Member Profiles
MIZZY
As a solo mother of triplets who is also an
Ambulance Officer, it was all too easy for the Dr's to say I was anxious,
stressed or simply knew enough to be dangerous to myself. Pleeeeaaase! I was at
the stage where my heart was permanently over 100, even when I "slept" (actually
I only dozed - I realized this much later) and most often around 140 - 180. I
finally got attention by devious means but I won't go into that. After having my
life reduced to a breathless gasping, agonizing chest pain, a permanent wet
cough and a terrible inability to get out of a chair or even raise my arms (I
was only 34!)I was finally given a stress test on a treadmill. Simply standing
there sent the Drs into paroxysms of nervousness. I was just so relieved that
they finally started to listen. Naturally, they didn't test me - it would
probably have killed me. Diagnosis was fairly quick after that but they were
reluctant to ablate, the theory being I was too young for a pacemaker. My
argument was they were forcing me to exist as a 90 year old. They couldn't
defend their argument and we went ahead with the ablation. I was only the third
person they had done this too in this part of my little country, and only the
first who didn't already have a pacemaker fitted. What complicated matters was
they found a second sinus node equally sensitive and they couldn't tell which
was the dominant one, so they partially ablated both. The EP was adamant I would
need a pacemaker(95%)within three years. But I could live with that. Recovery
was unbearably slow and for a while there my heart actually beat faster but
without the symptoms. Within three months I returned to work and began to
recover a level of fitness I didn't realize existed. I now have a strange rhythm
from time to time - I nearly three years post-op but I am fit as a fiddle and
loving every minute of it and there is no sign of that pacemaker yet. I have
been released from a hellish prison. My EP is thrilled but not as much as me and
my kids!
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