02/28/2026
I never thought my heart would be the problem.
In May and June of 2025, I had a couple of episodes that felt purely digestive...upset stomach, nausea, nothing alarming enough to raise red flags. Like many of us do, I assumed it was something I ate. I saw my primary care physician, and we began planning for a gastroenterology consult. At that point, heart trouble wasn’t even on my radar.
On July 17, I went to lunch, returned to work, and suddenly felt extremely nauseated. I vomited everything I had eaten and noticed a pinkish fluid that concerned me. I told my coworkers I might need to go to the ER—no one should throw up that much. Then I became lightheaded. Everything went white.
The next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor. My coworkers told me I had passed out and appeared to be gurgling. They called 911 immediately. In the emergency room, every test came back normal. I was sent home with instructions to follow up the next day.
What saved my life was something I already had in place.
Back in 2021, I had a cardiac loop recorder implanted to monitor occasional palpitations. That device captured the event and revealed ventricular tachycardia. My cardiologist admitted me right away for an emergency heart catheterization. Again, all results were normal. I went home wearing an external defibrillator vest.
Over the next weekend, I felt awful with constant palpitations, exhaustion, shortness of breath. When my loop recorder was checked again, it showed I had been in V-tach most of the weekend. I was immediately admitted and, on July 28, 2025, underwent surgery to receive an ICD pacemaker defibrillator.
Months of testing followed including cardiac MRIs, genetic testing, more questions than answers. Eventually, I was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition that predisposes me to polymorphic ventricular tachycardia (PMVT). My cardiologist told me that without the loop recorder, this condition is often only discovered post-mortem.
That stopped me cold.
Six months later, I feel stronger, more informed, and incredibly grateful. Grateful for technology. Grateful for quick-thinking coworkers. Grateful for the amazing Dr. Rizk and his angels at Coast Cardiovascular Associates at Memorial. Grateful to be here. I believe my dad was watching over me that day. I woke up on my own and didn’t need additional life-saving measures.
If there’s one thing I want others to take from my story, it’s this: listen to your body. Especially as women, we are taught to push through pain and discomfort. We minimize symptoms. We assume it’s nothing.
Sometimes, it’s not.
Don’t be an Allison - don’t assume it’s just something you ate. Pain and discomfort are signals. Listen to your heart. It might be trying to save your life.
Allison Bomhardt, MPH, MBA
Director, Clinic Operations
