My name is Emma and I have Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Dilated Cardiomyopathy is a heart condition where the left ventricle of the heart is larger than it should be and the muscle is thinner than it should be. This means that it is a lot harder for my heart to pump blood around my body.

I was diagnosed at the age of one after having parvo virus. This is what triggered the beginning of my symptoms. Dilated cardiomyopathy is also known as “sudden death syndrome” as many people never experience symptoms, in this way I was lucky.

My mum took me into the hospital and they noticed that all of my organs had a lot of fluid surrounding them, and I even had fluid on my lungs. I was nearly in kidney failure and heart failure.

I was rushed to the Royal Brompton Hospital in London where I was put into the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). My mum was then informed that I had a 1/3 chance of death, 1/3 chance of having a heart transplant, and 1/3 chance of being on medication for the rest of my life. It dawned on her then… none of those options were me getting better.

Thankfully I was very lucky. Despite being on the list for a heart transplant, there was a new drug that was available called Carvedilol, this along with six other medications and a strict high calorie diet, saved my life.

Now, with the help of daily medications I am able to live my life normally. I just have to go once a year for a series of investigations and be slightly more careful than most at exercising and high adrenaline activities.

It is miraculous really, I feel incredibly lucky to be alive and live in an age that I can rely on medication for the rest of my life.