Fund in Memory of Aimmy Tse

When I was 11 years old, I passed out in school. I was taken to the emergency room and many tests were done. The doctors were suspecting that it was my brain but after many tests everything was normal. I went back to my normal activities. When I was 13 years old, I had a seizure when I was running in gym class and I went to the emergency room again. The doctors said since I already went through the testing for my brain and it was normal, it was probably my heart. After going through EKG, echo, 24 hour machine and a stress test, I was diagnosis with long qt syndrome. It was a very scary feeling because I did not know what was going on and so many doctors were surrounding me. I was told I needed to have an ICD put in right away and needed to be put on medications. I was then hospitalized while awaiting for my surgery. I had to translate for my parents as to what was going on with me because they did not speak much English.After, my ICD was put in, I went home from the hospital and went back to my normal life of going back to school. One day in school, my ICD shocked me and I didn't know what it was since I had never experienced this and went to the doctor. Doctors told me I had a very fast heart beat and that's why it shocked me. After the first shock, I was shocked three more times, so the doctors did some tests and gave more medications since I was having problems with both the upper and bottom part of my heart. I haven’t been shocked since I was 15. I also had an ep study done when I was 15. I went to school and graduated with my class even thorough I had missed so much school. I went to routine follow up throughout the years and I had two battery replacements for my ICD. I went to college and graduated with my Bachelor's degree. Now, at the age of 28, I was at my routine check up and found out I had a fast heart beat. I was sent to the emergency room and my medication dosage was changed and then was told to follow up with my doctor in two weeks. I had an ep study done recently and was diagnosed with CPVT. I continue to go to routine follow up for my ICD. Now, I am currently working and I look forward to going back to school for my master's degree. I am very grateful for what I have and I know that I am in the best care from the wonderful doctors I have at NYU Langone Medical Center.

I was experiencing incision pain since 2012. The pain was mild at first, so I didn't complain. Then it got moderate. I asked my primary care doctor and was told it was nerve pain. I asked my cardiologist and was told it was post op side effects.Then in 2014, it got worse. I asked my ep, he gave me some patches for it, it helped while it was on and the pain will return after I took it off. He then gave me some nerve pain medicine but i could only take it at night since it made me sleepy. Then in December 2015, I was told I had a small problem on one of my lads in which it using more energy to detect my hear. My ep said my pain maybe my leads getting old and is rubbing against some nerves or my ICD is sitting on some nerves. He said I could have it done sooner if my pain was bothering me so much. I made he decision to have my leads and ICD replaced sooner but at the end of the school semester since I had started my master's degree. On June 13, 2016, I went for my lead extraction and ICD replacement. My ICD was relocated to a new location on my left side. My original leads were tunnel from the right side to the left side, so it was a little complex. I found out I had a persistent left superior vena cava, so my lead had to be tunnel from right side to left side, as this anatomy can be challenging to place new lead on the left side My surgery went well and I am recovering well. I will be going back to school in the fall to continue my master's degree.