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Name:
Bronwyn
Age:
24
Congenital Condition:
Long QT Syndrome
Brief history of treatment i.e. Surgeries
etc…:
I was 18 years old when I went into one of
the private day surgeries located at St.
Andrews Place for routine wisdom teeth
removal surgery. After a successful
operation, I wasn't recovering as well as
expected and ended up going into cardiac
arrest. Thankfully, the day theatre was
located across the road from St. Andrews War
Memorial Hospital and I was quickly
transferred by two of the hospital's arrest
teams into the Cardiac Cath Lab for
emergency surgery, including having a
balloon pump fitted to help keep my heart
beating.
Despite being transferred into Intensive
Care, my condition still wasn't improving to
the Doctors' satisfaction and they were
beginning to believe the damage to my heart
was irreparable. The Doctors were
considering putting me on a heart lung
machine and transporting me to Prince
Charles Hospital for an emergency heart
transplant. Luckily my heart decided to
improve at the crucial moment and this plan
was abandoned. I spent a total of 5 days in
ICU before being transferred to Cardiac Ward
4C.
After undergoing some tests I was diagnosed
with the heart condition Hereditary Long QT
Syndrome. In a nutshell, this means that in
one section the electrical pulses of my
heartbeat are longer that what is considered
normal and I am more susceptible to
arrhythmias than the average person. After
the doctors diagnosed my heart problem, I
underwent defibrillator implant surgery and
was able to go home towards the end of my
third week in hospital.
My entire family are cardiac patients.
Because Long QT is a genetic condition both
my brother and mother have Long QT as well.
However, they are not as severe as me and do
not need a defibrillator but, all three of
us are prescribed betablocker medication to
help regulate our heartbeats. My father has
a completely different set of heart
problems; his heart rate can slow down to
dangerously low rates and has a pacemaker to
rectify the problem.
Nearly six years on, I'm now facing my first
defibrillator replacement surgery as my
batteries are slowly starting to drain. But
I've been extremely fortunate that in this
time I haven't had any further problems or
shocks from my defibrillator.
Other general
information you wish to share about your
life, family, friends, work or social
activities:
Despite my heart condition, I live a
relatively normal but hectic lifestyle. The
close call with my heart condition gave me
the motivation I needed to get out there and
enjoy life to the utmost. Since my recovery
I have taken up a number of different sports
that I’d always been thinking of doing, but
just never got around to actually starting.
I now compete in a social league of Inline
Rollerhockey every week and in early July I
will be representing my hockey club at the
State Championships. I have also taken up
hip-hop dance classes, I go sailing on
catamarans with my sail club every few weeks
and I continue the habit ingrained from the
Cardiac Rehab program I undertook after my
surgery of going to gym at least two times a
week. I don’t let my heart condition be a
huge hindrance and very rarely will it
prevent me from doing something I want to
do. The only restrictions it has placed on
my life is I can no longer take a number of
regular medications, such as
anti-histamines, cough mixtures or cold and
flu tablets and having a metal device
implanted in your chest means getting
through airport security is a bit more
challenging than for the average person. I
know that there are other young
defibrillator patients who don’t like having
an ICD at all, but to me my defibrillator is
my security blanket and I’m happy in the
knowledge it’s there to look out for me and
be there to set things right should my heart
go haywire again.
Other:
But this isn’t something I could do on my
own. If it wasn’t for the wonderful care
provided by the staff from St. Andrew’s
including Dr. P. Lavercombe & his team in
the Intensive Care Unit, the staff from Ward
4C, Steve & Lisa from Cardiac Prevention &
Rehab, and last (but by no means least) Dr.
P. Hadjipetrou, Dr. W. Stafford and their
teams at Queensland Cardiovascular Group,
not to mention the continuing love and
support from my friends and family over the
past six years, I wouldn’t be here to
recount this tale in the first place. |
