Broadway inspiration

Colleen Dunn performing in "Contact" as "the woman in the yellow dress."

NEW YORK (CNN) -- Colleen Dunn is the lead dancer in the award-winning musical "Contact." On Broadway, she is simply known as "the woman in the yellow dress."

"It's an amazing show, an amazing role, and I'm lucky just to do it," says Dunn.

It's a role meant just for her -- literally. The musical's creator knew of Dunn's work and envisioned her when conceiving the show.

"When we came to cast this character, I said to the director 'find me a girl like Colleen Dunn,'" explained Susan Strohman, the musical's creator.

Dunn suffered from a heart condition called aetrial septal defect (ASD).

But at the time, Dunn could not be found. The dancer was in and out of hospitals recovering from a debilitating heart condition called aetrial septal defect (ASD) -- a hole in the heart. The role went to someone else.

Dunn had symptoms for years but didn't realize something was wrong until she took a demanding dance class.

"I was like tunneling in and out," said Dunn. "I was sweating a lot and I was breathing heavy and I thought 'I don't feel like I can get oxygen and I'm breathing and it doesn't make sense.'"

Dunn's cardiologist performed open-heart surgery to repair the quarter-sized hole in her heart.

The operation worked, but a few months later she was still having chest pain.

After wondering why her health hadn't improved, Dunn found out her surgery had left her with a condition called pericardistis -- when the lining or sac surrounding the heart becomes inflamed.

Doctors prescribed steroids to reduce the swelling. However, long-term use of steroids can cause problems. Dunn's condition worsened.

"There was a time, probably about a year after my surgery and into my illness that I thought, wow, this is my life now," said Dunn. "I won't perform again."

For almost two years, she dreamed of dancing and focused on getting better.

Her research led her to Dr. Steven Paget at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

He found a combination of non-steroids to reduce the swelling, including the drug Vioxx.

"We used it and luckily it was tremendously effective," said Dr. Paget.

He removed Dunn from all the medications and her prognosis improved drastically over the following months.

The dancer got back into shape, just in time to audition for "Contact."

The rest is Broadway legend.