My journey to Battery Powered Living

• by MelodyMarch
• 2015-03-08 11:03:13
• General Posting
• 962 views
• 3 comments

For me at least has been much more positive rather than negative. I did not truly realize how bad I felt for probably a good 3-4 years before I crashed and ended up with my St. Jude buddy.

Before PM- I had problems even getting out of bed in the morning, I was late to school twice. I passed out in front of kids twice. I was too exhausted by HR that would float in the 30's to 50's to keep up with the demands of my daily teaching schedule. I looked grey and ashen all the time. The school nurse (God bless her) made me come in every morning and afternoon for a check. The students could see it in my eyes that there wasn't enough oxygen getting to the brain.

By this time I had been in regular contact with my cardio, and the October day I passed out at school again, the school nurse called the office, and they asked her to forward her records with me. I was also on a holter monitor at the time. Her records combined with the holter test is what finally pushed my cardio to consider the pm.

They hospitalized me that same day, just based on the 5-6 second pauses they found on the holter. I was scheduled for implant on Wednesday, I was hospitalized on Monday. Overnight both nights, I was awoken to having the CCU team over my bed, given getting ready to start more intensive interventions. My heart had stopped for up to 30s at a time. That is when they put me on the external pacer.

I won't lie the first night after implantation was rough, felt like my heart was on fire and burning to a crisp, then then morphine, makes me puke.

It gradually got better, and by the weekend I was raring to go I had so much energy that I didn't even know I was missing.

As of my last interrogation, I am 25% dependent in the atria, with Sinus Node Dysfunction. Think about that. That means without this brilliant little battery implanted in my chest, I would be trying to live 100% of my live with only 75% in the tank to use.

For those that lament about getting s PM.... Yes take a moment to mourn. Then put on your britches and get moving. I can honestly say being battery powered for almost a year and a half now, has changed my life for the better. I am 34 and loving life with a PM. Never want to be without again.