Well, in about a month...

Sadly, yes.

by crustyg - 2022-07-11 19:18:15

It's a bit like driving a car with defective brakes.  You feel fine, the road rolls past and you don't realise the danger you're in....until it's too late.

Fortunately you've had a checkup and your docs have spotted that you're staring down the barrel of a sudden cardiac arrest.  It's a real shock - going from 'I'm fit as a butcher's dog' to 'I need a device implanted in me to stay alive.'

Look at it from the other end of the telescope.  Isn't it great to know that you live in an era where an implanted bit of electronics can prevent you from an SCA, and you can carry on living your athletic life, having fun, enjoying yourself, instead of bitterly regretting that no-one spotted how close you were to the edge of the cliff, and now you're half-way down to the rocks below wishing for a different outcome?

Would you rather have discovered a nasty shadow on your CXR, or a malignant growth in your large bowel?  Nasty muscle twitches that presage MND?  Persistent headaches from a previously unrecognised brain tumour?

It's all a question of perspective.  And yes, it will take time to process, accept and adjust - months, not weeks.  Anger, dismay, 'why me', 'it can't be true' - these are all normal emotional reactions to suddenly becoming the 'Ill Patient.'  Great thing is, if all you need is a PM then you're one of the lucky ones. At our age, we're seeing friends and family fall by the wayside from untreatable illnesses.

The beginning of the acceptance process is to recognise that a) nothing needs to keep you from your athletic activities (well done by the way, keep it up), and b) after some months you will have days when you forget that you have a device implanted in you.  There are plenty of contributors here who are active and enjoying their lives - and just happen to have PMs/ICDs in them.  So what!

It's not much comfort at this stage, but your attitude is everything.  No-one else can form your approach to life: but it sounds as though you take a pretty positive line already.

Best wishes.

Welcome aboard!

by Lavender - 2022-07-11 21:48:03

Good comments from Crustyg. 
As a person who did develop fainting as well as having drop attacks, I have to say that you will be safer with a pacer than taking a risk of letting your heart fail you in an unhappy surprise. 
 

I passed stress tests, ekgs, echocardiograms and it took a thirty day monitor to catch my pauses. The last one was thirty-three seconds and nearly took my life. Now I am back to life as normal. It took them six months to figure it out because ventricular standstill is rare. You're so blessed this was discovered and can be fixed. 
 

Excellent comments

by FG - 2022-07-12 11:53:58

Thank you both very much. Crustyg you hit about 5 nails on the head. Exactly how I feel. My father lasted to 90, my Mom to 86, and neither had any kind of heart trouble so this is what confuses me the most. I do have a very stressful job now for about 20 years and wonder if that was it, or my 3-4 coffees a day, no drugs no alcohol so yes the dismay is real. 

Same boat

by dogtired - 2022-07-12 12:19:33

I have a "high grade 3ed degree block" . My sinus rhythm goes betwwen 50 and 140 but the ventricular is usually 32-38. (sleep is 28) I'm also asymptomactic and bike regularly .  I've seen 4 EPs 2 intiallaly stated I did NOT need a PM, but as the block progressed (more 3ed and less 2ed degree) they recommended a PM.  BUT all agree in my case, its elective, but NONE is willing to state I will feel better.  I asked if passing out was likely and was told its very low risk for the following:  I've been like this for more than 2 yrs without symptoms and HR has been stable, my pauses aren't long enough, and my QRS complex is narrow.

Well after agonizing and researching I'm scheduled on 20 of this month. I've got to believe that when going up hill and my HR is stuck at 50 , I would feel stronger with a HR of 120. I was delighted when  found a doc that does LBBpacing and he agreed if the results weren't as desired the device could either be shut down or removed.

Why me?

by Lavender - 2022-07-12 12:20:10

We all have an expiration date. Things get faulty on different folks at different times. It's most probably not your fault and was out of anyone's control. Genes happen.
 

I don't drink, smoke, or take any drugs-legal or not. I eat healthy. I asked the Electrophysiology team why this happened to my heart. They said it was natural aging. My mom is 96, still living. On no meds, better heart than mine. She's got dementia though. Her mom lived to 81 with a great mind that never failed-in spite of drinking a case of beer a week, shots of daily whiskey and smoking a carton of cigarettes a week. (I loved my colorful grandma.)

My handsome healthy dad who never needed meds, trekked all over the country enjoying life to the fullest-drowned in a boating accident at age 66.

Life doesn't come with a warranty. It's fragile even with the best circumstances.

You can sit and fret forever and it won't change anything. After careful research, you're found to have a ticking bomb inside. You can snuff out that wick and buy more time. Good time.  
 

We ALL know people who simply dropped dead with undiscovered treatable medical issues. You're blessed and have a solution. Mourn over it, lament over the unfairness, then get 'er done and get on with your active self.  
 

Yeah yeah... I know...easy for me to say because I already went through the anger, whatifs, self reflection, and reluctant submission...lol Your reaction is......*normal*!😉

So in emoji-speak it's going to look like this:

🫣🤯😢😳😡🥺😫😑🫤😬followed by:

😷😓😕🫀❤️‍🩹💓🥲😅🙃😃🚴‍♂️🏂⛹🏼🏊🏻

junctional rhythm

by FG - 2022-07-12 12:38:02

Dogtired funny you mention biking I do that too. I'm a veteran rider for the Texas MS 150 now, about 16 years. I've done rides up to 180 miles and the last thing that ever crossed my mind was my heart. This is so weird. Two cardiologists are moderatly insistant about pacing but both say it calmly so I guess it's not a short term emergency of course keeping Crustyg's comments in mind. 

Does anyone else have"junctional rhythm" or "junctional escape rhythm"? How were you treated?

Why me indeed

by FG - 2022-07-12 13:08:36

Lavender thank you so much! I'm not on any other social media so I guess this is gonna be it...

Everything you said made such sense... I see we are all human and get these rude awakenings. Funny how you describe your grandma! Mine made 96 and was crusty and full of "vim and vigor" like my mom used to say. She was senile towards the end that only added more color to her comments! She was on no meds or had any other illness until she died shortly after her inoperable pancreatic cancer was found at age 96. 

Its just so hard it reminds me a bit of the story in Luke 12:20 we need to be courteous to others and acknowledge God as we don't know what our expiration date is going to be...

Link to function at the junction

by Lavender - 2022-07-12 13:31:17

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/23071-junctional-escape-rhythm

copy and paste in your browser 

I know others here have experience with that. I do not but that link is very easy to understand. 

Junctional Rhythm

by AgentX86 - 2022-07-12 14:26:46

We all, except those with heart block, have a junctional rhythm.  Most will never see it because it is burried under the normal sinus rhythm.  Escape rhythms are basically backup pacing modes and will take over if the sinus node fails. Sometimes, though, the junctional rhythm will sneak in between beats (first pacing souce wins) and screw up the heartbeat, sorta like Afib.

My mother made it to 95 but was going downhill quickly the last two or three years. My father died at 52 (I was 12) of SCA. A brother died at 65 of SCA, also.

SCA is an ugly thing.  There may be no warning or warnings missed/ignored. Lose a warning, lose a life.

When to get a pacer

by Buzzz - 2022-07-31 13:26:03

My story is quite similar to others here, first a long distance runner, then a long distance bicyclist, low resting HR, artrial flutter corrected by cardoversion then ablation (15 years ago). it looks like a recording HR monitor would be very useful here to detect any periods of complete heart block. Pacers not only regulate rate but can restart the heart if it stops beating.