Here's my story

• by Lillian S.
• 2023-08-09 21:53:46
• Success Stories
• 605 views
• 3 comments

Some responders to my earlier post about leg pain urged me to tell my whole story. 

I was a fairly healthy 60+ year old with Sjogren’s Syndrome, not bad enough to require medication, just keep water handy at all times for dry mouth.  I got Covid in April 2021 after being vaxed, luckily a mild case.  In late summer 2021, I started having an increase in shortness of breath incidents like when climbing stairs or carrying boxes.  I dithered over whether it was serious enough to call doctor.

One day coming out of work I walked up the long slope from the office door to my car and had a really severe attack of panting fast, like a dog after running a mile on a hot day.  I sat in car until it passed, maybe a minute or so.  I stupidly went home and didn’t do anything about it, and had a normal evening.

Next morning I was getting ready for work and didn’t feel right all of a sudden, can’t pinpoint what was wrong, wasn’t dizzy or faint, just something wasn’t right.  Sat on kitchen floor for awhile and the feeling didn’t go away, so in the end I called 911.  Luckily I was with it enough to ask EMTs to take me to the hospital in town that was in my insurance network.  It’s a small rural hospital, only a level III trauma site.

Once in ER, they routinely tested me for Covid and to my astonishment they said I was positive; I had no symptoms. EKG showed a Mobitz type II heart block, they said.  Then while talking to doctor, had another of the rapid panting attacks.  The laid me flat and put a transcutaneous pacing device on me, I think heart rate had dropped to 20.  That was extremely uncomfortable, later they told me they had given me fentanyl and some other drug to make me feel it less, but the drugs didn’t do a darn thing. I felt every one of those electric shocks, and had a lot of trouble holding still while they were trying to put a transvenous pacing device in my neck vein; they had trouble with the first try and had to try again on the other side.   Eventually they got it and turned the transcutaneous thing off, what a relief. 

A cardiologist happened to be on site that day and he arranged to have me flown to the affiliated hospital (level 1) in a bigger city about 60 miles away.  I subsequently had a lot of trouble wangling with insurance, which claimed that the helicopter was “not medically necessary” and didn’t want to pay for it.  Like I was in any state to argue with the doctor’s decision that day. 

Once I got to the 2nd hospital, I got a room to myself because of Covid, I suppose.  Laid there for hours trying not to move so I wouldn’t dislodge the transvenous pacing, and the room was next to the nurses’ station so they could check on me frequently, so I guess they thought I was in real danger.  After awhile they decided that I would get a permanent pacemaker later that day.  It was a real trial not being able to drink anything all day with a dry mouth problem, but eventually a nurse brought me a small cup of water and sponge sticks so I could at least moisten my mouth. 

About 5:30 or 6PM they took me down for the procedure to have the permanent PM, I guess I had to be last one of the day because of the extra cleaning that is needed after a Covid patient.  Everything went smoothly, and I was able to finally have some food and water afterwards.  I was in the hospital till about 4PM the next day, but then another problem cropped up. I don’t have any relatives nearby, and how could I ask a friend to get exposed to Covid if I asked them to drive to the city to pick me up, they’d be exposed to my Covid germs for more than an hour on the ride home.  Finally found a friend who was willing to come, I sat in the back seat and double masked and luckily she didn’t catch it from me.

There’s more detail I could tell but this is long enough.  Doctor didn’t think it was caused by Covid.  Later had a sleep test that showed I have apnea, and now have a cpap, but nobody’s ever said to me they think apnea was the cause of my heart block/bradycardia.  It took 20 months before the hospital bills were finally settled; that was a real trial having that hanging over my head for that long, being afraid to spend any money for fear I was going to get socked with a huge bill.  Two years on I’m doing pretty well, being paced 100% of the time at last report, but able to mow the lawn, shovel snow, and do all normal activities.  So for you newbies, I am an example of how it’s possible to get through the overwhelming shock of needing a PM on an emergency basis, but having things come out all right in the end.