Having a Career with Heart Disease

Whether you are around family or friends the topic of work will inevitably become one of the topics of conversation. If you’re like me you dread these conversations because you may feel like you have nothing to add to the conversation. Why? Well because my road to a career has always been challenging and non-traditional. I am almost always in-between jobs and it seems like every time I get a leg up something always happens.

Along with everything else, dealing with heart failure is a job in itself.

Being diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy and finding a job

I studied criminal justice when I was an undergrad because I wanted to study law. After I graduated I began studying for the LSAT which is the law school entry exam. I ended up not getting into law school so I took a job working at a detention center. I had already quit working at the detention center when I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy, so I was in between positions.

Making a switch to healthcare

After being diagnosed, I started taking classes to become a nurse. It was only a small list of classes since I already had my undergraduate degree. All I had to do was the list of classes and write an entry essay. I got a job being a patient sitter at a hospital. A patient sitter is someone who sits with high-risk patients who can’t be left alone. I would even sit in rooms with elderly patients who had dementia, and patients who were suicidal. While being a patient sitter, I was also in school taking the classes necessary for nursing school.

When a job as a medical assistant at a private gynecologist's office became available, the doctors ended up giving me the job. This job was the first job that I started noticing how tired I was and feeling the effects of my diagnosis. I was doing the job of 2 people and it began weighing on me. All throughout working I never felt like I couldn’t do anything until that moment.

Applying for jobs and nursing school

I started looking for a job in the criminal justice field and applying for nursing school hoping to leave the medical assistant job. Unfortunately, I did not get in and this was devastating to me. So, there I was in between jobs again, until the email from the company that planned to hire me. It was for a background investigator position that needed a top-secret security clearance. I quit the medical assistant job while waiting for my clearance to be completed.

While all of this was going on my heart was unknowingly getting worse. When they finally completed the security clearance, the company reached out to me saying there were not any background investigator cases in my area, so they did not need me anymore. They did, however, let me know that the top secret security clearance was good for 2 years if I wanted to apply for other jobs. I feel like holding a job is so hard when you have a disease like dilated cardiomyopathy. The exhaustion and fatigue are serious.

A new job and a new diagnosis: Advanced heart failure

I finally landed a job with an agency that staffed people for the Pentagon. I was an executive assistant to a General. By then I didn’t know that I was in advanced heart failure. Walking in the Pentagon was like walking in a small city and the stairs were overwhelming. I really didn’t know how it was going to work out for me in this job.

Regrettably, I had a stroke on the second day on the job and was diagnosed with advanced heart failure. Once I got the LVAD, I was put on disability so that brought me to a standstill as far as work was concerned. When people would ask me what I did for work, I found it so hard to say, “I’m on disability." It just doesn’t lead to any good conversation especially when you are talking to working professionals.

Balancing a career and heart failure

Fast forward to the current day, I actually own my own home bakery business and am looking to get into AWS (Amazon Web Services) managing the cloud. Baking is a passion of mine and it helps me to relax and keep my mind clear. I’ve actually been baking since a young age and it's something that I continue to do. I bake cakes, cookies, brownies, breads and pies. You name it, and I can bake it. I’ve always had the nontraditional roads of life, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Having a career with heart disease is no cakewalk or day at the beach.