Lifetime of Heart Issues Won’t Hold Me Back
By Mary Foos
It was just a normal Sunday. I had gone to church, lunch with friends, practiced dance and was about to head to work when it happened. In the moment, I didn’t know what happened. I thought a car had hit me.
I didn’t know it was cardiac arrest. My heart rate went from normal to nearly 300 BPM. That’s when my defibrillator fired. I didn’t know what was going on because my implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) had never fired. It was very sudden and scary. When I got to the hospital, they said I was having supraventricular tachycardia (SVT)—something I had never had before.
In 1998, I was born with tetralogy of fallot, a rare condition involving a combination of four heart defects present at birth. My condition was caused by three large holes in my heart. I was routinely hospitalized for congestive heart failure until, finally, at 4 months old, doctors scheduled my first open-heart surgery.
The intense procedure required me to recover in the hospital for about three weeks. After that, medical appointments became my entire life. Five days out of each week, I had seven doctor's appointments. My medical team included an orthopedist, a cardiologist, a thoracic surgeon, a neurologist, a pulmonologist and physical, occupational and respiratory therapists.
After recovering from four open-heart surgeries as a baby, I lived a pretty normal life. I did everything I wanted to do, from climbing trees, dance and cheer to playing competitive volleyball for nine years. It wasn't until I was in college that these cardiac complications arose again.
During college, I underwent five cardiac ablations and an ICD placement. From the outside I looked like a normal young adult, but in reality I was struggling. I struggled with constant chest pain, fatigue and shortness of breath. Some days I was so tired all I could do was rest. This made it hard to get up and go to school and work.
I was told these symptoms were the result of a low ejection fraction and premature ventricular contractions (PVCs). In 2019, the doctors told me I might not live another 12 months without proper treatment. This is when I underwent my third cardiac ablation and a defibrillator placement.
The defibrillator placement surgery was extremely painful and inconvenient. I was moving and starting my senior year in college when it was placed. After my third ablation, I was told I was fine and had no restrictions. Then, a few months later, came that incident in my garage. It was scary. The flashbacks to that moment still scare me today.
But I am proud of myself for all I have overcome in my short 24 years of life. This condition has not held me back but inspired me to live my life to the fullest. I share my story to inspire others and spread hope to those who may be struggling, too. Each day I get to wake up and pursue my passion is a gift!
For more information on this health topic, visit heart.org.
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