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Heart

davidc83

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Well, last week I joined the 'screwed up heart' club....60 years old, never had a heart issue before; last EKG (12 years ago) was normal, last Dr visit (12 months ago) Dr did not notice anything amiss.
Last Monday, it was raining so I drove to work...after work, driving home, sharp pain over my heart as if I had been kicked by a horse (yes, I know how that feels), and I blacked out...luckily, the car drifted right (instead of left) off the road onto the berm between the road and railroad track...I came too 4-wheeling my little Prius and was able to stop the car-not really any damage to the car-scratched hub cap and fog light cover missing...passerby called 911, ambulance showed up...hooked me up and my EKG was all over the place...

Taken to UofL emergency room; all work up done... tests were negative/normal (ckmb/troponin)...admitted for observation...Next day, Tuesday, had heart ultrasound...got back to room and within an hour was informed I was going to ICU...What? why? while I was having ultrasound, heart was skipping/missing beats for (3-4 beats at a time)....Got to ICU...an hour later, nurse came in and told me they were taking me to get a pace maker asap....what? why? while monitoring me in ICU, heart was skipping/missing more beats (I felt fine).... heart beat is still erratic (at work now) but at least it doesnt skip numerous beats at a time...

Moral of story; even if your only health issue is too much weight, people should have a primary care physician (I didnt) and have a physical every once in a while (I hadnt)..I am not a diabetic (non-fasting glucose was 90, cholesterol-128, triglycerides-78)...I never had a history of blackening out or this kind of chest pain (did have inverted T-Waves when I was 39 years old, which reverted on their own after 24 hours-cause never determined).
 
WOW, sounds like it could be a lot worse for you.

I'm turning 59 in a few days.

We are losing our health insurance the first of the year (Obama lied through his teeth when said I could keep it!) so we are getting all our health check ups now while we try to arrange for good insurance after the first of the year. Been to the arthritis doctor, proctologist, dentist, eye doctor + opthomogist, urologist and the G.P. too.

So far everything is in good shape except for our insurance.

The Obamacare approved plan for our state is inadequate for our family as my daughter is a Type 1 insulin dependent diabetic and the government approved insurance policy available (we have a choice of 1 in my state) does not cover either her supplier or her insulin. One of may have to go back to work for insurance to get a good plan? We worked hard, saved, managed to retire early, now that we need the insurance we can't buy individual plans because the regulations of some f-ed-up law have destroyed our options.
 
David, so glad your Prius was not capable of driving faster than your angel could fly. So many things could have gone differently for you but they didn’t. Praise for that.

My wife has had 10 pacemakers and the worst thing that happened to her 36 years ago turned out to be the best thing all these years later. She too crashed a car from passing out and the crash got her diagnosis instead of a tombstone. Praise the Giver of all good gifts!
 
I work for a company that makes pacemakers.

Couple times a year they either show at company meetings or send around videos of people who have our devices installed...

One of them was a story much likes yours, except instead of a prius he was an EMT driving an ambulance, with a patient and his partner in the back.

Ambulance had cameras, so we got to see video of him passing out, the ambulance going off road, hear the partner in the back screaming at him, him not waking up, ambulance rolling to a stop 5 ft away from a very solid looking post for a billboard, and then him waking up...

Sucks that you aren't back to 100%, as I understand it, it's a weird thing where the worse you are the better a pacemaker can make it... when it's providing every beat it's consistent, but when it's only giving one when you miss a normal beat then it needs to have you miss one or two before it jumps in...

Good luck with the bionic parts... Hope they serve you well... and don't forget to get the battery replaced when it's time ;)
 
I had an episode two years ago where my heart rate went thru the roof at max rate for a couple of hours, occasionally stopping and starting for a second or so. This happened in my sleep and awoke me at about 5 in the morning. Scared the crap out of me. I ended up in Hospital for a couple of hours but in the end got discharged when it settled down again. Tests were done on the day and further tests subsequently, but nothing amiss was found with the heart itself. I still get occasional bouts of ectopics and on rare occasions a short palpitation. I was told that I probably experienced this because I was overdoing things for my age. The basis of this assessment was that there were involved four days of trail riding and operating well above my then fitness level. Obviously there was a lot of adrenalin, dehydration and in the evenings some alcohol and probably not enough sleep.

