I was diagnosed with Moderate Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) in 2022 at the age of…

I was diagnosed with Moderate Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) in 2022 at the age of 19 the day after my high school graduation dinner and a week before my first year of uni. I remember the hospital being so cold after I was told I had heart disease and the feeling like I could die at any moment. The doctors told me that I’d have to be on treatment for life and that any little infection could make my heart worse. They explained that my valves were damaged and leaky and that I needed to manage my diet better. I was already pretty athletic at the time and I was very confused about how I could possibly have heart disease. It didn’t help that the first thing my brother said to me that same afternoon was, “so how does it feel to have death knocking on your door?”

The first month after my diagnosis, I was put on the maximum dose of aspirin an adult could take to thin my blood and make it easier for my heart to pump. After I finished the allocated prescription, I went back to get a refill. The original doctor wasn’t in that day so I went and saw another. They said they’d never heard of aspirin being used to treat RHD and refused to refill my prescription. The month that followed was as if my body was trying to readjust to the original viscosity of my blood – I couldn’t sleep well because my heart was palpitating so much, my pulse was erratic and one was weaker than the other. I was always anxious about dying. I became very depressed.

It wasn’t until over a year latee, when I met with my aunt who also happens to be the manager of Heart Heroes Fiji – an organization dedicated to eradicating RHD in Fiji – that I finally understood what RHD was, why the treatment is necessary and how to live a normal life even with the monthly injections. And then she invited me to a youth peer leading acitivity where I got to meet other young people with different severities and listen to their experiences and their stories with RHD that I finally realised I wasn’t alone in this; that there were other people just like me out there battling the same disease and have gone through similar things that I’ve been through. It was such an eye-opening experience and it’s why I am where I am today.