3 Months!

3 months ago today, I was rushed into hospital following syncope, and had a PM implanted for a Mobitz Type II block.  As a result of cuts in NHS funding, my local hospital is extremely busy and after an overnight stay I was discharged without a proper consultation with a cardiologist.  It was only by reading my discharge papers that I knew what was wrong.

Luckily, I am a Biomedical Scientist and have a good knowledge of medical terminology, and was, therefore, able to get a lot of technical information from the internet.

More importantly, I have learned an incredible amount about the emotional and practical aspects of living with a PM by reading the messages posted by members of this very exclusive club.  Thank you to everyone for sharing their experiences, hints and tips, and encouragement.

So far I have not had any problems with my PM and am feeling a lot better that I did.  I have other health issues such as hypothyroidism and COPD from smoking for nearly 50 years, but am now able to deal with them on a daily basis.  I have given up smoking, am looking at my diet, and am taking a lot more exercise (walking at present as my COPD makes running very difficult).

I am well aware that a PM treats only the symptoms of heart disease, but it is nice to be able to walk down the street without feeling dizzy and to sit quietly without feeling my heart skipping beats.

Thanks again to everyone for giving me hope for a future I am looking forward to.

Graham.

2 Comments

3 months old

by Gemita - 2019-11-13 18:50:24

Hi Graham M,

That's great news to hear about your progress and thank you for your kind words.  

Both hubby and I have pacemakers and we always compare data !!  It has made such a difference to our lives too since both of us were passing out and had painfully slow heart rates before our little friend decided to give us a boost.  

We found too that medical information was not readily given to us by our doctors because of time constraints and we had to fight to get a referral to a cardiologist of our choosing, but it was worth the wait.  We are also in the UK and cardiologists here have long long waiting lists, don't they.  We live near London so we are blessed with many good hospitals.  Hubby also has COPD and he finds the pacemaker really helps with this.  In fact he hasn't had a flare up for months, probably because his heart is beating faster and more regularly.

I have just received a copy of my LINQ Reveal monitor downloads for the last 3 years and i have also received my last pacemaker check.  It is quite incredible what my heart has been up to, the arrhythmias seen, the low and high heart rates take my breath away.  How can the heart possibly keep this up I ask myself.  No wonder I have been so symptomatic.  I do think it is important to keep asking questions and to keep learning and this is a great place to start.

Hope you continue to do well.

INFORMED CONSENT

by Gemita - 2019-11-14 05:34:44

Hello AngySparrow,

I recall an earlier post from you on this subject.  You have had a bad experience and I can understand your anger.  

I have always found here in the UK they are scrupulous about getting us to consent before any procedure/surgery after pointing out to us the potential risks/benefits of surgery and making sure we do understand what is involved and what would be the outcome if we did nothing.  (Even my recent explant of my Reveal LINQ loop recorder was delayed because they were hoping to remove it during my pacemaker implant but because I had not "consented" to its removal, they could not remove it at the same time)!  Only a few weeks ago I had to go back for its removal which was untraumatic fortunately.

I suppose it depends on our health condition at the time of our pacemaker implant.  As a life saving measure I guess they would have to go in without informed consent if a patient is so poorly they are unable to understand what is happening and the family are not immediately available to make a decision for their loved ones.

I was angry when my Mum passed away some years ago since I found out that they had placed a "do not resuscitate" on her medical file without telling her or her family.  I fought hard to get answers afterwards and challenged their decision but after a long painful process I finally came to realise that it would have been futile and not in her best interests to keep her alive.

I really hope your situation has improved and that you can still have a good quality of life.  Sometimes in life there is no right or wrong way to proceed.  We all do the very best we can at the time and that is all we can do.

You know you're wired when...

You have rhythm.

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