Having a Job With Cardiomyopathy

When I was diagnosed with dilated cardiomyopathy in 2014, it came with a career change.

When you have cardiomyopathy, as with other cardiovascular diseases, it does not interact well with stress. Because of this, my family wanted me to take a less stressful job and career than the one I chose. 

An interest in criminal justice

When I was in undergrad, I studied criminal justice with the intent of working for one of the federal agencies like the FBI, DEA, or ATF. That later changed to wanting to go to law school.

I didn’t succeed in any of these career paths. In 2014, I met someone who told me they could get me a job working as a correctional officer, and all I had to do was pass an exam.

I worked as a correctional officer while trying to land a job with one of the federal agencies mentioned above. Trying to get into the field was challenging, and I eventually just lost my desire to work in criminal justice.

Becoming a patient sitter

Even before my diagnosis, I was looking into the medical field and being an occupational therapist because of my love of helping people. After I was diagnosed, I felt an even stronger pull to be a part of the medical field; having no experience working in a hospital, I applied to become a patient sitter.

A patient sitter is someone who provides supervision for patients who are at risk of causing harm to themselves, or people who need a companion when their families aren’t available. It helped me get my feet wet working in a hospital and speaking to doctors, nurses, and patient care technicians. I worked during the day and went to school after work to do the prerequisites for nursing school.

Working as a medical assistant

My next role was as a medical assistant at a gynecologist’s office. Here I learned so much, such as drawing blood, checking vitals, and working closely with the 2 doctors. What made it so beneficial was that it was a private doctor’s office, and they were teaching me what I needed to know to become a nurse. They would also be able to write me a good letter of recommendation for nursing school.

The work was challenging, and I was doing the job of 2 people, but I didn’t complain because I love helping people; however, it became too much for me to handle. Patients needed to be checked in, and I was having to draw blood and clean rooms when patients were finished alone.

We had a nurse on staff, but she was taking advantage of me being there to do all the tasks. I became so burnt out from being a medical assistant and going to school at night afterward. I felt so overwhelmed sometimes, having to work through lunch. It became clear that if I didn’t get into a nursing program, I would need to quit this job.

My heart health was getting worse

While working as a medical assistant, I applied for a job to become a background investigator to have a backup plan in case I didn’t get into any nursing programs. It was a good thing I had a backup plan, because I didn’t get into any nursing programs. Nursing schools only have a limited number of seats and limited teachers willing to come from the nursing profession to teach.

During this whole process, my heart was getting worse without me knowing it.

The background investigator job fell through, but an executive assistant role became available, and I would be working at the Pentagon. By this time, my dilated cardiomyopathy was progressively getting worse, and it then became advanced heart failure. I was put on disability until about a year ago.

Having a career with CVD is possible

To make a long story short, now I have a desire to go into the technology field as a security operations center analyst. I passed 1 certification exam this year, and I plan to get more experience so that I can have the job of my dreams. What’s even better is that security goes hand in hand with my background in criminal justice, and it makes it easier to cross over into cybersecurity.

I said all this to say: There are many of us struggling to have a career with cardiovascular disease, and although it can be a challenge, it's not impossible.

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