The story of Tahereh
Hi dear readers!
My name is Tahereh , I am 20 years old and I live in Austria. My story begins in 2015, at the age of 14, when I passed out at home while playing cards with my family. Since both my parents work in the hospital, we went there for clarification. The doctors made an EKG (with an EKG you can make the electrical signals of the heart visible on a computer) in which irregularities in the heart rhythm were detected. I was then taken to another hospital by ambulance. On the way, my heart stopped – meaning I had a cardiac arrest. In order to bring my heart back into its natural rhythm, the emergency doctor had to revive me. The next day I was flown to a „heart center“ with an helicopter. Without having an exact diagnosis, I was prescribed pills for the first time, which were supposed to make my heart more rhythmic. However, these pills did not have the desired effect and I was implanted with a subcutaneous defibrillator for additional protection. The purpose of this device is to monitor the heartbeat and detect when the heart is falling into an irregular rhythm, and then deliver an electrical shock to bring the heart back to its regular rhythm. 4 days after the implantation I suffered my first „false shock” – this means that the defibrillator delivered an electric even though the heart was fully functional and I was conscious.
After a few months, I finally received the diagnosis: Long QT Syndrome. This is a heart disease in which the heart beats irregularly and, in the worst case, leads to sudden cardiac death.
Shortly after the diagnosis I suffered my first „real shock”; With the help of an electric shock, the defibrillator put my heart back in the right rhythm and thus saved my life for the first time. At that time, no one could have known how much worse my situation would get. I suffered 3 more „false shocks“ in the years that followed, my medication was changed countless times due to bad side effects and I suffered over 20 „real shocks“ from my defibrillator. These shocks occurred at any time and any place – at school, when eating out in restaurants, on a cruise ship, on a soccer field, when going for a walk,… I had hardly any quality of life, since I sometimes suffered over 5 shocks in one week (sometimes twice a day). And even if I had a day without a shock, I suffered from constant dizziness and malaise. During this bad time I almost never left the house and was generally very withdrawn.
In 2019 I was then flown to experts in Holland for an operation (“sympathectomy”). Unfortunately, this did not improve my situation and many shocks continued to occur. Only after another operation in 2020 in Linz (“ablation”) my condition finally did improve.
In total, I have received 30 life-saving shocks from my defibrillator over the past 6 years.
I’ve always been a very happy person who saw the good in every situation. But staying positive hasn’t always been easy in recent years. I was only able to get through this with the support of my family and friends. The most important thing for me was having someone to talk to. If one of you dear readers is looking for a speaking partner, or just someone who will listen to you, please feel free to contact me! Kisses!
Instagram: finktahereh