Your Decision Your Heard

Yes we are in control but I always work with my doctors since they have the specialist knowledge, education and training

by Gemita - 2021-10-30 12:14:12

Hello Stache,

Thank you for your thoughtful post.  I am happy you are taking firm control of your life which is the way it should be.  You hold all the master keys for your continuing health and you certainly have good health despite what you have experienced.

Searching for answers?  Looking for causes?  Nothing wrong with that although there comes a time when any amount of searching still draws a blank and when it might be best to move on and accept what has happened.  Just lost a second dear friend to lung cancer.  Never smoked in his life and always seemed so healthy.  These things just happen sometimes.

I cannot believe your claim that the U.S. system doesn’t want any one to get better and that it is an industry that depends on you being sick.  I am in touch with many Americans and many of them have wonderful, caring doctors who want their patients to stay well.  Far from there being a lack of available medical data in the U.S., it seems to me that there is always a willingness to provide 'personal' medical data whenever requested.  My U.S. friends are always able to get their medical data by email or other means far faster than I have ever been able here in the U.K.

Yes my EP gives me advice, my treatment options and then says it is ultimately my decision which path I wish to follow since at the time of my pacemaker I was recommended an AV node ablation too some 6 weeks later.  I chose to trial the pacemaker alone and I am very pleased I did.

I note your ?LAD (widow maker artery) was involved in your cardiac arrest.  I am assuming since your history mentions two stents have been placed, that you have coronary artery disease?  If this is correct, that would certainly be a reason for your troubles?

Foll0w-Up

by Stache - 2021-10-30 12:56:52

I was fortunate to be taken to the number 1 heart hospital in California just four miles from my house.  The doctors there told me I was born with my heart condition and because of my good health habits, it prolong my one artery to collapse not that it was full of plack.  Looking back at my early family history I found I was born with a heart artery condition I was never told about.

I do communicate with my doctor by email all the time and I get all of my medical reports online the same as he does.  This is a good thing for me to review then ask any questions I have with him.  That is one part of the Kaiser HMO program I really like compared to other HMO programs.

It is a fact here in the U.S. the big drug companies are pushing their drugs, just watch our national TV every other commercial is pushing different prescription drugs.  I have discussed this with my doctor and they all tell me to ignore the commercials as it is all about the $$$.  It is a known fact some doctors do take kickbacks for prescribing certain drugs.  It's a shame but all $$$ driven by the drug companies.

I am happy my cardiac arrest happened in a major city where there is better care.  As in my case, I had a team of cardiac doctors the saved me and laid out a course of treatment I can now live with.  That does not happen in smaller or rural towns in America.

You are right I am still seeking answers to why this happened to me and I am not sure if I will ever accept it.  However, I like many have had my up and downs of depression over it.  But I know I have to keep living for my family and keep my chin up as difficult as it is at times.  It's okay to fail but never to quit.  Cheers

What caused my bradycardia , Doctor ?

by IAN MC - 2021-10-30 14:18:20

I bet everyone of us has wanted the answer to that question but as ar_vin says , doctors simply don't have the answer,   I guess we are all where we are , so even if we did have the answer it wouldn't help us that much !

Stache:  If you want to escape all those TV ads, you could always emigrate. There are only 2 countries in the world which allow the advertising of prescription drugs directly to  the public..... U.S.A. and New Zealand .

The rest of the world takes the view that the  public demanding drugs from their doctors is not a good idea , particularly  if the drugs are not medically necessary.   It also takes the view that  it would rather the Pharmaceutical Industry spent the bulk of its cash on research and development than on marketing.  ........  and then there are the issues of side-effects and contra-indications. Need  I go on ?  

On this particular issue I really do think that the rest of the world has got it right.

Ian

Why?

by AgentX86 - 2021-10-30 20:06:21

You'll never know and if you did it wouldn't help. You're here, the same as all of the rest of us.  How we proceed may be different.  That's the key to a full recovery (physically and mentally), how do you proceed.

The medical system doesn't want to keep you ill.  That's so much bullshit.  The body is so complicated and diseases equally so, that it's impossible to understand all "why's".  It's easier to understand "what".  It took centuries to know why aspirin worked but it did. We know more about how drugs work now than at any other time.  This understanding has saved uncounted lives and I'm sure you're one. I sure am.

I'm not sure what you mean by "cardiac arrest (widow maker) electrical short circuit". As Gemita said, the "widowmaker" is a blocked left anterior descending (LAD) artery. Your comment indicates that it was something electrical (likely SI or AV related). In any case, who knows?