Goodbye to Pacemakers Club, my PM was removed

• by statuesque
• 2016-07-01 17:30:05
• General Posting
• 1344 views
• 1 comments

It's been awhile since I last posted and I just want to let people know that unfortunately some Doctors are very greedy and take advantage of the elderly. I was told I needed a pacemaker in 12/2013 because of SSS. I went from a very active senior to someone who sat in a chair all day because any  movement sent my heart rate racing or sleeping all day from the narcolepsy I developed after the procedure. Settings changed nothing helped. I finally found another Doctor and she removed my pacemaker in 2015!  I did not have SSS at all and my heart rate was not dropping below 30 as I was told was the results of my Holter test! My nightmare is now over, my gut feeling was right. My pacemaker is now in the chest of someone from a third world country who actually needs it thanks to Heartbeat International. They were very surprised to be contacted by a live donor who wanted to donate their pacemaker! 

Of course,not all Doctors are unscrupulous and pacemakers do save lives every day but to have a Doctor implant one when it was not needed has left me with total distrust of doctors in general. Being violated in that way because of his greed and having that scar on my chest for the rest of my life as a reminder is something I will have to deal with every day. I call pacemakers portable ATM's because after implantation Doctors get to continue gaining income from them from those pacemakers checks.

This post is not to scare you but to tell you it happened to me and I know I am not the only one this has happened too. A nurse in the hospital told me after they removed it that her dad was having dizzy spells also and she asked me if I check my blood pressure before taking my medication? That's what caused her dad's dizzy spells and sure enough, when I started checking my blood pressure there were times my blood pressure was normal and no medication was needed.My narcolepsy was gone, my Doctor said the PM was putting pressure on my vagus nerve, I spent nearly 2 years completely drained of any energy and had to take meds to keep me awake finally and all because of an unnecessary PM implant.

So my advice is just if your gut feelings think something is wrong, go with your gut feelings. When you get a second opinion do not let the first Doctor know who you are going too. They will always listen to each other and not the patient. So the only true second opinion is from someone who has no knowledge of what the first Doctor has suggested. I am 67 now and I am slowly getting back to the active person I used to be. I was very lucky to find a Doctor who actually listened and was willing to check and see if I was right, and I was!

So this is my last post as I am no longer qualify to be a member. For those of you who are making their last wished known please donate your PM to Heartbeat International and help someone in a third world country in need of a PM. The only thing that makes me feel good right now is knowing someone is alive right now because of my PM.

TakeCare