I was in my mid-40s. I was tired all the time. I would get exhausted just walking across my apartment (and not because it was so spacious, either!). Eventually, I was diagnosed with a lung condition and sleep apnea. My heart was an afterthought. I spent years sleeping with a CPAP machine and visiting emergency rooms every few months to be treated for exhaustion and passing out. It was my lungs, the doctors assured me. I wasn't getting enough oxygen and that's why I was always tired. And I didn't know enough to question their opinion.

Fast forward 10 years. I was now 55 and hospitalized on three different occasions. My doctors finally turned their attention to my heart and discovered I suffered from supraventricular tachycardia and atrial fibrillation. Twice I had to be resuscitated with shocks from an AED. Finally, I was diagnosed with bradycardia (slow heartbeat) and in November 2022 I received a pacemaker device—a device that has allowed me to "get back to normal" and live my life the way I want to. But almost every day I wonder how my life could have changed with an earlier diagnosis and intervention.