From fainting spells to racing heartbeat

Our guest columnist is Sarina Steffen, a social media specialist with Baptist Health.

For 26 years, my life-threatening heart defect went unnoticed until my racing heartbeat sent me to emergency surgery.

After a noticeable decline in my health in my mid-20s, I was diagnosed with a rare congenital (present at birth) heart defect, an anomalous right coronary artery. My right coronary artery originated from the wrong place and traveled between two major blood vessels: the aorta and the pulmonary artery. This abnormal path put the artery at risk of being compressed, especially during exercise, reducing blood flow to the heart. In some cases, this can cause sudden cardiac death.

It was a terrifying diagnosis, especially knowing I had lived with it my entire life, and I had no idea what would come next.

Symptoms explained away

Looking back, the warning signs had been there for years; half my life, to be exact.

The earliest sign I can remember happened in middle school, around age 13, when I passed out on the field during a lacrosse game. At the time, we brushed it off as dehydration or overexertion. I even had an electrocardiogram (EKG) done to check my heart’s rhythm, and everything came back normal.

But it didn’t stop there. Over the years, I experienced multiple fainting spells during marching band practice, at weddings and in other everyday situations that didn’t seem particularly extreme. I got additional EKGs, and none revealed anything concerning.

Along with the fainting, I dealt with symptoms that resembled the blood circulation disorder called postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (POTS), such as dizziness and lightheadedness when standing, rapid heart rate and feeling like you’re going to faint (presyncope). Though I had a general sense that something wasn’t right, these symptoms became “normal” to me even when they shouldn’t have been.

A rare diagnosis at 26

Then came the symptom I couldn’t ignore: a resting heart rate up to 180 beats per minute. Normal is around 60 to 100. I’d never felt that before, and I stopped being able to sleep.

In January 2025, I had an EKG at Baptist Medical Center South, and it finally came back abnormal; a bizarre thing to celebrate, but it was a relief after years without answers. I wore a Holter monitor – a device to continually monitor my heart’s rhythm – for two weeks and had a transthoracic echocardiogram (ultrasound of the heart) and a coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) scan.

After all the testing, I received my congenital heart defect diagnosis in March 2025; I was quite literally “heart-broken.”

That May, my cardiologist, Ankur Jain, MD, FACP, FACC, of Baptist Heart Specialists, performed a cardiac catheterization to rule out other potential issues. Many people with my heart defect never know they have it until something catastrophic happens. Learning that it’s a known cause of sudden cardiac death, especially in young people during exercise, was terrifying considering my experiences as a teenager.

Because of the risks associated with the defect, I needed immediate surgery. I underwent emergency open-heart surgery in June 2025, performed by John “Jack” Pirris, MD, FACS, a cardiothoracic surgeon with Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgical Associates who performs surgeries at Baptist Medical Center Jacksonville, to correct the abnormal artery and restore safe blood flow to my heart.

During surgery, a machine temporarily took over the work of my heart and lungs so my heart could safely be stopped. The surgeon placed a small clip on a part of my heart to lower the risk of an abnormal heart rhythm and help prevent blood clots that could cause a stroke. The surgeon then corrected the abnormally formed artery. I spent the next six days recovering in Baptist Heart Hospital.

Recovery: More than healing a heart

While the surgery itself was lifesaving, recovering from my first major procedure has not been easy. The slow process of regaining strength while managing other medical conditions has been challenging, but I stay positive knowing the physicians and providers across Baptist Health are doing everything they can to help me feel like a 26-year-old should.

Throughout this journey, I have been closely monitored by Baptist Heart Specialists at Baptist Medical Center South, under the care of interventional cardiologist Ankur Jain, MD, FACP, FACC, for cardiac maintenance and continued follow-up care. I’ve also been working with my Baptist Primary Care physician, Kanupriya Mathur, MD, for overall health maintenance and Baptist Orthopedics sports medicine specialist Michael Yorio, MD, for pain management.

Both physical and massage therapy from Baptist Rehabilitation have been instrumental in managing persistent shoulder and neck pain, as well as overall strengthening and conditioning. My rehab providers, Maria Cris Sayas, PT, PCS; Candace Davis, LMT; and Valerie Howard, LMT, have been huge advocates for me and have helped manage my chronic health conditions. I have also recently started pain management treatment with Baptist Neurology at Baptist South, under the care of Armita Bijari, MD.

Recovery isn’t linear, and for me, it has required a multidisciplinary approach that addresses more than just my heart. It’s an ongoing, demanding journey that requires daily resilience and strength, but I remain hopeful and focused on living the best life possible.

Prior to 2023, when I was 23, I hadn’t seen any medical provider since I was 18. I can’t stress enough how grateful I am to have begun my health journey when I did, early enough to still be here today.

This experience has taught me the importance of listening to your body, especially when symptoms persist or don’t make sense. Fainting, extreme heart rates and chronic dizziness aren’t things to normalize or ignore, even if they’ve been happening for years.

Congenital doesn’t always mean the defect is obvious at birth; sometimes it means hidden until discovered.

I love my heart now more than ever; not because it’s perfect, but for what it allows me to do now and moving forward.

The experts with Baptist Heart Specialists are committed to advanced, leading-edge prevention, diagnosis and treatment for heart and vascular conditions at every stage of life. To schedule an appointment with a heart specialist near you, visit baptistjax.com/heart or call 904.720.0799.