Naomi, who was 19 at the time of her diagnosis, describes how scared she was having to face this new illness alone.
Transcript
One of the biggest things was just my parents not being able to be there. Like my mom like I think I begged and pleased and cried and they felt very badly for my little 19-year-old self that was very anxious and they allowed my mom to stay and gave my dad very special limited visiting hours because like my mom staying already. Like oh that’s a big thing but it did take some time to get to that point and so I was in CSICU alone and it was really hard and that usually wouldn’t have happened had to happen if it weren’t for COVID.
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- Mental Health & Emotional Support – NaomiHaving access to a psychologist on her care team was extremely helpful to Naomi.
- Finding Support – NaomiNaomi stresses the importance of online support and meeting other heart failure patients.
- Finding Support – NaomiNaomi gives thanks for her friends who continued to treat her as normal despite her illness.
- Access – NaomiNaomi feels that poor communication caused delays in her care because she was transferred back and forth between two hospitals.
- Diagnosis – NaomiNaomi learned she had heart failure by reading it on a whiteboard.
- Impact on Work, School, Finances – NaomiNaomi has decided to switch career paths due to her heart journey.
- Impact on Work, School, Finances – NaomiNaomi talks about how she felt not graduating with her class.
- Impact on Work, School, Finances – NaomiNaomi shares how her employer created a part time position to meet her needs.