Pacemaker Club: First anniversary

First anniversary

by Stoneyjohn
2019-05-17 14:48:53
Checkups & Settings
1255 views
2 comments

I am 80 years old and just 1 year yesterday I had my PM fitted. I do not understand the technical terms all I know is my heart used to skip a few beats now and then and the cardiologists decided that this would be the best thing for me to have.

At first I had quite a few problems feeling unwell with Atrial Fibrilation and at one time I started to wish I hadn't had the proceedure done. However after several vists to th Pacemaker clinic at Glenfield Hospital. UK they managed to get the right settings for me and since then I have felt fine. I seem to have more energy than I had before and I have regained interest in gardening and doing all the jobs I had lost all motivation to do before my PM.

I write this in order to encourage and give hope to those who are just starting out on this journey and perhaps are initially not finding things goimg so well. I feel sure that if you stick with it things will get sorted out for you as they did for me.

2 Comments

Thanks

by Stanley18 - 2019-05-18 04:10:47

Good for you, John. Well done for sharing. It's common I think to go through stages of fear and despair, and for me that started before my procedure. Then there is hope. Those who are in not such a good place will take comfort from your experience.

Life after pacemaker

by Gotrhythm - 2019-05-18 14:40:13

Thanks for speaking up about your experience. The little pamphlet we are given in the hospital about having a pacemaker leaves one with the impression that once we are healed from the surgery, there's nothing more to be said.

What they don't say is that the settings for our pacemakers are shoot-in-the-dark, one-size-fits-all--and while that's fine for many people, some are not going to feel good until the settings have been customized for them.

Getting settings right for you is trial and error. Being passive and not "wanting to bother the doctor" is not in your best interests. It behooves all of us to learn how to communicate about what's going on with us, and to keep going back until the settings work for us.