Hi Everyone...Newbie Here

I just found this site about an hour ago and love it. Seems full of great info and wonderful people. I imagine I will be writing more as I feel more comfortable. A brief history of my situation: June 2012 told I have an Aortic Root Aneurysm. Dec 3rd 2012 had open heart surgery and a bunch of complications. 1. Died twice 2. Had to be opened up again to stop bleeding from my right coronary artery 3. Had my phrenic nerve severed so now can't breath very well. 4. Woke up with a PM wondering whatthe heck happened. All this in the course of two days. I went from very healthy and active to a total mess. I have lots of anxiety, panic attacks. Better living through chemistry...Ativan helps quite a bit. I'm 45 and a retired Air Force veteran. Anyway, that's me in a nutshell. Hope to make some great friends on here in the coming months. Cheers to all the survivors and fighters!

4 Comments

Congratulations

by ebfox - 2013-03-07 06:03:55

You win the weekly "worst medical horror story" award. Believe it or not there are some others on here who are worse than yours, but it is not a contest.

Welcome to the group. I think you will find this to be a very supportive bunch; most of us have a war story or two ourselves. It may be gallows humor that holds us together or just a shared appreciation of the technology that keeps us on the upper side of the earth.

You are adjusting to your pacemaker and anxiety is normal. When I got mine, I cried. There is a stereotypical pacemaker wearer, that is "the old bedridden guy who is about to die." That stereotype is not even close to the truth. We have people on here who run marathons and compete in triathelons. When you get used to your device, you will hopefully be able to be as active as you were before (or close to it).

I have a question about your phrenic nerve, because I know enough about basic anatomy to know that it controls your diaphragm. I have heard about a diaphram pacemaker (which corrects phrenic nervie damage); is that the type PM that you have?

Anyway, once again welcome and don't be shy. Most of this group is the opposite of shy.

E. B.

Roger

by Nancylyn1991 - 2013-03-07 07:03:39

Hi my name is Nancy and am 42 with a pace maker. Just got mine on valentines day and a complete shock! Mine is because of my ef being so low. My heart chambers don't pump right . On feb 10th i had a small series of strokes but am ok with that now. 12 years ago when I was 30 I had a heart attack that virtually killed 2/3s of my heart. But before the 10th I was doing well. This site has helped me so much with my anxiety and questions. They are a great bunch of people who really care. Keep posting questions and they will help. Just think that you are a super hero now! You are bionic lol!

Hi E.B.

by idmt12 - 2013-03-07 07:03:43

Thanks for the warm welcome! Appreciate the award and I will gladly pass it along at the end of the week!

I read a post on here about a phrenic nerve PM and wrote that user asking for more info. This is only the second time I am hearing of this. I guess my next stop is Google or Bing. Apparently my phrenic nerve is a permanent condition and if another PM might help, I'm in...breathing is so important :) Who knew!

If I find out any good info, I'll let ya know!

Cheers!

Roger

Welcome to the club

by Grateful Heart - 2013-03-07 10:03:57

Glad you found us. You've certainly had your share. Your emotions right now are common. Learn all you can from this site and become familiar with your condition and device and you will become more comfortable with it all. Ask any questions you may have, this is a great group of knowledgeable, kind and caring fellow pacers.

Grateful Heart

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