2026 Go Red for Women Class of Survivors: Migdalia Rodriguez
After months of not feeling well, Migdalia Rodriguez kept pushing for answers. What she discovered was a severely enlarged heart in heart failure. She needed a heart transplant – and she got one. Now her mission is to raise awareness and encourage women to advocate for themselves.
Migdalia Rodriguez, 39, was ready to embark on a remote career as a therapist. She was making plans to travel the world with her dog, Milo, when she began experiencing anxiety, fatigue, shortness of breath and a cold. She coughed to the point she couldn’t breathe at night. She was so concerned about the sound of her breathing when she lay flat that she recorded it.
Migdalia went to the best pulmonologist she could find, but he didn’t find anything wrong and suggested it was stress. Still, her symptoms worsened. Migdalia felt as if she’d run a marathon when she went from the couch to the bathroom. Her intuition whispered something was wrong. A friend urged Migdalia to go to the hospital.
Once there, Migdalia explained her symptoms and wondered if she might have the flu. The medical team ran some tests and was ready to send Migdalia home with antibiotics. Then she asked the doctor to listen to the recording of her breathing.
“Why do I sound like this at night?” Migdalia said.
The doctor ordered a chest X-ray and additional bloodwork. Multiple doctors came in with the results, revealing Migdalia had a severely enlarged heart.
“I felt like my world completely collapsed. The first thing I said was, ‘Am I dying?’ And their face was telling me, yes, but they couldn't vocalize it. And I'm like, ‘I'm dying?’”
Migdalia was in severe heart failure. She was hospitalized for two weeks and lost 10 pounds of fluid, which made it easier for her to breathe while lying down. Testing at the Cleveland Clinic revealed Migdalia had a specific gene that caused her dilated cardiomyopathy, which affects the heart's ventricles and atria, the lower and upper chambers of the heart.
Despite visiting multiple specialists and trying various treatments, Migdalia needed a transplant. Doctors said her heart looked like that of an 85-year-old. She completed the steps to get placed on the transplant list and got her new heart on Jan. 13, 2025.
“I went from not being able to walk, not even 10 steps without losing my breath, to now I can do fitness and run and live life again,” she said.
It was a bittersweet time for Migdalia, who thought about the donor and his or her family members before the five-hour surgery. She hopes to meet them someday and show them their loved one’s gift has a “beautiful purpose and function.”
“It’s pumping life in me to continue to be the voice, to spread awareness, to save other lives,” she said.
Now 41, Migdalia lives in Miami, where she kayaks, runs 5Ks and is training for a marathon. She hopes to visit Italy and Greece in the coming year. She wants others to know that heart disease can affect someone who looks and acts completely healthy.
“Never minimize any symptom you have or rationalize it. It's your body's gift to communicate with you. I would say love it back by listening,” she said. “Don't be your own doctor. Get multiple opinions.”
And push for answers, if needed.
“That recording saved my life, I'd say, because I was believing myself. I was saying, ‘This is really serious,’ and I had to prove how serious it was.”
Since her transplant, Migdalia’s mission is to use her story to raise awareness of heart disease with women everywhere.
“I’m so proud that I want the world to know how much this experience has shown me, how incredibly resilient I am, how powerful I have always been,” she said.
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