Lobbying at Our Nation's Capitol

In 2019, I applied to be one of the advocates in Maryland to go to the District of Columbia to advocate with the American Heart Association. I applied because I wanted to be a part of something bigger than myself.

I had gotten the left ventricular assist device (LVAD) at the beginning of the year and wanted to advocate for everyone else who had heart failure. We would be meeting with Maryland lawmakers about the issues facing our communities.

One of the things we were advocating for was to stop the selling and advertising of flavored vapes because they are making the flavors too much like candy which was enticing young kids. By young kids I mean high school and middle school aged.

I got chosen to represent Maryland, and I was so excited to be chosen. We would meet up at a hotel in D.C., then walk over to The Capitol Building and advocate. They also would pay for our accommodations if we didn’t live within driving distance of the capital. I live in southern Maryland so D.C. is only a 20-minute drive from me. I do not remember if they paid for your transportation, like if you had to catch a flight or a train, but accommodations were paid for.

Lobbying at the Capitol

There were people from all over the country at the American Heart Association lobbying day. When I walked into the hotel everyone was wearing red and it was so beautiful to see my heart brothers and sisters all from different walks of life ready to go advocate.

A group of advocates outside of the American Capitol Building.

I went down the escalator and went to the table to check in to find out which table was assigned to me. We met and had a little meeting beforehand to discuss the itinerary for the day. We would be having a small breakfast, then heading over to the Capitol to speak with our representatives depending on which state you were from. In between the times, we would be going to lunch and then reconvene to get our group picture taken. Later on in the evening, there would be a fancy dinner at the hotel.

Overcoming my anxiety for a greater cause

I did not know anyone there so I was really nervous about talking to random people because I was still suffering from social anxiety. This was a tall task for me, but I thought the cause was greater than my social anxiety. We walked over to The Capitol Building to see one of the Maryland representatives.

I did not know that each person was going to have to speak, if I had known beforehand I could have practiced at home in the mirror. So, there I was waiting for my turn to speak, sweating, heart racing, trying to listen to what other people were saying. My turn finally came and I spit out some words. I said something like, "My name is Olivia and I am a 2-time stroke survivor and a LVAD recipient." I talked about the LVAD being a lifesaver and how they should keep funding heart research because I and so many others were benefitting from it.

When I was finished I was wondering if what I said made sense and being overly critical of myself. When we were leaving everyone was saying it was great, so that was a great relief. The only problem for me was we had to do it again, multiple times for the other representatives.

Advocating and heart failure

By the time we were finished, I was mentally and physically exhausted because we had to do a lot of walking. I was mentally drained because anxiety will do that to you. The Capitol Building is like a city in itself, there is even a train inside. You could definitely get lost in there. When we finished the last of our lobbying efforts we took our group picture right outside the Capitol. After that, we dispersed and got ready for the dinner the American Heart Association was throwing.

Unfortunately, with advanced heart failure, you get tired easily so I did not make it to the dinner. I faced my fear of speaking and advocated for a cause near and dear to my heart.

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