|
Alin Gragossian was an emergency medical resident when she heard the eight scariest words of her life. Should we turn this into a code blue? A code blue meant the patient was in cardiac arrest and on the verge of dying. What made the words so scary for Alin? She was the patient. Moments later, Alin’s heart stopped and she blacked out. She was 30 years old and fighting for her life. When she woke up, a tube was down her throat and she was told she needed a new heart. The message was not one most 30 year olds expect to hear. There are more than 100,000 people on the national transplant waiting list. Alin was one of the fortunate ones. On January 15, 2019, she was on the operating table, having a new heart inserted into her chest. The 12-hour procedure was a success, and Alin was essentially given a new life. As a self-proclaimed millennial who grew up feeling comfortable sharing everything online, she had a strong urge to document her experience on a blog. Unbeknownst to her as she sat in her hospital bed tapping at her keyboard, sharing her life-changing story would soon change countless more lives. “That was a lot of trauma to go through,” Alin told me. “I was in figurative shock after literal cardiogenic shock, and writing became a way for me to process everything that was going on. It also turned into a way for me to connect with other people, specifically other patients.” An inconvenient life eventHeart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States. In 2022, 1 out of every 5 deaths were from heart disease. Alin knows she could have been one of those. That’s why she tells her story. She wants to raise awareness about organ donation. With February being American Heart Month, she also wants to encourage people to focus on their own cardiovascular health. In her case, Alin thought her heart was fine. She’d never had any serious medical issues in the past, but a persistent cough and breathing troubles led to her getting checked out. Her doctors discovered she had a genetic heart defect that caused her heart to give out. She explained this and just about every other detail about her heart saga on her website, achangeofhe.art. ”I decided to create this blog to share my journey into what happened, why it happened, and what I’m going to take away from my experience,” she wrote in her very first post. “You see, there are several ways to interpret these “inconvenient” life events (let’s call these ILEs). You can genuinely see them as setbacks and let them take over your thoughts. You can blame yourself or others (or even a higher being) and dwell on the reasons why such ILE happened to happen to good, ol’ you. Me? I gracefully embraced my ILE. I am continuing to learn from it every day,” Sharing her storyAlin’s blog became an outlet to keep friends and family updated on her physical and mental well being. But as the days after the procedure turned into months, Alin’s view of the site’s purpose began to shift. Instead of updates, the site became a forum to teach. Yes, she wanted to educate people about the importance of organ donation, but she also wanted to teach medical professionals what life is like as a patient. Because for all the years she’d previously spent in medical school, she never really learned about the patient side of medicine. “You’re taught all of these scientific ways to look at people and think about diagnoses, management, and treatment options, but it’s rare to actually hear what the patient is going through,” Alin said. “I don’t think doctors need to go through a cardiac arrest to be a good doctor, but sharing my story has helped me empathize and improve the care that I’m giving to others.” Alin also shared information about Lucy Reff, the 23-year-old whose heart now beats in Alin’s chest. Lucy’s family and friends shared stories about her with Alin, and in 2023, Alin met those friends and family for the first time. The stories resonated with all types of audiences. Patients who heard of her experience thanked her for being a voice for them. Physicians thanked her for her honesty and transparency about what patient life can really be like. Through the process, Alin also discovered her own growth — as a healthcare provider and a storyteller. She recognized what aspects of her experience were most relevant to different audiences and discovered ways to amplify those themes as she discussed her story. Today, Alin is associate medical director for Donor Network West, an organization responsible for organ procurement in Northern California. She also works as a teleintensivist, providing care for patients via telehealth. She’s written for or been featured in a variety of publications and spoken publicly across the country to organizations ranging from the American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians to the Society of Critical Care Medicine. She also co-hosts a podcast with a fellow doctor-turned-heart transplant-patient called “Both Sides of the Stethoscope,” where they chat about their unique perspectives on medicine. No matter the forum, no matter the audience, Alin’s message is simple. It’s a message she shared with her blog readers back on March 9, 2020 (two days before the World Health Organization named COVID-19 a pandemic) in a post titled “Life & Death.” “I see life and death around me often — it’s a regular part of my job. … I see a reckless 30-something-year-old woman purposefully overdosing on cocaine just to see what it feels like, just this one time. Next to her, there’s a patient, a former marathon runner, who has beat cancer twice, and he can’t breathe that well right now. I am about to tell him that the cancer is back. For a third time. In his lungs. “Life is life. Some of us are given long, beautiful ones. Some of us are given short, awful ones. … One thing is for sure: life is what you make of it. Life is how you react to everything that happens to you. Life is a special gift if you want it to be. In my opinion, it is extraordinary.” 3 storytelling tips for you1) Lead with vulnerability When Alin shares her story, she explains how she thought she was healthy. She thought everything was fine, and then quickly her life changed. She’s raw and honest about what she thought “pre transplant” and how she changed “post transplant.” That level of vulnerability grabs attention and builds trust. 2) Use stories to teach Alin’s blog started as a personal outlet, but it evolved into a platform for education. She didn’t just share what happened — she translated it into lessons for both patients and providers. Your lived experiences likely hold value to someone else. Share that experience, and when you do, don’t just tell the story. Teach through it. 3) Understand your audience As Alin continued to share her story, she began to identify what aspects were most resonant to different audiences. What physicians were interested in hearing was often different from what patients wanted to hear, so she shifted her focus depending on who was hearing her story. By knowing your audience, you can tailor your message to best fit their needs. |
