Two weeks into her new role as an in-house attorney in Boston, Saraa Basaria was eager to impress her colleagues. For a company bake-off, she decided to bake a dark chocolate raspberry cake adorned with orchids. However, as she prepared it in her kitchen, a sudden wave of nausea struck her, though it quickly faded. To her delight, her cake won the competition. Unfortunately, that evening, she fell ill and vomited, suspecting food poisoning might be the culprit.
After two days of feeling sick and unable to eat, Saraa consulted her doctor, who suggested that her stomach virus might still be hanging around. Following the advice, she went home to recuperate. However, when the nausea persisted, she sought assistance at an urgent care facility, where routine blood tests yielded normal results. The physician attributed her discomfort to gastrointestinal issues and suggested stress and anxiety were contributing factors, given her demanding job as a lawyer.
Over the next month, the situation grew more dire for Saraa, then 34, as she had to sleep upright due to the pressure she felt in her chest. Her condition forced her sister, Sahar Basaria, to push her in a wheelchair to various medical appointments. A CT scan of her abdomen returned normal results, but as she continued to feel unwell, she endured several visits to urgent care and the emergency room.
More than a month after her initial illness, a friend who was a physician speculated that Saraa might have a mass in her throat, leading her to see an ear, nose, and throat specialist. Observing Saraa’s pale appearance, the ENT recommended she go to urgent care for hydration. Unfortunately, when returning home, she vomited again, prompting Sahar to contact their parents in Florida. Their mother, Nilo Basaria, quickly flew to Boston to assist her daughter. The next day, during a video call, Saraa planned to discuss taking medical leave with her primary care provider. But as her doctor saw her gaunt figure, he urgently instructed her to be admitted to the hospital.
In the emergency room, Saraa mentioned difficulty in breathing, prompting her doctor to order an electrocardiogram (ECG), which revealed abnormal results. Shortly thereafter, she was hospitalized. Two days later, an echocardiogram showed that her heart was enlarged and surrounded by fluid. The doctor delivered devastating news: “You’re in end-stage heart failure.” Compounding her condition, Saraa was diagnosed with cardiogenic shock, meaning her heart could not supply enough blood to the rest of her body, which had adversely affected her stomach.
The measurement of her heart’s ejection fraction — an indicator of how much blood the heart pumps out — was critically low at just 8% compared to a healthy range of 50% to 70%. A doctor advised her family to begin praying. The following morning, though there was no improvement, there had also been no deterioration. The doctor hoped that medication could help her heart function better. However, a week later, the prognosis changed, and it became clear that she needed a heart transplant in addition to a left ventricular assist device (LVAD), a machine that would support her heart’s left side until a suitable donor could be found.
Approximately two months post initial illness, Saraa underwent surgery to have the LVAD implanted. Upon waking up, she was relieved to find she could breathe comfortably. The recovery adjustments were significant; she had to learn to manage the device that was now part of her life, including maintaining hygiene around the surgical site and keeping the LVAD charged with portable batteries during the day and plugged in at night.
Her parents moved into her small apartment to support her during this time, while Sahar helped with wound care. Although Sahar remained outwardly brave, an underlying fear of losing her sister weighed heavily on her mind. Seven months into her battle, Saraa was able to return to work part-time, discretely carrying her LVAD equipment in a fashionable bag that Sahar found for her. Slowly, she began to regain her sense of self through work, yoga, meditation, journaling, exercising with a personal trainer, and hiking.
Nearly 18 months after the LVAD procedure, Saraa had a routine follow-up echocardiogram. The results revealed a much healthier heart function than anticipated. When her doctor delivered the exhilarating news that she was in remission from heart failure and would no longer need the LVAD or a transplant, Saraa was overcome with emotion.
The decision was made to “decommission” her LVAD, meaning it would remain inside her body but be turned off, sparing her from further surgery. She celebrated her recovery in the hospital over the Christmas holidays and rang in the New Year back home, enjoying fireworks from the rooftop of Sahar’s building surrounded by family and friends. As she transitioned back to full-time work, she embraced the opportunity to travel — visiting London and southern France for the Olympics, as well as the Turks and Caicos. Additionally, Saraa achieved her certification to teach yoga, offering classes at the studio that had provided her solace during her recovery.
Sahar expressed her pride, saying, “Saraa is living her best life.” Despite her newfound fortune, Saraa often finds it hard to reconcile the severity of her past situation with her current happiness. While the origin of her heart condition remains a mystery — possibly linked to a virus — she is convinced that increasing her activity levels contributed significantly to her rehabilitation. “It was about creating a connection with my body and self,” Saraa reflected. “Finding some peace amidst turmoil allowed my body the space it needed to heal.”
