Shemeka Campbell (35), a Wisconsin, US-based 911 operator and a businesswoman, did not realise the seriousness of her hereditary heart condition until her 31-year-old sister passed away in 2017. She says that’s when she learned that the heart complications run in the family and took her condition more seriously. Now, after being diagnosed of congestive heart failure, she is living her life to the fullest.
Speaking to Happiest Health over a telephonic conversation, she says, “My sister’s passing was a wake-up call for me. I realised how severe congestive heart failure was and that I need to take more invasive measures with regards to my condition.”
She was initially refusing to get an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator), thinking that a few lifestyle changes can help manage her condition. She started working out three to five times a week for at least 30 minutes, which included more of cardio workouts. She maintained small healthy eating habits and omitted certain stressors from her life. But these measures did not help much as her heart had become weak. She says, “When I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure, they [doctors] talked about giving me an implantable cardiac device, but I was a little fearful of having a foreign object inside of my body.”
First cardiac event: supraventricular tachycardia
Campbell had her first cardiac event when she was 24. She recalls, “It was a normal day. I suddenly noticed that I was feeling extremely fatigued. I was washing my hair and was out of breath. My arms felt really heavy and I was jittery. I felt like I wanted to pass out and my heart was beating very rapidly.” She rushed to her local physician the next day, who insisted her to visit the emergency room as her resting heart rate was more than 100 beats per minute. She says she was all confused when she was surrounded by a team of 10 doctors, running tests. They diagnosed her then with supraventricular tachycardia, which progressed into dilated cardiomyopathy.
Her days were unpredictable due to congestive heart failure. “Some days, I was extremely fatigued and needed help with daily chores like combing my hair and dressing up. I couldn’t walk too far,” she says.
When ICD saved her life
Campbell later agreed to get the ICD, which gave her a second chance at life. She recalls how the device saved her life once. “2021 was a stressful year because I had just recovered from COVID. A month after I was discharged from the hospital, I ended up losing my father and then my grandmother (who brought her up since she was three months old). Due to a lot of stress, my heart went into ventricular fibrillation, which is a deadly rhythm. So, essentially my heart pretty much stopped beating and it was the ICD that kicked in, shocking my heart back into the correct rhythm,” she narrates.
She says she is now more confident, willing to take chances and do things that are a little risky. “For instance, I had stopped working out because I was afraid of what may happen with my heart. But now, I know that I have this safety net behind me. I’m not so afraid to work out or exert myself a little more. Essentially, I get to live a fuller life without actually being afraid of ‘what if my heart stops?’,” she says.
Being a person with heart failure, COVID took a toll on her health as well and she was diagnosed with stage 4 kidney failure. She says she does not blame her family for her hereditary heart condition but wishes that had she known earlier, she could have taken appropriate measures to prevent or delay it.
An illness is not the end of life
Campbell says she found strength to overcome challenges from her father and grandmother. She explains that looking back at her journey also gives her strength as she realises how far she has come. She further adds that the disease does not limit her anymore but gives her reasons to live. “An illness is not an end of life. You should live a fuller and happier life, do the things that you were once afraid to do, go to places that you were once afraid to go and see the things that you were once afraid to see,” she says.
