GROVE CITY — Fifteen years ago, Merle Reeseman worked as a real estate broker. She noticed while showing properties that she would be short of breath easily.

“I would get out of breath going up stairs and one day I said to myself, 'What's wrong here?'” she said.

She saw her doctor, who ordered some tests that didn't show anything unusual.

Eventually she was referred to a cardiologist in Cleveland who determined she had a rare condition called pulmonary arterial hypertension (often abbreviated as PH).

Unlike regular hypertension, the medical term for high blood pressure, PH is a serious and life-threatening disease that affects an estimated 30,000 people in the United States.

At the time, there was only one medication available and Reeseman was given two to three years to live without treatment.

“When you are first diagnosed you're overwhelmed because basically they tell you you're going to die,” she said.

Today, Reeseman lives with her condition thanks to a surgery and the development of new medications, although she has severe physical and financial limitations,

To try and help others with the same condition, she runs three support groups, takes calls through a national hot line, and works to create better awareness and raise money for research.

The disease begins when pulmonary arteries and capillaries in the lungs become narrowed, blocked or destroyed. This means the lower right chamber of the heart must work harder to pump blood through the lungs. The extra strain on the heart causes it to weaken and sometimes fail. Symptoms include shortness of breath, chest pain and edema.

There are 12 treatments approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and doctors say it is manageable with early diagnosis and aggressive treatment.

Pulmonologist Dr. Patricia George said that increased awareness and education about PH would help more people get diagnosed early.

“The average time to diagnosis is 2.8 years. So it's important for people to at least consider this when they are trying to identify the cause of a patient's shortness of breath,” she said.

George, an assistant professor of medicine with the comprehensive pulmonary hypertension program at the University of Pittsburgh, said that the medical community has made great strides in developing new treatments in the past 10 years.

But there is no cure yet and money is needed.

“There is definitely a big need for money to help fund research, especially when government funding of research can wax and wane depending on our national priorities,” George said.

After Reeseman was diagnosed, she quickly discovered that the disease wasn't her only trouble. Her health insurance would not cover the costs of the treatments.

The medication she takes is administered through a 24-hour intravenous drip. She also needs extra oxygen to breathe. The cost of treatment is between $160,000 and $200,000 per year.

To pay for treatment, Reeseman took the only route available to her. She and her husband got a legal separation and she moved from Slippery Rock to Grove City.

Living alone and unable to work, she was able to receive Medicaid, which pays for the medication. Her husband is allowed to visit.

Today, she supports others who have the disease by running periodic support groups in Pittsburgh, Mercer County and Cleveland.

She also helps raise money for research and mans a hot line for the Maryland-based Pulmonary Hypertension Association.

At her request, state Rep. Tedd Nesbit earlier this year introduced a resolution proclaiming November as Pulmonary Hypertension Awareness Month in Pennsylvania.

The association's website encourages support of the Pulmonary Hypertension Research and Diagnosis Act of 2015, introduced to the U.S. House in September by Rep. Kevin Brady, R-Texas.

The bill would amend the Public Health Service Act to establish an interagency coordinating committee on pulmonary hypertension that would provide updates on research and would develop a comprehensive strategic plan to improve health outcomes for patients.

Reeseman is joined in her efforts by another woman from the area.

Holly Tissue-Thompson of Slippery Rock has lived with PH since 2008. She also runs a support group based in Pittsburgh that has about 15 members and is meant for younger people, most of whom are parents.

Tissue-Thompson stays active with her two sons, ages 10 and 14, and is able to work part-time, but must carry an IV pump and often gets out of breath, especially in the winter.

Like Reeseman, it took doctors a while to diagnose her with PH. They only looked for it after she had made the suggestion.

“Doctors should be aware that it might seem like something else, but it could be this rare thing,” she said.

The IV medications are both cumbersome and very expensive, so many patients are hopeful that research can develop less expensive treatments.

“There are some oral medications they are testing. If they could find even another pathway or an oral drug, that would be extremely beneficial,” she said.

For more information on PH and efforts to find a cure, visit www.phassociation.org.