Newbie

I just got my pacemaker after a whirlwind weekend of emergency phone calls from my cardiologist. I got the call at work to get to a hospital asap. Apparently when reviewing my halter monitor results they saw a 30 sec pause. Holy moley. Before this all my doctors just chocked my fainting episodes up to vasovagal. 

Its been 3 days and I feel some tightness and fluttering in my chest, occasional shortness of breath, and some pain at my incision sight. I understand this is all par for the course and I'm riding the wave. Its still so surreal that 2 weeks ago I was winter camping, and now I'm one of the newest members of the pacemaker club. I'm glad I found this forum and I'm looking forward to connecting with other young people with pacemakers. 

Feel free to shoot me any and all advice for the coming weeks and months! This is all so new!


5 Comments

Newbe

by AgentX86 - 2021-04-04 11:48:44

Hi Steph, welcome to the club.  Sorry that you're here.

You are really lucky.  A 30s pause is incredibly serious.  It's half dead and could go either way.  Having this happen while out in the middle of nowhere wouldn't be good.

On the positive side, if you have to have an electrical problem requiring a pacemaker, this is the one to have particularly if this is the only problem. That is, if your heart can still control the amount of oxygen in the blood (i.e. heart rate tracks oxygen demand), you'll do very well with minimal impact on your lifestyle.

Yes, do stick around.  Your story will help the younger folks who come here.  Most of us twice or three (four?) times your age.  It helps the younger people who find themselves in your position to know that they're not alone.

Newbie too, mother of 6 year old PM-child

by Slowdive - 2021-04-04 14:21:03

Hi Steph,

welcome to the club! I'm also brand new here, have been reading here the last few days and now decided to sign up. Sorry if my english isn't perfect, I'm from Germany.
Our 6 year old daughter got her first PM in December. She had occasional dizziness 3 months before and her first syncope end Nov. In a holter monitor they found several pauses during night, longest was 11 secs. We were also called to go to the hospital immediately. It was a big shock! Before the implantation she had several short syncopes during the hospital stay. For me as the mother it was like going through hell. We were flown by helicopter to a different city. Due to her young age/weight she had to be operated by a specialist for children. It all went very well and she recovered quickly. The cause of the AV Block III is still unknown. Her age is also unusual for a first diagnosis, it's normally babies or very young children.

What was the cause for you? 28 years is also an unusual age. Did you have problems with your heart before or did it all come out of a sudden? I read that you work with children. Our daughter will start Elementary School after summer. 

I wish you a very good recovery and all the best with your PM!

Bienvenue a toi

by Tulp - 2021-04-04 23:28:09

Hello juststeph, ànd welcome to the only club you dont join volontary...

You are young ànd now so lucky to be save (safer) How many leads did you get ‽

I had my defibrillator à month ago. I really had a lot of interesting info here, and I pop in when I can.

I see you are from Ontario. Been to Ottawa with my daughter who lives in Montréal. I get a lot of nfo from canadien cardio sites. (French of course.

I hope you will feel well soon and adjust to your new condition.

Tulp

 

 

Thank you!

by juststeph - 2021-04-06 09:59:28

Thanks for the support! To answer a few of your questions, I got 2 leads 'installed.' I dont know the model yet. I'll ask all those questions at my 6 wk follow up appointment. My reason for needing a pacemaker is still a bit unclear. I was diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome for bradycardia and tachycardia. I've been fainting on and off for almost 9 years now, but most recently had fainted over 10 times within a 3 month period. They're now calling these Adam-Stokes Attacks. There are plans for me to eventually meet a EP specialist for young female hearts in Toronto to investigate further. 

Slowdive, I can't imagine how shoking this experience has been for you and your daughter! I was medivaced too, actually. Just that was overwhelming, let alone the news that I needed a pacemaker and then the actual surgery. I pray the best for her and a quick recovery. What a blessing to have a good buffer of time before she goes to school for everything to heal. I hope everythings good to go by then and you don't have any complications along the way!

Model

by AgentX86 - 2021-04-06 16:59:21

Not that it's all that important now but you should have been given a (temporary) card with the model and serial numbers of the pacemaker and leads.  You'll get a permanent, credit card style, card in the mail sometime soon (I got mine in a couple of weeks).  You should keep this with you.  Since she's a child it'll probably dissappear as soon as she gets it, so I'd put it along with your driver's license or credit cards.  It may be a good idea to mark it such that any EMT doesn't think it's yours.

You know you're wired when...

Your device makes you win at the slot machines.

Member Quotes

I am not planning on letting any of this shorten my life. I am planning on living a long happy battery operated life. You never know maybe it will keep me alive longer. I sure know one thing I would have been dead before starting school without it.