Amazing how life can change so fast

I just had a PM put in 4 days ago and I am male 57 years old and I thought I was good shape. Two weeks ago I was fine no problems and then all of a sudden I could hardly walk without gasping for air and dizzy heart pounding so hard. I was ok if I just sat still or lied down. I finally go to the Dr. and he says pulse is at 30 and I am going to the hospital now. I am like you must be talking to someone else because that is not me. I am in hospital and my heart stops --good thing I was there I guess--so it was later at night so they put a temporary PM on me which is on the outside of the chest. I then get a permanent one in 2 days. I am still in a state of shock that this happened to me as I am sure everyone else is who has a PM.

I have been reading everything I can about why this could happen and I really can't get a for sure answer. The Dr. said everything looked very good except the low pulse. Has anyone ever come up with some reasons how it could happen so fast.
Thanks. Just reading some things on here makes me feel a little better.

Bob

5 Comments

Winding down

by oldearthworm - 2015-08-15 08:08:45

Our cases are somewhat similar ( a temp PM, then a permanent one within two days) . My heart was at : 101/30/51 which set off the red flags from the VA ..
I think we "wind down" ever so slowly ..and detect little or nothing ..It is just old age......We become inured...We do need better care...and if we DIY , it need not be so expensive and time consuming..

Welcome to the club

by Theknotguy - 2015-08-15 09:08:06

I moved 2000 pounds of wood on Thursday. Walked three miles with the dogs Friday. Collapsed on the trail with the dogs. Woke up in the hospital six days later from a coma. Broken rib, collapsed lung, three cracked ribs, chest tube, permanent pacemaker. They installed the temporary pacemaker then waited four days to see if I would live. I think I've got a feeling for what you're going through.

We don't have any control over the gene pool. So we've got to live with what happens. It's frustrating when you learn you've got the genes for having the heart stop with no warning. But who said life was fair? The good thing is you did it in the hospital instead of on the trail like me. It takes your mind a little while to get around what happened. If we would have been in an under developed country, we would have been dead. Twenty years ago we would have been dead. Like I said, it takes a while to get the mind wrapped around the events.

For me, the next thing was to learn as much as I could about what happened. Fortunately people on this forum helped a lot. Finding out it happened to others was comforting in a way.

The next thing I started doing was taking an active participation in my recovery. Due to the way I did it, it's been a busy two years. Since you skipped the broken rib, cracked ribs, and collapsed lung, and being on Propofol (the Michael Jackson drug) you should recover much more quickly.

You've got to get through the 4-6 six week period while the PM insertion wound heals. Work with the doctors during the adjustment period your heart goes through. If your medical insurance allows it, take the cardio rehab. I also talked with a psychologist who specialized in heart and trauma patients. Also took some physical rehab because they banged up both shoulders doing CPR. It all helped. Reading comments and getting responses from people on the forum really helped too.

If you're the kind of person who doesn't like to know about the messy medical details, that's fine. For me, the only way to feel in control is to learn as much as I can. Do whatever works best for you.

I'd make two marks on the calendar. First would be six months from when you get the permanent PM. Second would be at the one year mark after getting your PM. If you have any setbacks your mantra is, "It hasn't been six months yet." After six months your mantra is,"It hasn't been a year yet." That way you won't get all bummed out if things don't immediately fall into place. This isn't mickey D"s you know. So things may not happen instantly. As long as someone isn't running down the hospital hall screaming for help, you're in good shape. So when things take longer than you'd like, just tell yourself it's great not to be in a crisis situation. When people are in crisis mode, they make mistakes. In your situation, when they make mistakes, you can end up dead. Not a good way to go.

Next thing is to start being real nice to your nursing staff. They don't have a pretty job. They have to deal with all sorts of body fluids. So tell everyone who comes in your room thanks for working on/with you and that you appreciate their services. You'll get that tiny slice of better care. When a person is sticking a needle in me, I want them to be focused on what their doing. And I want them to like me.

I kept reading stuff on this forum. They answered a lot of questions I didn't get from the medical people. Oh, and about 80% of what the medical people told me was wrong. And that's from some people who should have known better. Like I said, keep coming back to the forum. We have the equipment and live with it every day.

