Meet Your Moderators: Amber Blackburn

Welcome to the Heart-Failure.net Meet Your Moderators series! These articles are intended to help our community members better know the people who moderate on our various channels. Heart failure plays a different role in each of our moderators' lives, but our community serves as a place for all to connect and share with one another.

We are beyond grateful for the work these individuals put in to help make this the dynamic and supportive community that it is. We hope you enjoy reading their responses to our questions and learning a bit more about what drives them to help!

Interview with Amber

What role does heart failure play in your life?

My role with heart failure is a little different than most here. I do not have heart failure, but do live with a multitude of other chronic health issues. So why am I here? I am an RN who spent the majority of my career working with heart patients. So I am here to provide a different viewpoint on living with heart failure.

Why did you decide to become a moderator for Heart-Failure.net?

Being a moderator here brings me great joy. I sadly had to medically retire from my career as an RN in 2016. That decision was so hard and truly broke my heart. When the opportunity to moderate and write for heart-failure.net came about I was thrilled.

I spent most of my career working with heart patients and did LOTS of education with those patients. Moderating here allowed me to feel like I was still able to use my knowledge and provide education to others. It has given me more of a purpose in life.

What's been your favorite part of being a moderator for Heart-Failure.net?

I think my favorite part is being able to provide bits and pieces of education that really helps people to understand their condition or helps them to feel like they aren’t so alone.

What has your support system been like throughout your journey as a patient or caregiver?

Like I mentioned before, I don’t actually have heart failure. But do live with multiple other conditions like Lupus, Fibromyalgia, Interstitial Cystitis, Migraines, and more. Over the years of living with these conditions, I found out who my support system really was. I am very lucky to have the best family I could ever ask for. My mom and sister are the best and always there for me no matter what. Without them, I would have been lost over the last 10 years.

Anything else you want to share with our Heart-Failure.net community members?

I just want to remind you all that you are never alone. Living with and being diagnosed with a chronic illness can feel very isolating. But you aren’t alone. We are always here to help if we can in any way.

Also, it is so important that you advocate for yourself. If you feel like you aren’t being treated fairly or aren’t getting the best treatment, you have to stand up and advocate for yourself. No one will ever be able to advocate for you better than you can for yourself.

Contribution to Heart-Failure.net

Amber has been contributing to our community for over a year. Here are a few of the articles she has shared with us:

Five Common Myths About Living With Heart Failure
Seven Tips to Improve Emotional Health
Four Things to Remember When Giving Up a Career
Four Times You Should Seek a Second Opinion
Tips For Improving Your Patient-Provider Relationship

To read all of Amber's articles and hear about her love for patient advocacy for those with chronic illnesses, click here.

Thank you

We'd also like to take this opportunity to thank YOU, the person reading this. While we no doubt have an amazing team here at Heart-Failure.net, it's your consistent presence and engagement that keep the momentum going. Without you, there wouldn't be much to moderate and we surely wouldn't learn as much as we do. Thank you!

As always, we'd love to hear from you. What brings you to our community? What has your heart failure journey looked like? Feel free to share with us by posting on our site's stories and forums sections.