I am a chronically ill teen, I am only 17 but will be 18 soon in July. I have a number of medical conditions which range from Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia which is a rare heart condition, also I have Sinus Tachycardia, and I have Irritable Bowel Syndrome, which means i have a sensitive stomach and intestines, and then I carpal tunnel Syndrome from writing and typing, as i used to write pages and pages everyday for studying, revising and for pleasure of writing stories. Also I have Vasovagal Syncope which is also known as Neurocardiogenic Syncope, which is the type of fainting that occurs with me for my heart condition and i have hyperextension of the hips, knees and the shoulders with mild hyperextension in the jaw and ankles, which causes pain, snaps, popping and cracking sensitations, finally I have deficiencies in Vitamin D, and Iron.

For my conditions I have to manage my IST with Ivabradine 5mg, to be taken once in the morning and once at night, and then for Vitamin D deficiency, I take 200ug, which is high strength, then 14mg for Iron deficiency, and finally for preventable reasons I take a multivitamin tablet everyday and a odourless garlic tablet which is supposed to help with heart health. For carpal tunnel syndrome i have wrist braces and for the hyperextension i use soft foam braces when I’m in extreme pain or the popping continues to occur.

In August 2018, I had an implantable loop recorder surgically implanting in me, this was when I first had an operation for my heart condition which was to help ascertain what my heart was actually doing. That day I went in for a general outpatients appointment to discuss issues about this loop recorder and how it looks and how big it would be, but I had mentioned that I was supposed to heave this procedure done in the September, but my very kind and lovely cardiophysiologist have seen that that day the 29th August had had a cancellation and I could be booked into have it done late on in the afternoon.

I have done all of this by myself and taking a long walk from my hospital to the town center which is nearly 2 miles to think this through, I decided to have it done that day so I would miss college, but little did I know how much it would hurt and how I only just got back to myself, my ways of trying to over achieve and push to be my best would be not seen in my first week, and I was on paracetamol for most of the days after my procedure for the pain.

This gave me independent this experience that I will eventually have to live with my condition alone as I was thinking of moving into an apartment for university but I have instead for on decided to stay at home. But this implantable loop recorder is odd at first and I didn’t get use to it for at least a couple of weeks and now it is like it has always been there and the only existence of this experience is a tiny scar on the middle of my chest nearing to the left breast. I can wear any type of clothing now and I feel comfortable displaying it. Because it is a piece of me now no one can say that I am odd or abnormal for have a metal recorder inside me because it help to get me an initial diagnosis.

So this is an insight into my life and how this is how my life has been for the last couple of years since I was diagnosed from the ages of 14/15 with different conditions that I have.