You Will Feel Better

• by paceme39
• 2010-11-21 11:11:51
• Coping
• 1506 views
• 2 comments

Hi,

I'm new to the group, but I've read many of your postings. I hope that my experiences could give you hope for better day to come. I had an MI 6 and a half years ago and woke up in the ER being shocked back to life. I was transported to another hospital where a cardiologist I didn't know came out at 3:00 am to place a stent in my clogged artery.

I was a typical American couch potato, somewhat over weight and getting no regular exercise. About 4 weeks after the MI the doctor got me to enroll in a cardiac rehab program at my local hospital. I stayed in rehab for about a year and then joined the local Nautilus and have been working out regularly ever since. Got my weight under control using the weight watchers program and have been feeling great - until about 4 months ago.

Started feeling more tired than usual and not sleeping as well. Then one day at the gym I fainted while doing leg presses - saw my doctor the next day, got all kinds of test and everything checked out OK. A couple of weeks later I was taking the garbage out to the curb and the next thing I knew I was waking up on the cement drive with a very sore butt and a big goose egg on the back of my head. Went to see the Doc again and he scheduled me for a loop recorder. About 10 days later had a near fainting incident and triggered the loop recorder. Doc found I had a 3.2 sec period with no heart beat.

So..... time for a Pacemaker. Scheduled and implanted on November 8, 2010. Outcome: so far, wonderful. I'm out walking a little over a mile a day (at a reduced pace) and look forward to getting back in the weight room in another 4 weeks or so.

So that's most of my story but, not quite all the story. I know quite a bit about panic attacks, fear and anxiety. I have struggled with this problem for several years and especially after my MI. I finally solved my problem be seeing a good psychiatrist - not the talk, talk type but one who understands and uses medications to assist in the solution.

My final message then is listen and trust your doctors. If fear and anxiety become overwhelming get specialized help. You really deserve and can lead a healthy, happy and high quality life. Work with your doctors and don't settle for less.

Best wishes to all. Promise yourself to find something good about every day.