“I have hardly been sick a day in my life. I take vitamins, try homeopathic remedies and have a great immune system,” says Kilian, 53.However, little did she know while treating her flu/bronchitis symptoms at home in November 2013, that she would end up in the hospital for nearly three weeks.”

Over the winter, I just wasn’t getting better,” says Kilian. “I was having trouble breathing and was starting to feel like I was gaining weight from eating healthy foods to keep my strength up. But, in reality, I was retaining fluid from heart failure.”

Kilian said that her water retention started out slowly, but it became more rapid as her symptoms progressed. Eventually, her brother, who lives in Naperville, brought her to the Elmhurst Memorial Hospital Emergency Department.”

The doctors were shocked at the amount of fluid that I had around my heart. I ended up with a pacemaker in the process,” says Kilian.

Read the entire article at Heart failure symptoms easy to miss for unsuspecting patients – Chicago Tribune.