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Denisa thought that her dizzy spells and faintness were a sign of being too unfit or stressed(Image: Denisa Fraser / SWNS)
She underwent two operations to map and treat the abnormal electrical pathways in her heart, including one eight-hour procedure, before being able to return to exercise symptom-free.
Denisa, originally from Czechia, said: “I genuinely thought everyone felt like that. I thought it was just going to be an MOT because I considered myself healthy.
“I do yoga, I went to spin classes and I’d started running, so I didn’t think anything bad or sinister would happen. When I ran though I struggled. I’d feel faint and my heart would race. I just thought I wasn’t fit enough or that I needed to train harder.
“I’d have times where my heart would suddenly go crazy, into the hundreds, and stay there. At work I thought it was just because I was angry or stressed. I genuinely thought it was normal.”
Denisa said that she would feel dizzy and faint every time she ran, and she experienced episodes where her heart would suddenly race.
She would also suffer from heart palpitations at work – but assumed they were caused by stress and thought that these were symptoms everyone experienced.
Thinking she just needed to improve her fitness, Denisa said she pushed herself harder by running more often and even taking cold plunges to lower her heart rate. But after a free workplace health assessment highlighted the issue, she underwent further investigation.
She said: “The doctor started asking me weird questions. I was oblivious. I even rang my mum afterwards and said, ‘This guy’s having me on. There’s nothing wrong with me.'”
Denisa was diagnosed with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome – a rare heart rhythm disorder(Image: Denisa Fraser / SWNS)
During a procedure that was expected to last around 30 minutes, doctors triggered one of Denisa’s abnormal heart rhythms within minutes, sending her heart rate soaring to 260 beats per minute. Specialists kept her under general anaesthetic for more than three hours while carrying out further investigations.
This is when doctors diagnosed Denisa with Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, and they also discovered a rare pouch in one of her heart’s veins that meant they could not safely complete the procedure at that time.
Three weeks later she underwent a second operation lasting eight hours to map and treat the abnormal heart rhythm . Although the first few days of recovery were difficult, she soon noticed dramatic improvements.
Denisa said she could now exercise without her heart racing uncontrollably, breathe more easily, and felt noticeably calmer throughout the day.
The procurement manager said: “The recovery after the second surgery was quite rough because it was such a long operation, but after the first week things improved really quickly.
“The biggest difference is that everything feels calmer. I breathe better, my heart rate is lower and even at work my body’s physiology is calmer. I didn’t realise how much I’d been living with until afterwards.”
Denisa says she can now exercise without getting any symptoms(Image: Denisa Fraser / SWNS)
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Looking back, Denisa believes she had accepted symptoms that were never normal simply because she had lived with them for so long. She is now urging others not to ignore persistent symptoms or assume they are part of everyday life.
She added: “I didn’t realise how much I’d been living with until afterwards. If you’re offered a health check, just do it. Don’t assume you’re not in the risky category because you’re young or active.
“I think a lot of women put symptoms down to stress, hormones or their period and just carry on. I was putting so many symptoms down to not being fit enough when actually there was something wrong.
“I wasn’t hiding symptoms from anyone. I genuinely thought this was just how everybody felt because I’d been born that way.”
