How to cope
Hi I am new to the forum and have found this site useful since having my pacemaker fitted.
I suppose I am writing this for abit of support. I am 39 and had appendicitis in march 2017 whilst under the anaesthetic they noticed a heart problem. I was sent for routine tests and after dropping a 48hr tape test off at hospital on a Sunday afternoon I reciever a telephone call from the hospital on the Monday (the day after dropping the tape off) to say I needed to come in immediately and that I needed a pacemaker. I was in a state of shock as I went to the hospital and once there I was put on a heart monitor and remained in hospital for over two weeks whilst waiting for a cardic mri and pacemaker. After the pacemaker was fitted I was quite poorly for a couple of days and also got a gum infection which did not help.
Anyway long story short I am now nearly 11 months post pacemaker being implanted and whilst I am pretty much back to normal and back to work and back to my fitness workoits that I did previously I struggle with having the pacemaker. I can't quite put my finger on the issue but I don't like the physical feel of the pacemaker in my chest. I also struggle with the fact that I even need a pacemaker as I did not have any symptons and it was an incidental finding.
My family and friends have been amazing but cannot understand how I feel and everthing that comes with it.
I suppose I am wondering if anyone else feels or has felt like this and how to try and move forward.
Thank you I know it is a long post.
Claire
3 Comments
An incidental finding
by Selwyn - 2018-06-06 12:09:38
Incidental findings are the best way of getting a pacemaker. By the time you die of a heart arrhythmia it is too late to get a pacemaker. If you were to have a blackout, best not when a motor vehicle is involved. ....etc. That little gadget keeps you safe. You need to view it in a positive light. Your reassurance. Without a pacemaker you are at risk of sudden death ( I had no symptoms. I was fit and well, exercising regularly, when I had a monitor that showed my heart stopping for prolonged periods when I was asleep- some times you wake up, sometimes you are a sudden death in your bed!).
As we worry about our battery powered lives, we need to welcome our gadgets and the fact that we have had the medics find out something life threatening about us before we come to harm. That is the purpose of good preventative medicine. There are enough sudden, unexpected deaths in life ( from footballers, ice hockey players, to long distance runners to name a few recent headlines) without you joining that club.
Welcome to this club. Rejoice! You can expect to live a normal life. You will be monitored carefully and you know your diagnosed potential problem will never cause you to be a sudden death statistic.
(see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudden_cardiac_death_of_athletes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_marathon_fatalities
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2073659 )
Positive thoughts only allowed.
Selwyn
Thank you
by Claire - 2018-06-06 17:20:10
Thank you to all that have posted comments. It's so nice and refreshing to talk with people who have lived it and understand it.
i will be trying hard to move forward with positive thoughts and embrace the new addition that is Pat. I don't expect it to be easy but knowing i can turn to this forum for support is a massive step in the right direction.
Thank you again for takeing the time to respond.
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Member Quotes
Yesterday was my first day mountain biking after my implant. I wiped out several times and everything is fine. There are sports after pacemakers!
Welcome. You've come to the right place.
by Gotrhythm - 2018-06-05 18:55:27
Around here, your story isn't really unusual. A lot of us were sailing through life, doing fine we thought, and then, out of the blue--we needed a pacemaker. WHAAAAAAT?
I hated the thought of that thing, that machine, in my chest. It made my skin crawl. What helped me was to give it a name it so that I could see it as my helper. Others here have found naming their device an effective strategy.
Something I did, which I don't recommend, was not trouble to learn much about pacemakers or how they functiion. I guess I hoped if I didn't think about it, it would go away. That strategy came back to bite me. Now I tell folks to learn all they can. There are good YouTube videos to help you. The more you know the better you will be able to participate in your care, and frankly, the more respect you will get from medical professionals.
About your problem with exercise. Tell your doctor. It's possible that some tweaks to your pacemaker's settings, particularly response rate, would help. Making my response rate more sensitive made going up stairs ever so much easier.
The day will come when you rarely think about having a pacemaker. A while back I had to list all the surgeries I had had. I listed appendectomy and orthopedice surgery on a broken wrist but completely forgot to put down pacemaker.