41yr old volunteer firefighter pacemaker

Hello! My husband is a 41 yr old who is also a volunteer firefighter. We have been in hospital six hours from home for two weeks now. He has been diagnosed with severe bradycardia , his heart goes down as low as 17 bpm and pauses for up to 5 seconds. He is an active, athletic type of guy. He is scheduled to have a pacemaker installed in two days. . Hopefully that will fix the problem and we can make our way home. Any words of advice or encouragement you can give him. Would like to read him some posts from other pacemaker wearers, especially guys his age who have been through this .thanksvery much !!

6 Comments

In additon....

by KAG - 2013-09-02 01:09:16

.....I would highly recommend that he get the info on his PM settings and mode. This info is helpful if he has any questions or concerns to ask and this group can help, but the PM details are needed. They typically will set the PM to settings which are fine for the average person but your husband is younger and probably pretty active and may need his device fine tuned to better support him. It's very easy for them to make adjustments.

I'm 58, have total AV block, and after my PM install in June I was getting SOB and fatigue when exercising and they increased the upper tracking rate and that fixed the problem. I'm now back to my normal routine and activities. My sinus node works fine so the PM paces at whatever rate the sinus node commands. No lower than the lower rate setting and no higher than the upper tracking rate. I've found that gaining knowledge of my PM has helped me in adjusting to my new little buddy. Also has made it much easier in working with the PM techs in making adjustments.

Follow your Dr's instructions in not moving your device side arm above shoulder level or lifting weight for whatever time they say. This varies with Dr's. Make sure to move that arm as much as is comfortable so you don't get frozen shoulder. Most important get back to your normal routine and activities as soon as possible.

All the best. You've found a great site to get help with any questions or concerns you might have.
Kathy

hello

by 28sedan - 2013-09-02 03:09:28

I allso had angziety depression for the forst 6 months. I came here and read a lot. Keep coming back post messages here if you feel good bad or what ever. I have been self employed carpenter most of my life. I had a hard time adjusting to the fact I had to slow down and heal. It took a long time for my heart to get sick so it will take time to heal. Its been 2 and a half years now and I feel better than I have for at least 6 years. I have SSS sick sinous syndrome 42 beats in the day time and 27 at night my energy levels had almost depleated.
This will just get better now.

Older but still very active

by Jonny - 2013-09-02 06:09:53

I was diagnosed with heart block 6 years ago but it was benign at that stage, but then this year I had a couple of collapses, the last at the gym following 45 mins on a cross-trainer. In hospital my hr dropped to 34 for a couple of hours so it was decided to do the implant 2 days later. It took around an hour for the PM to be implanted under a local anesthetic, and I only felt some discomfort (rather than pain) during the process. Within 15 minutes of returning to my room I was eating my dinner (which I finished) and feeling good. That was 4 weeks ago. First week following I felt a bit strange from time to time, the second week I was helping my son at a trade exhibition for 4 days working 12 hours a day, and since then I've recovered almost back to normal. I say almost as I split my head when I collapsed and that has been more of a problem than the PM.
I'm 65 and will be going back to the gym next week, though I've been walking 5 miles a day for a couple of weeks now. So if I can do this at 65 I'm sure he will recover even more quickly.
One thing to do is keep thinking positively.
Best of luck
John

Welcome

by Medevac690 - 2013-09-02 12:09:31

Welcome, newbie here as well. Your hubby and I share the same aspects of profession, I am a 56 year old medevac pilot sidelined by bradychardia in January of this year. I had two serious episodes a week apart which led the the implant decision. My heart also stopped for 5second intervals, my attacks lasted all day. The first hospital stay (paramedics brought me in) the ER put a temp in my neck. Claimed it was my BP med interfering. 4 days later I awoke with the same issue with more intense episodes. Hospital was just down the hill so my wife drove me to the ER and the decision was made to put a permanent PM in for another 4 day stay. Long story short I have gone through a battery of tests the past nine months to satisfy the FAA requirements to fly again.

Your hubby may have different symptoms and recovery situations then me, so I will just share what happens to me. I am PM dependant. I have experienced good days where I feel great and energy levels are normal. I have also experienced days where I feel severely fatigued and have chest pressure, including heart dysrythmia again. I can feel the PM kicking in during those episodes. My BP is normal during these episodes and they occur at any level, meaning at rest or physical exertion. I have complained to the PM staff but I am told this is normal and I should get used to it. If your hubby feels bouts of depression, tell him he is not alone. I have always been a fit and active man, and this condition have been stressful and tough to swallow. Especially when you are used to being at full strength and love to do things around the house.

I am grateful to be on the green side of the grass and pray so every morning. But the best advice I can give you both is educate yourself and being on this site has been a source of support for me since I found it in the past few weeks. DO NOT accept everything from medical staff as the final word. Speak with the cardio doctor only. I've already had issues with incorrect PM settings for one example. If he feels down, tell him to seek out friends and you to listen. This is a major life altering event. As a fireman he is like me, a type "A" personality who is used to being in control. My recovery is going slower than I hoped, and it took awhile to accept and realize this is normal too :-)

God bless and prayers, I hope this was of some help. If nothing else to let him know he's not alone. Please feel free to ask specific questions when needed.

Carl in Seattle

search

by jessie - 2013-09-06 08:09:32

if you go up to search and you type in firefighter some other people who have done this job with pm and icd will pop up and you can read their stories. just sayin sometimes this helps.jessie

oh yeah

by jessie - 2013-09-06 08:09:35

sorry..welcome to the club! lots of support here..

You know you're wired when...

Your device acts like a police scanner.

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