Jenny's Story
My name is Jenny and I am 25 years old. I have Long QT Syndrome. I was first diagnosed with it when I was 2 years old. Luckily, the doctors knew what was going on and put me on beta blockers. The reason they knew what was going on was because my sister had recently died and they found the cause to be Long QT Syndrome, so when I fainted after a scare from a dog, they knew what they were dealing with. My whole family was checked and besides me, nobody else had LQT Syndrome, not even my parents. My nieces and nephews have been checked and will get checked regularly.
Luckily, since the first fainting spell, I have never had another. So far, it has been an isolated case. I grew up not being allowed to play sport but this fostered a love for books which I still have today. I now work at RMIT in the Department of Nursing and Public Health so if anything does go wrong, I am in good hands. I am the Student Records Officer for the undergraduate nursing course.
I am getting married in 3 weeks time and am very excited about this. I have been very busy planning my wedding. I can't believe how much planning goes into one day.
I am very supportive of SADS Australia as I believe LQT Syndrome has not received enough exposure in Australia. I can't tell you how many times I have gone to a local GP and they have not known what my condition was. I am a bit scared about having children as I have been told that I have a 50% chance of passing my condition on to my children. My fiancee has been very supportive and told me we will cross that bridge when we come to it, but I can't help worrying about my future children.
Anyway, I guess that is all I have to say. Keep well and keep educating people about LQT Syndrome.
Regards
Jenny Stangolis.
|