Tracey Grasty

Tracey Grasty is a 49-year-old single woman born with tricuspid atresia including an

atrial septal defect, a ventricular septal defect and hypoplastic right heart syndrome. She

had a Blalock-Taussig shunt at 15 months and a Waterston Shunt at 4½ years of age. She

lived with cyanosis until she was 22. During her senior year of college, she had the Fontan Procedure. After a year of recovery, she finished college with a Bachelor of Science degree in microbiology.  She had no heart issues and was only taking baby aspirin until she experienced atrial flutter for the first time at 46. She has had a cardioversion and an ablation. Thanks to anti-arrhythmia drugs and blood thinners she has been atrial flutter free since October 2013. She faces an eventual Fontan revision.  Tracey went back to school at 34 years of age to major in nursing. She has worked in the adult cardiac surgical and the cardiovascular intensive care units but now works as a pediatric cardiac intensive care unit nurse.