While the ectopics and occasional palps continue I have since given up alcohol completely and increased my fitness levels very significantly by going back to fairly intensive cycling in addition to my other daily activities. In short I have never felt better but it is clear that my heart electronics are far from perfect. The cycling pushes me occasionally to nearly max heart rates so this has had plenty of opportunity to happen again. I am aware that my activity will either kill me or cure me but sure its better than sitting at home doing nothing.
 
Did you ride this morning?

no, got to wear a sling on my left arm until Friday...keeps me from stretching or raising left arm above head (could pull leads out of heart, since scar tissue is what keeps the leads in place from pacemaker to veins...and it takes 7-10 days for scar tissue...
 
no, got to wear a sling on my left arm until Friday...keeps me from stretching or raising left arm above head (could pull leads out of heart, since scar tissue is what keeps the leads in place from pacemaker to veins...and it takes 7-10 days for scar tissue...

You know, if you'd have bought the DCT, you could be riding right now
 
You know, if you'd have bought the DCT, you could be riding right now

LOL....Yep,,,i have thought about that...one handed riding all the time until this weekend....looks like rain forecast has changed from Sunday to Monday...and Sunday looks to be the better of the weekend days to ride (as of this morning)...Sunday morning will start off a few degrees warmer so it will get to the mid 70s quicker than Saturday morning...
 
LOL....Yep,,,i have thought about that...one handed riding all the time until this weekend....looks like rain forecast has changed from Sunday to Monday...and Sunday looks to be the better of the weekend days to ride (as of this morning)...Sunday morning will start off a few degrees warmer so it will get to the mid 70s quicker than Saturday morning...

Are you riding on Sunday - maybe meet up somewhere between Louisville and Bloomington Sunday morning? Breakfast in Paoli perhaps then tour the area a little?? Warning: I probably ride slow compared to most - still getting my feel for riding again.
 
Are you riding on Sunday - maybe meet up somewhere between Louisville and Bloomington Sunday morning? Breakfast in Paoli perhaps then tour the area a little?? Warning: I probably ride slow compared to most - still getting my feel for riding again.

Sorry man... I just saw this....I dont have Internet access or cell service at my house so anything between Friday and Monday's I usually dont see on here...I rode for only about 1.5 hours on Sunday...Stayed around the Scottsburg/Salem area....
 
No problem. I ended up down at Patoka Lake. Tailed a group of about 2 dozen harleys for a while. Cold in the morning but great by midday.
 
Glad your OK David , been in that club a long time but do not let it slow me down. I have AFIB and an enlarged heart from a life of Stress .
have seen my heart hit 240 BPM which it is just quivering at that point instead of beating. what works for me is 1 Diltiazem and flecainide acetate x 2 each day from V.A .
Lucky I do not have to have Obamacare and Trump now has us Vets going to outside Hospitals whenever we need it. the longest i would have to wait on anything is 30 days.
Best wishes on your health
 
Glad your OK David , been in that club a long time but do not let it slow me down. I have AFIB and an enlarged heart from a life of Stress .
have seen my heart hit 240 BPM which it is just quivering at that point instead of beating. what works for me is 1 Diltiazem and flecainide acetate x 2 each day from V.A .
Lucky I do not have to have Obamacare and Trump now has us Vets going to outside Hospitals whenever we need it. the longest i would have to wait on anything is 30 days.
Best wishes on your health
My afib is apposite...my heart sometimes beats too slow (the top half doesnt communicate with the bottom half) and quivers due to the non-communication...The pace maker keeps the two halves communicating with each other....Dont feel the pace maker, but sometimes I get really tired for no reason, grumpy for no reason, and my fit bit goes down to about 60 bpm (my heart has always beat in the 80 to 90 range when sitting)...
 
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