I was gifted the Brave Heart pendant by my mother for the 32nd Birthday.
Back in January 2021 I was coming back from a church volunteer event with my mother and two of my children in the car when I blacked out behind the wheel. By Gods grace everyone in the car was ok and no one else in my path was harmed. I went to see my doctor and was told it must have just been a fluke, my blood work was ok, all my test came back ok and they didn’t see any issues. I was not ok with that answer, I told my doctor it’s no fluke that a 31 year old blacks out driving with no warning. My doctor referred me to a Cardiologist who had me wear a heart monitor for 30 days, then I had an echo done and some other additional testing. It was found that I had Tachycardia, A-Fib, Atrial Flutters and a few small holes in my heart. With all of that being said I was scheduled for surgery in July of 2021. Surgery went perfect but of course it was going to take time for me to FULLY recover. By October I had Covid which my doctor told me would not be good for my recovery. I needed at least 6-9 months to fully recover. Thankfully Covid didn’t get to me too bad and I was able to remain at home to get healthy again.
Things had been going great, no issues, no black outs. I thought I was on the up side of things and even though it’s always in the back of my head I tried to ignore that my heart isn’t 100%. In later November of this year (2022) I had a day full of dizzy episodes and sickness. It felt like nothing I had ever experienced before. I seriously felt like my body was shutting down. I was shaking so bad, so weak and so dizzy and my HR was in the low 40’s. The flu was going around and some stomach bug but I knew it wasn’t either of those things as I had never felt like this before and no one else in my family was sick or ended up getting sick. I made an appointment with my Cardiologist because I felt like the whole ordeal had to do with my heart. They decided to put me on an event monitor to be worn for 7 days. I returned my monitor just before Christmas and at this current time I am awaiting the results and next steps.
My birthday just happens to be the day after Christmas and my mother gifted me this amazing pendant. I love the meaning behind it and love having a place to share my story. It’s scary to be so “young” and have these type of medical scares and unanswered questions. I am hopeful that I will have a plan from my doctor sooner than later and can get back on the up side of things.
Courtney K.