One giant complication

• by Angelie
• 2013-08-31 04:08:58
• Complications
• 1302 views
• 4 comments

Sitting here on a holiday weekend wondering why it seems nothing can ever happen easily for me. It's irritating.
Drove for a pacer check last Monday only to get in there to realize that the tech doesn't know me from Adam, so for me to answer his "what is going on" question with my answer, "The same thing that's been happening since the last time I was here" wouldn't really apply to him since HE WASN'T THERE. I know it's not his fault and told him such but the continuity just wasn't there and I knew it was a completely wasted 400 mile trip.

That was Monday.

Since then, Tuesday, I've taken a turn and can't even move without getting short of breath, dizzy, and lightheaded. I feel my heart rate flutter, and I know it's not right. It doesn't look right either on the monitor. I faxed EKG's to my EP who wants me to come back Tuesday to have someone who's familiar with my complicated history hook me up again and work at it until we all figure out what's going on.

I'm 98% atrial paced and 2% ventricular paced. I have retrograde conduction which I think is EVIL. It's when your AV node decides to sends electrical signals from the bottom chamber backwards up to the top chamber-essentially wanting to be the pacemaker. It's all backwards. This kind of thing is fairly common in patients with sick sinus syndrome but have normal AV node conduction. Over 50% of patients have it.

That's only part of my problem, but I think a big part of it. Having blood pumping against closed valves isn't very comfortable nor is it very sustaining on a cardiac output standpoint.

I have fleeting moments where I want to just check myself in the ER. Thursday I felt "scary ill" and thought for a moment when my hands got numb that I could be having a stroke. Thank goodness that passed. Meanwhile, as I wait for my Tuesday device check, I can walk about 30 feet at my normal fairly swift gait after which I have to stop, cough, catch my breath, wait for my heart rhythm to settle down and then proceed at a snail's pace. I have to walk so slowly that it reminds me of measuring distances with your feet- literally one step in front of the other. It's annoying as much as it is concerning. To hell with stairs. I'm not that crazy. I'm 38, dang it. Most nursing home residents can walk faster than me even while using a cane or walker. I need a Jazzy chair, and seriously- a disabled parking decal. Better yet, I need to finally get fixed.

I'm so frustrated and tired of feeling ill. I'm really not doing well at all. Besides not being able to move without suffering ill palpitations and shortness of breath, and coughing, I have a constant headache. It feels like my head and face are about to pop off at times. It's a fleeting pressure. I can feel my pulse in my neck, head, and abdomen- especially when I lie down. Sometimes I feel like I'm choking. I get nervy sensations down my arms at times, and uncomfortable feelings where my pacer is- depending on movement. I'm short of breath, dizzy, lightheaded, and weak. My heart goes crazy when I bend over or stoop down.

Monday while everyone is enjoying their Labor Day long weekend, I'll be fulfilling my duty at work. It just happens to be my holiday to work as hospital transporter. You know, those people that come to your room and announce, "Hi, I'm going to take you down for your x-rays". All I can say is that I'll try my best and I expect to need help with bigger patients, stretchers, or wheelchair patients that have a gazillion of machines that must travel with them. Lord, help me.

It'll be interesting to see what happens Tuesday. I'm packing a bag because I ain't leaving and going home until I feel better. I don't care how long it takes. It'll be amazing if this is just a pacemaker setting and how crazy just the push of a button can fix things. I've never thought about it before, but with my retrograde conduction problem, I'm now wondering if I have pacemaker syndrome and have had it all along. Something's not right and something hasn't been right since I got my dual chamber 4 years ago.

My last pacer check on August 9th, 4 people couldn't figure out what was going on. My chest x-ray appeared clear and all leads seemed fine. Although, my pacer continues oversense, and undersense and sometimes paces AFTER the QRS leaving me with a very long PR interval which feels very uncomfortable. My atrial lead picks up ventricular signals which they can't explain, and sometimes paces on a T wave which throws me into pacemaker mediated tachycardia. They said that they sent my info to the "experts" at Medtronic, but I haven't heard anything.

Waiting for Tuesday. Wish me well working on Monday, and hear goes nothin'