The PM is not a hindrance to a "normal" life. I'm back up to over 100% of what I was prior to having the PM. Because I was so banged up, it's taken me two years to get close to the 100% mark. It shouldn't take you as long.

Hang in there. Life does get better.


Welcome

by knb123 - 2015-08-16 01:08:14

Hi Roborbob and welcome to our group. Many, many of us can relate to your feelings of disbelief that this has happened to you. For example, I am 66 and lead a fairly active life along with 3x/week workouts. I saw my doc regularly and she'd always tell me to keep doing whatever it was I was doing as I was in good shape and needed no medications.

Then one morning before leaving for the gym, I ran up a flight of stairs at home--nothing unusual about that--and found myself winded and dizzy at the top. Took my BP and found it was sky-high. Laid low until I could see my doc and she said I had a pulse rate of 37. Told me it was not hypertension but an electrical problem with my heart. Went straightaway to the ER, where they diagnosed sudden-onset full heart block. Received my PM same day.

Yes, it all came on suddenly for me, and lying there in my hospital bed I couldn't believe all that had happened in a very short span of time. Being a questioning sort of healthcare consumer, I asked every doctor to stopped next to my bed why he/she thought this had come upon me. The docs cannot explain sudden-onset heart block. I did not exhibit any of the indications for it. The best they can do is speculate about heredity (and thinking back I recall deceased family members who had shortness of breath, dizziness, etc., so there may be some truth to that). I resolved to accept the new normal and move on. Not to say I didn't experience sudden bouts of weepiness and/or reality setting in, wondering what was on the horizon.

But life is too short to wonder why. Five months post-PM, I lead a full, normal life, doing all the things I did before and I would bet you will, too.

You have been given a fresh chance at life thanks to a skilled medical team and your PM. I would say my medical team has given me excellent advice (not the 80 percent wrong advice that theknotguy cites), so until you have reason to doubt what they're telling you, I would advise you to follow their instructions, ask plenty of questions and keep asking til you get an answer you can live with.

Welcome to the club

by PM12March2014 - 2015-08-18 01:08:00

Welcome Bob! No history of heart issues in my family, but the active one with no real health issues now has 'the pacer'. My son calls me the cyborg. We're fortunate that medicine has something for us. Without it, I'd probably have passed out while driving on the highway and likely would have hurt others. Completely out of the blue - Passed out at work while sitting. In hospital, they ran many tests and found NOTHING, very healthy. Kept for observation, I passed out 2 hours later. Doc came in and said, "I'll see you in the morning to implant a pacemaker". Was this a bad dream? I don't really have an answer either, but for some reason, the 'wiring' wasn't working, and they have a fix for that. It bothers me at times, but the alternative - there really is no alternative. Every day is a gift.

Lucky Guy

by djmann - 2015-08-18 07:08:37

Hi Bob,
You have every right to wonder what the heck happened; and many doctors don't know either. I had symptoms they could diagnose until a fast rush ride in an ambulance to the ER and they say heart rate dropping fast. They put in a temporary PM and then a 2 lead pacemaker the next day. I had no heart problems before, no cholesterol issues, no weight issues, active and healthy. I asked the Doctor the next day, how could this happen to me? He said there are killer viruses that will take a pathway to the heart. He said this had to be one and I was lucky it did not take a path to the outside of the heart, as they could not do anything for me, and I would have been on a transplant list!! omg! Instead it took a slow path to the sinus node and blinked out the cells enough that I had third degree heart block and need of a dual- lead PM. So, we become victims of mother nature's idiosyncrasies BUT yor are lucky, as we live in an era of 2nd chances, and the pacemaker is an amazing invention. It has it's idiosyncrasies too, and not all the techs or even the doctors can completely understand the why's of it all. So they tell us to wait and see, as our bodies adjust to this Bionic lifestyle. And, Bob, it will adjust. Each day, and it will also tell you when it is not adjusting as fast as you want. Bless your heart, have hope, and keep on keeping on. Enjoy each day, and SMILE. You are not alone;<)

You know you're wired when...

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