Thank your for this site

• by Elona
• 2007-05-06 01:05:01
• General Posting
• 1640 views
• 3 comments

Hi everyone,
I got my first PM inserted in November last year and since then this website has been a precious help. Thank you for setting it up and thanks to all of you to share your experience. As I have just read it in a recent post, we may have our family and friends, it is always different to talk to people who really share it for real. I have felt really good for the past 3 months, even if I did felt a bit sore and uncomfortable for the first 2 months. I had my operation done in Scotland but now live in France. I would be happy to hear from people who also had their PM insertion done in Aberdeen, Scotland, as I was really happy of the service and care provided there. As the same pacer was writing it on this site, I could not believe how much energy I had, very quickly after the op, and this could even prevent me from sleeping at night too. My story in a nutshell: I had a total heart block and my heartbeat was getting too slow, making me tired all the time and sometimes lightheaded and dizzy. My heart had started to pause and my cardio feared that the pauses would become longer and lead to fainting. This really scared me, I am and have always been an active person and the idea that you can suddently lose consciousness is frightening, I could have been driving, etc, and this could have had lethal consequences. So even if I really did not fancy it (who does?!!) as I thought I was way too young for that (stupid idea, now I know), I decided to listen to the voice of wisdom and go for it. And I don't regret it a minute, even if having a little metal box in ones chest is not a bed of roses, this has completely changed my life. Above everything it has made me a normal person! As contradictory as it may seem (before doing it I feared to feel like an outcast or a granny before being one), this little machine has given me a much better life and I want to write this for you who is reading me and I wondering whether they will go for it or not. I can now walk fast and keep up with my boyfriends' long strides without panting for breath, I can climb up the stairs without having to stop 10 times, I can sleep at night and do not wake up gasping for air anymore = happiness!! My congenital heart deffects had already entailed an open-heart op when I was 9 so I really feel like a survivor, a bionic one now! The only "thing" missing to my life is a child. Mother Nature just did not bring this to me. I had a miscarriage 2 years ago and now I realise it was maybe a life-saving misfortune as I don't know if my heart would have resisted a pregnancy without a PM (although I know you can have it inserted during the pregnancy). I would love to have a child and have not given up on it, I could read on this forum about lots of mother pacers, this gives hope! Ironically, my heart (the part of it that has always been healthy) has started beating much faster since the PM op (this is not linked to the PM, it is the natural heartbeat which has increased) and my heartbeat was reaching 90 or more, at rest (I was at 55 before the op) so my French cardio has put me on Digoxin, but this is the only medicine I am on. It allows me to stay at an average heartbeat of 80. Please do write to me if you have experienced the same thing, I would be interested to hear from you.
This is my story and I was happy to share it with you. I will come back to visit regularly. God bless you all. Elona