I was born with a heart murmur and later on developed an elevated heart rate. I have suffered with symptoms of fainting since I was a young child with my first episode happening on the playground in first grade. Due to my heart condition, I have seen numerous cardiologists and followed up for EKG’s and echocardiograms to track the condition of my heart. All of which returned as normal, but I still had this elevated heart rate. Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare providers were always so concerned about my heart rate, but no one could find the cause for it. So instead of looking further, it was dismissed. I went 30 years without receiving any medication or further testing for this issue, but yet I was symptomatic through it all. I always knew there was something wrong so I never stopped looking for answers.
On July 9th, I had an echocardiogram performed to see how my heart was functioning. I received the results on September 12th which shook me to my core. That echo confirmed that I was in heart failure. My cardiologist adjusted the beta blocker that I was already on to hopefully slow my heart rate and recommended me to an Electrophysiologist. The adjustment of my medication started to negatively affect me almost immediately. After a week of slowly declining, I decided to take myself to the ER and I am so thankful that I did.
I was admitted into the hospital on Saturday, September 20th and spent the night in the ER hooked up to heart monitors and fluids. They transported me up to my room the next morning and my lovely nurse came in to introduce herself and give me my first round of medication, as well as a shot of Lovenox. I felt fine at the time but things quickly escalated. A rush came over me and within a few seconds I was unconscious. I didn’t have any time to call for help and I was completely alone. I woke up surrounded by doctors who told me that I had a seizure, and I later found out that my heart stopped for 28 seconds.
I was in the hospital for 4 days and I was put through a variety of different tests including another echocardiogram, electroencephalogram, cardiac MRI, and what seemed like endless blood tests. My echocardiogram confirmed my EF to be between 20-25%, which is bad news. However, the cardiac MRI found that my heart is structurally strong, but functionally weak, which is good news. This means that my heart has minimal muscle damage, but it is so tired from pumping this fast for this long. They started me on a new medication designed to slow the heart rate down so that the heart can efficiently pump more blood through the body. My doctors hope that over time this will allow my heart to grow stronger and function at a higher EF one day. So far, the medication has taken my resting heart rate from 130 bpm, to around 95. Overall, my body is showing positive signs of improvement but only time will tell if this is what I will need, but I am beyond grateful that this is the solution that seems to be working for right now.
Due to my episode in the hospital and the uncertainty of my condition, I am legally not able to drive for about 3-6 months. This new rule has put a major financial strain on me considering my second income requires me to drive. So I’m out of work with that form of income - I have drained my PTO balance and almost all of my hospital stay was unpaid - I can only imagine what this hospital bill is going to look like and I’m already struggling to make ends meet even before any of this happened.
Life hasn’t been kind to any of us lately, and I feel selfish for even asking for help in this way, but my fight is far from over and I am determined to make sure I am able to take care of myself and my child’s needs. I want to be on this earth for as long as possible and I won’t allow financial strain to get in the way of that.
So if you can give, please know that it means the absolute world to me. And if you can’t give, please know I understand. Sharing this with those around you is enough for me.
Thank you for reading and I hope to be able to share more good news as my journey continues.