heals the
heart or the heart stays the same or the heart got worse. Well, my left
(27:18):
ventricle had healed, which is the the part that needed
help. My right ventricle completely dilated. So I
completely I went into massive heart failure. Oh my goodness.
And so I got married with Elvad, which is why I'm named Bionic
Bride. My my manager at the time, he was like, this is the name I
picked out for you. And I was like, like, no. Like, that
(27:40):
just it just why can't I have, like, a cool nickname? You know? I was
like, why did Bionic Bride? And and so I got married with
it. And then 6 months later, I ended up in a coma. I got a
transplant, like, 2 to 3 weeks later. For
all the way to 2023, I'm now on my 3rd heart
transplant, and that's literally the story. And I'm so sorry I didn't break for any
(28:02):
of that, but it's like No. That's okay. My squirrel sometimes.
No. That was perfect. My line of, of what
it all Sally. Well, thank you for share for sharing your story.
Yeah. Well, Melody, we're almost running out of time. So I
know you have your ball coming up pretty soon. Can you tell us a little
bit about that? So in Houston, we have
(28:24):
the Houston heart ball that we have once a year in February.
We always have it during the middle of heart month, and it's
a great opportunity for us to celebrate all
those through who, throughout the year, have given towards the American
Heart Association here in Houston. And it's also a great opportunity
for people to have that moment, not only to raise awareness, but
(28:47):
to be able to make that final giving also for the year that we're
pushing towards. We want always
to raise awareness for heart
health in Houston, for heart health among men, among women,
among children, and we're really blessed because we have so
many great supporters who come out. So I hope that
(29:09):
all Houstonians will come out and join us this year for the Houston Heart Ball.
Our theme is illuminate a path to the future and to a brighter
future at that. So we're excited to celebrate that. Ali's gonna be there
featured. So if you'd like to join us, you guys in Houston or
whoever, if you wanna come in from out of town, you can get a ticket
to the Heart Bowl or even purchase the table. Melody and
(29:31):
Ali, thank you so much for joining me for for this show.
It's so interesting. And, of course, I would like to thank you all as
well for joining me for this edition of Spotlight
Houston. And, also, if you have any comments
or story ideas, please let me know. Thank you
so much. K. Thank you.
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