A doctor who had a heart transplant aged 29 after his heart function dropped to just 12 per cent says he now connects with his patients “more than ever”, and marked the anniversary of his transplant by getting engaged to his partner at the place where he proposed to have his ashes scattered.
Sanjana Kochhar, 30, an NHS doctor, was the first person in the UK to receive a donor heart via a portable machine called a HeartBox, which delivers nutrients and oxygen to the heart during the journey to hospital, keeping it in good condition.
Sanjana first began experiencing chest pains when she was 20 years old and found it difficult to walk up stairs without becoming short of breath.
After seeking advice from his family doctor, further tests revealed that the third-year medical student had heart failure and was fitted with an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD), which delivers an electric shock to the heart if it detects irregular heartbeats.
Over the years, Sanjana's heart function declined from 35% to 12% and she was hospitalized in October 2022 with multiple organ failure.
Sanjana was placed on the emergency transplant list, received her heart transplant in November 2022, and has now returned to work with a new understanding of patients.
Sanjana, who lives in Liverpool with her fiance Paul, 34, who works in accountancy, told PA Real Life: “I'm a doctor so I knew how risky the operation was. I was so grateful to have survived and thought the recovery would be easy but it wasn't.”
“Now I'm excited to get back to work and help patients on their journey.”
Sanjana, from Newcastle, began experiencing chest pains about 10 years ago while at university.
She said: “I sometimes get chest pains and find myself short of breath when doing things that I used to be able to do easily.”
Concerned, she visited her GP who underwent a number of tests and, after returning to Newcastle for the Easter holidays, Sanjana was admitted to hospital with severe chest pains.
From there, the then-third-year student was diagnosed with heart failure and ended up having an ICD fitted to control her heart rhythm.
She said: “Doctors have warned me that any sudden activity or exercise could put me at risk of sudden death.”
Despite her heart failure, Sanjana led a relatively normal life and was able to work until 2022, when her heart function deteriorated and her health suddenly deteriorated.
Knowing that she would likely need a heart transplant in the future, doctors were shocked to learn that at just 29 years old, her heart was only functioning at 12 percent and that she would need a transplant at such a young age.
She said: “I'd just come back from a holiday in Portugal and didn't feel particularly unwell, but the next day I started coughing nonstop. I felt like I was really struggling to breathe and couldn't speak in proper sentences.”
After spending a week in a local hospital, Sanjana was rushed to a specialist hospital where she spent over a week in the intensive care unit before being shifted to the advanced cardiac unit.
Sanjana then became too ill to go home and had to wait in the hospital until she could undergo the transplant surgery.
Surrounded by friends and family while waiting for a donor, Sanjana recalled how her loved ones had supported her when she was battling her health condition.
She said: “Friends set up a WhatsApp group and arranged visits so I made sure they came over every week. My parents came to see me every day and my partner drove up from Liverpool every week.”
“I have a really good support network and that's helped me get through especially the really tough times.”
Working as an NHS doctor, Sanjana had medical knowledge that many transplant patients do not have and was well aware of how risky her surgery was.
She added: “I knew how serious what I was going through was and how dangerous it was. I knew that, realistically, my chances of fitting in or surviving this whole process were going to be pretty shaky.
“While waiting for the transplant, I was becoming increasingly unwell and they were running out of options and resources to look after me until my heart was a match.
“In some ways, knowing so much about the risks didn't help me at first, but I was also able to use my medical knowledge to advocate for myself, and that really helped me stick with it for the long haul.”
A compatible heart was found for Sanjana in November 2022. After a wait of just over a month, the 29-year-old was rushed to the operating theatre to undergo major life-saving surgery.
After the surgery, Sanjana spent a week in the intensive care unit before being transferred to a ward where she recuperated for a month.
She said: “I was so happy to have survived that my recovery seemed easier than it actually was. I know it was really hard, but I only remember the good things.”
“I lost all muscle function and it took me a month to walk again and another month to climb the stairs. I couldn't even pick things up off the floor because of the pain in my chest, it was really hard, but I felt I could do this because I'd been through the worst of it and I felt very optimistic about what was to come.”
It took two months before Sanjana could walk without much pain and three months before she was able to lift heavy objects like shopping bags.
Sanjana then gradually returned to work nine months after her transplant surgery.
She said: “I couldn't come back sooner because the medication I was taking suppresses my immune system, and I was in a high-risk environment with patients infected with various pathogens, so I had to wait before returning.”
“I was a little worried at first because I knew some of the patients would trigger certain emotions in me and I was worried about how reliving what I had been through would affect me, but actually I realised how much I love working and contributing to society and I have always enjoyed the work I have done.
“I now have a better understanding of what it's like to be a patient, I can relate to them better and I can do my job better. I'm just so grateful to be able to return to work and to be able to come through this and make a positive contribution to other people's lives.”
Just a few days before the anniversary of her transplant, Sanjana was surprised when her partner, Paul, proposed marriage to her on the north-east coast.
She added: “The place where we got engaged was a very special place to my family and it was the place where I morbidly suggested they spread my ashes when I was unwell, so we went there and rebranded the place.”
“It was a really special day because it was the end of a very intense and difficult year. Experiences like this can bring people closer together or further apart, but for us it brought us closer. And I think it was really meaningful to be able to celebrate what we've accomplished this year and the fact that we've come this far on such a special day.”
“I was able to get in touch with the donor's family and I wanted to let them know how grateful I am to them and their family.”
Sanjana shared her experience on the British Heart Foundation's (BHF) Ticker Tapes podcast, which tells honest stories of people living with heart and circulatory disease. To listen to the podcast, visit open.spotify.com/episode/7JepMEFBg6QHvlsi2rYjhM.
