Suji: Loving life while living with heart disease Suji: Loving life while living with heart disease

Suji, a passionate cook and loving mother, has faced heart disease for decades, enduring multiple surgeries including a bypass and valve replacement. Despite ongoing health challenges, such as pain and diabetes, Suji’s love for life endures, and she remains devoted to her family.

Pressing onward

Suji, in her usual fashion, pulled out all the stops to host one of her infamous dinner parties. It was a night in 1999, and her home in Brampton was full of friends and family enjoying multiple courses, all sumptuously plated.

Not all her guests knew that Suji, then 46, a busy wife and mother, was recovering from an arterial bypass.

A diagnosis of heart disease just a few years before led to a series of procedures and taking several heart medications. That diagnosis was not entirely a shock to Suji. She has 10 siblings – all of whom have heart problems, and some with diabetes. Her mother had both.

As a result, her health was under control, but she was still struggling with her sleep and had lingering pain.

“I’m a person who loves life; loves people.” So, Suji pushed on make appetizers, curries and desserts. She always dressed up and treated her guests like royalty.

But her heart – and its condition – would change life as she knew it.

A series of surgeries

When Suji reflects on her childhood, she recalls having chest pain. “They thought I was just complaining of chest pain because I didn’t want to do my homework.” She was told at age 17 that she had a heart murmur. “I was told I should be careful, but that was it,” she says.

In her 40s, she found herself exhausted and dealing with jaw pain every time she took her young kids to swimming and skating lessons, or had to climb stairs.

She was eventually referred to a cardiologist — that jaw pain was actually a manifestation of angina. An angiogram revealed that one of her arteries was 90 per cent blocked, so surgeons put in a stent. 

“It collapsed in a week,” recalls Suji. A second stent also failed due to her narrow arteries, so she got a bypass.

But her jaw pain persisted, and she struggled during rehab programs as a result. It took until 2019 for her doctors to figure out she had a defective heart valve and needed it replaced 

While recovering from that surgery, she was in terrible pain. Her care team soon discovered an artery that had been accidentally cut during the procedure, so she needed a second emergency surgery to fix it. She then developed an infection from that procedure. This all happened while her daughter, Rukmini, was giving birth to her son – Suji’s first grandchild. 

Little acts of love

Amid all her health challenges, Suji’s husband has had his own issues, with two serious heart attacks. 

Daughter Rukmini recalls doing her homework perched on her mother’s hospital bed, the nurses stopping by to help with the tough math questions. Rukmini got into health communications. “It shaped my personality, having a sick parent.” Her brother. Uday, became a doctor.

The family has forged on with “little acts of love.” Every morning, Suji’s husband fills a bowl with her medications and puts them on the kitchen counter. He knows she’ll forget, but while she’s cooking for everyone, she’ll notice and take them.

Uday accompanies his parents to their doctor’s appointments. And Rukmini’s regular visits with her son, Zen, fills their home with joyful activity.

Suji now tires easily and has difficulty walking long distances, so she only goes out for appointments. She still experiences chest pain, and often has to use nitroglycerin patches to manage it. She has high cholesterol that’s controlled with medication, and diabetes that requires insulin. “I need medical care and support,” she says. “But I manage.”

“We no longer have these banger house parties,” says Rukmini. However, her mom will still cook for her family, and small groups of guests. The food is still delicious and gorgeously presented. She always has energy for spending time with family, especially Zen.

“I’m a friendly person, and want to do a lot for my kids,” says Suji. “That’s what keeps me going.”

Transforming recovery

Today, about 3.5 million Canadians are living with the effects of heart disease and stroke. The Heart & Stroke Foundation’s work in funding research and improving heart care supports people like Suji by providing better treatments and raising awareness, helping them manage their condition and continue embracing life with their loved ones.