Living with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) and an undiagnosed condition

At the age of 22 I noticed my heart seemed to ‘jump’ around and beat in an unusual way. I contacted my GP on a particularly bad day and was referred to a cardiologist. I spent 5 years under the cardiologists care and received every test possible but nothing major showed on the results.

In 2009 I had my second child; after a few months passed my heart felt as though it was stopping for short periods of time and then beating fast to correct itself. This continued to get worse and I nearly crashed my car when I had a black out. I rang an ambulance who recorded my heart pausing for 9 seconds. I spent 3 weeks in hospital and was re-tested for everything. The conclusion was that I would have an ICD implanted; I was devastated to say the least but felt comfort in knowing that the ICD should be there for my protection. The operation was quick and straight forward and my recovery was speedy. I quickly returned to a normal life as a mother and student.

I am starting University in September and feel very positive about the future. CRY has been an amazing support to me and just knowing that there are people who I can meet up with and chat to, that are in the same boat as me, is an amazing comfort.