“The scariest part for me was the fact that I was 12 when I got it.”
Struggling with her heart her whole life, sophomore Krystal Williams is one of the few people in the country under the age of 18 with a pacemaker.
According to mayoclinic.org, a pacemaker is a small device that is in a person’s chest to help regulate someone’s heartbeat. People with pacemakers usually have a slow heartbeat, heart failure and syncope. “The condition I was born with is a third-degree AV blockage, also known as a ‘complete heart block.’ It’s an abnormal heart rhythm due to a defect in my cardiac conduction system,” said Williams. “Basically, the top two chambers of my heart are beating normally, while the bottom two are beating on their own while trying to keep up with the top.”
\tWhen hearing about pacemakers, most people think about older people having them due to having weaker hearts. That is not the case with Williams. “The main reason it’s rare for those under 18 to have a pacemaker is that the conditions have to be pretty severe for one to be considered,” said Williams. “In my case, my heart was beating an average of about 95 beats per minute. If I didn’t get my pacemaker when I did, the doctors said I was at a very high risk of dying from a heart attack.”
\tAccording to hopkinsmedicine.org, a pacemaker is inserted into the skin under the person’s collarbone with a lead wire. After the surgery, the healing process is another battle to face. “Most of my struggles with the pacemaker are from while I was still healing from surgery,” she explained. “I couldn’t use my left arm at all for a month after I had the surgery. What will affect me for a while is that I can’t play dodgeball.”
\tAlthough the healing process is difficult, after getting a pacemaker a patient’s heart health gets a lot better. “I have a lot more energy,” said Williams, “and I don’t have to worry about that increased chance of a heart attack anymore.”
\tGetting a pacemaker changed Williams’ life for the better. “The most important life lesson I learned was to not take anything for granted, as that can be easily taken from you,” she said. “I had become dependent on having others help with things as simple as carrying my belongings from class to class. I had to regain all of my strength in my left arm and I’m still working on it slowly.”
\tShe was also concerned that she was going to lose an activity she loved because of her pacemaker. “Something I thought I couldn’t anymore was dance. I had spent almost every day two years before the surgery dancing and it upset me to think that I wouldn’t be able to dance anymore,” said Williams. “Fortunately, I didn’t let the pacemaker stop me and to this day I’m still dancing.”