my status
am is still considered as a cardiac patient eventough im implanted with pm n the cardiac problem, heart block is solved?
15 Comments
Misunderstood
by SMITTY - 2010-04-02 01:04:55
Sorry. Didn't mean to insult your intelligence, but rest assured I'll not make another mistake like that.
sorry
by kidd - 2010-04-02 06:04:51
actually i am just wondering what would i say..if a patient asks me ..r u a doctor or a patient?
just kidding.
i guess i still don't understand the fact i am a cardiac patient for the rest of my life
. it was very hard me when the doc told me so suddenly that i have heart problem when i feel like im a supernormal girl . no fainting , no chest pain. no nothing. felt like i lost my hope. but don't worry im superfine now.
sorry for the confusing post.
i am not an english girl btw..hmmm.. really need to take some composition courses ..:)
kidd
by LS - 2010-04-02 07:04:34
I don't understand why you don't understand that you're a cardiac patient for the rest of your life. LOL
You have a pace maker......& you most likely see a cardiologist.........so that makes you a heart patient.
Liz
YEP
by Angelie - 2010-04-02 10:04:03
you have a heart condition (heart block) that is being treated with a pacemaker. Which means you still have heart block, so you're still a "heart patient".
kidd
by DC Pacer - 2010-04-02 12:04:49
Not sure what your concern is about being a cardiac patient, but if it is from an insurance standpoint (whether you want to purchase life insurance or obtain medical malpractice insurance since you are a med student), it definitely affects your insurability.
I have 20 year term life insurance that I am glad I purchased, because when that term runs out in 11 years I am medically uninsurable from a life insurance standpoint. Not sure if it affects malpractice insurance, but I wouldn't be surprised.
Just A Helper
by SMITTY - 2010-04-02 12:04:53
Hey Kidd,
The implanting of a pacemaker did not solve your heart block, it is simply a device that substitutes for your heart's natural pacemaker when it fails to deliver the electrical impulse necessary to make your heart beat.
My definition of cardiac patient is a patient that sees a doctor for the specific reason of getting their heart function checked or evaluated. I'm of the opinion that those of us that have pacemakers and have to see the doctor, no matter how infrequently, are cardiac patients. Maybe not a critically ill cardiac patient as are some, but still a cardiac patient.
Heart block means the electrical impulses from your heart's natural pacemaker are being blocked for what ever reason, and unable to complete their journey to make your heart beat. A pacemaker monitors your heart function and when it detects a missing electrical impulse from the heart's natural pacemaker it sends one. Since heart block does not necessarily mean that none of the impulses from the heart's natural PM are making it to the heart's chambers to make one or more of them beat, the manmade PM may have to send an impulse from a few percent of the time to 100% of the time.
The good part of the manmade PM is that it is "hard wired" to your heart and its electrical impulses to make your heart beat are not likely to be blocked. As some will tell you, scar tissue and/or other deposits can form at the point where the pacemaker lead contacts the heart wall and these can restrict the manmade PM impulse. However, this happen very rarely and usually only after the PM has been in place for a number of years.
My suggestion to anyone with a new pacemaker is don't dwell on the fact that you have a pacemaker. It will sit there helping the heart and be as dependable as the Energizer Bunny's batteries with no help from you. The even better part is you will never be any more aware of that pacemaker helping make your heart beat than you were of your heart's natural pacemaker doing its thing.
Good luck
Smitty
fact
by kidd - 2010-04-03 01:04:08
wrong choice of words.." i can't accept the fact that i am a cardiac patient".
kidd
by LS - 2010-04-03 02:04:25
When is your next follow up appt.?
I'd start writing down all these things so you can ask your cardioligist what's going on.
Hope you find some answers.
Liz
LS
by kidd - 2010-04-03 02:04:37
next follow up would be another 4 months when i return home.the cardiologist there are much better . my cardiologist here ...it's very hard to find him . he's busy all the time.. i gave a letter to him telling all my problems but he didn't call me at all.
ummm
by walkerd - 2010-04-03 06:04:49
Im no medical student but I would think you would be a cardiac patient for the rest of your life??? And it is hard to accept but what I tell myself where would I be without it???????????????? Enjoy your life that it has given you and study kidd.........
dave
kidd
by LS - 2010-04-03 10:04:53
fact
Comment posted by kidd on 2010-04-03 01:04.
wrong choice of words.." i can't accept the fact that i am a cardiac patient".
Ah ha!! That makes sense now! LOL
Accept it, it's there. Now move on.
The PM gives you a better quality of life. Embrace it & enjoy it!!
Liz
LS
by kidd - 2010-04-03 11:04:29
so now u understand..good.
better quality of life? but the problem is i start feeling tired again..the dizziness comes back..i sleep for 6 hours and sometimes 7 and i still feel sleepy, dizzy when i wake up n tired? actually i don't feel a big difference at all after being paced.
You know you're wired when...
You have a new body part.
Member Quotes
I feel so blessed to have this little gem implanted in me. When I think of the alternative it is quite overwhelming sometimes.
????
by Juan - 2010-04-02 01:04:09
I have to agree with Smitty. From reading your message I thought you didn't know what heart block was. In fact I was so uncertain of what you were asking, otherthan were you still a cardiac patient, I decided I would not even try to comment. I hope your medical schooling includes some composition courses.