Newbie

Welcome to the club!

by Theknotguy - 2018-06-20 19:28:33

Welcome to the club.  It's a club you didn't want to join, but here you are.  If you look around the forum you'll find a lot of people had similar experiences.  For me, moved 2000 pounds of wood on Thursday, walked 3.5 miles with the dogs, felt great, turned the corner, everything got black, woke up six days later.  Heart rate was 20 when they got to me.  Temporary pacemaker, waited four days to see if I would live, then a permanent pacemaker.  So, yeah, I can understand how you feel.  

First thing, if you hadn't worked out 3-4 times a week and done the power walk you might not have made it.  So you had that going in your favor.  Don't beat yourself up because it happened.  It was probably going to happen at some time anyway.  

Where to go from here?  It may take you a while to get back to the 3-4 times a week workout and the 12 mile power walk, but it's a goal.  Because they busted all my ribs on one side and collapsed a lung it took me two years to get back to "normal".  I made two marks of the calendar, one at one year after the event, the other at two years after the event.  If I had a setback I'd look at the calendar, say, "It hasn't been a year yet.", shrug my shoulders and move on.  After the first year I'd say, "It hasn't been two years yet." and move on.  Same for you.  Maybe they didn't do CPR and break ribs, but it will be a while before you get back to that "normal".  It's a good goal to have.  

You may get depression, some heart patients do.  If you can, line up a psychologist type of person with whom you can work.  Family members have agendas, Friends have agendas.  It's nice to have a disinterested third party to talk to.  

If heart rehab is offered, take it.  It's really scary the first time when the rehab nurse tells you to do the long exercise but they have the equipment right there to help you. Rehab helps you learn how to work with your pacemaker and what the new limits are.  

Keeping yourself hydrated helps too.  That's drinking water not soft drinks.  Soft drinks have too much sugar.  I worked out a one-half liter bottle per 33 pounds of body weight.  

Your attitude makes a really big difference.  If you're able to look at this as something that will be a help in the long run you'll do a lot better.  If you take the "Oh, poor me!", attitude that will really hinder your recovery.  

Lastly,  things do get back to "normal".  It's a new kind of normal and it may take a while, but as long as you can stand upright and take nourishment you're in good shape.  As long as you can look down at the flowers, it's a good day.  

Hang in there!
 

It gets better, just give it time

by tedd - 2018-06-20 22:45:08

4 weeks ago I got a pacemaker. I had a pulse in the 30's and 6 second pauses from Holter monitor.

i was rowing 20-30,000 meters a day. The last thing I thought about was my health. I was wrong. I had a left sided stroke a year ago. Then this pacemaker thing this year.

I am taking it slow and progressing ever so slow to better health. I just had to tell myself, you have a chance to get better, but don't rush it.

it seems your over some big hurdles. Congratulations! Now get a comfortable pace of recovery that you can live with. You have to go slow, you can speed up as you feel better and discuss your progress with your doctor.

Another member commented you didn't choose being in the club, but here you are. Be easy on yourself and give yourself credit. You will do fine. Do a little more each day if you feel up to it. I have good days and better days. But each day I try to do adequate efforts but don't over do it.

as I said, congratulations, a whole bunch of good days lie in front of you! Just kinda pace yourself. Any problems check with the doc.