My name is Luke and I am a 22-year-old male professional dancer. Back in February 2025, when I was 21, I was diagnosed with viral myocarditis. The month prior to my diagnosis, I had been feeling sick on and off with a cold, fever, achiness, and chills. I didn’t go to the doctor because I never really felt bad enough to do so. I just thought I was fighting an infection of some type, and it would eventually get better on its own. I only missed a couple hours of work (teaching dance) one day, then felt better and went in to teach the rest of my classes that evening. During that month while teaching my classes, I noticed that I was getting winded and out of breath easier and quicker than usual, but thought it was just due to me being sick. On Feb. 7th, I flew to Orlando, FL for the weekend to teach, judge, and perform at a dance convention. I felt particularly bad that weekend with achiness and weakness, but again, it wasn’t persistent and would come and go. On Sunday, Feb. 9th, I performed a very physically intense 3 ½ minute solo, expending every bit of energy. This is something that I am very accustomed to doing, having trained and performed professionally for the past 15 years. Although my 3–5-minute recovery time on that particular Sunday was pretty typical, I think I remember getting a little more tired during the actual performance. I then headed to the airport and flew back home a few hours later. I felt normal after returning home, celebrated my nephew at his first Birthday party that night, and then went to bed.
On the morning of Feb. 10, 2025 I woke up with terrible squeezing and crushing chest pain, like someone was wringing out a wet towel deep within the middle of my chest. It worsened when I coughed or took a deep breath and radiated to my left arm. I went to the emergency room at my local hospital where several tests were administered. (ECG’s, blood tests, chest X-ray, echocardiogram, urinalysis, and troponin level tests). In the ER, while the doctors were trying to figure things out, I was given a GI cocktail and Tylenol. Throughout the next several hours, my troponin values trended upward from 2,008 to 9,189. I spent the night in the hospital and in the morning my values dropped to 7,211. I was diagnosed with possible myocarditis, put on a beta-blocker and aspirin, told to schedule an outpatient cardiac MRI since the hospital didn’t have this capability, and discharged from the hospital on the evening of Feb. 11, 2025.
The following day on Feb. 12th, I began experiencing chest tightness and heart pain again, although not to the degree of what it was the first time, and decided to go to the emergency room at a different hospital where they have more cardiac capabilities. After being admitted, my troponin levels started to rise again. I had a cardiac MRI which confirmed the diagnosis of acute viral myocarditis. I was put on Colchicine and discharged from the hospital the next evening on Feb. 13th with my troponin values dropping to 2,228. I was instructed to be on cardiac rest so my heart could heal from the inflammation. Six days later, at a follow-up appointment, I was taken off the Colchicine and aspirin, but told to continue taking a reduced dose of the beta-blocker.
Over the next several weeks, I took it very easy. I didn’t do any physical activity, tried to get more sleep, and began eating a low-salt, low-sugar, heart-healthy diet. I still felt a lot of movement in my heart during this time. Sometimes it would feel like minimal discomfort and other times like fluttering/hiccups in my chest like it was skipping a beat. I also felt occasional shortness of breath, but not as often as I had previously. I wore a cardiac monitor for a couple weeks in mid-March and was scheduled for a stress test in mid-April. I ended up canceling this appointment as I had been doing extensive research trying to learn as much as I could about myocarditis and felt that although I liked my cardiologist, I wanted to see if there was a specialist with expertise in treating young male athletes with this condition. Since I have been a professional dancer since the age of six, I very much wanted to do all I could to be able to have the best shot at returning to my career.
When my mom came across the Myocarditis Foundation online, it felt like an absolute answer to prayer. Their website was filled with an incredible amount of helpful information all in one place and made us feel like we weren’t alone in our situation. I reached out to the Foundation via email asking for guidance in finding a myocarditis specialist and received the most wonderful and hopeful response from Genevieve. Although there were no specialists in my state, she shared a couple names, (both out-of-state), with one being Dr. Leslie T. Cooper at the Mayo Clinic in Florida. I was so relieved to be able to schedule an appointment with him sooner than I thought, and in mid-April, my mom, one of my sisters, and I took a road trip down to Jacksonville, FL for an evaluation. What a blessing meeting Dr. Cooper was for all of us. We learned so much at that appointment as he explained my myocarditis situation in such a clear and understandable way and patiently answered all of our questions. He took me off the beta-blocker, put me back on the Colchicine, and scheduled a follow-up appointment. In mid-May, my mom and I drove back down to Mayo Clinic for a cardiac MRI, stress test, and follow-up evaluation with Dr. Cooper. All my test results looked great and thankfully, there was no sign of inflammation, scarring, or damage to my heart. Dr. Cooper was very pleased with the results of the tests and recommended that I continue taking the Colchicine for another month.
I am now off the Colchicine, still eating a heart-healthy diet, and have gradually returned to dance training and teaching. I hope that in time, I will be able to be back to performing. While exercising, I’m constantly aware of how much I’m pushing myself and, in general, I feel like I have a heightened awareness of how my body is feeling. I still feel random flutters, pressing, and twinges in my heart several times a week. This can sometimes make me nervous, but Dr. Cooper reassured me that most likely this is just the tissue in my heart continuing to heal.
During my months of cardiac rest, I spent much of my time writing and recording music, seeing friends, and spending time with my family. If I hadn’t kept myself busy in those ways, I think I would’ve been even more stressed than I already was. Although I battle a lingering fear of getting sick with another virus that might attack my heart, I now know that rather than just pushing through it, I would instead seek medical care right away to rule out a recurrence of myocarditis. It’s reassuring knowing that I have incredible resources that I can reach out to between both Dr. Cooper and the Myocarditis Foundation.
I am a few days away from my 6-month recovery marker and am so thankful to God for my life and for continuing to walk me through this scary and stressful journey. I am forever grateful for Dr. Cooper, the Myocarditis Foundation, Genevieve, all the people who are dedicated to finding a cure for this disease, and the people who have shared their personal experiences. My heart is encouraged by the stories of fellow survivors, and my heart breaks for all the victims and those who have lost their loved ones.
My prayer is that in the future, more lives are saved through awareness of this disease, quick diagnosis, and consistent protocols on how to treat it. Now that myocarditis is a part of my life story, I pray that God will use my experience to help others.
