Elcarim
Well-known member
I know there are a few of us who have PMs in due to heart block that resulted from valve surgeries and the like. I was in serious denial when they put mine in and didn't ask a lot of questions at the time. So I guess I just assumed that the little zap would do the work of my damaged pacing node and everything else would be fine.
But I am starting to get the impression that this is not the case. That artificial pacing can damage the heart. That asynchronous pacing is worse, because one side paces naturally and the other doesn't, which is not meant to happen.
I want to know. I want to know if the PM is going to ruin my heart and shorten my life expectancy. I want to know if the changes caused by artificial pacing are going to cause other problems. And I want to know if there is anything that can be done to slow or prevent this.
No medical person has ever told me that, for example, I might want to make life decisions based on probably living another 20 years rather than another 40. They just say that each intervention is no big deal, they do it all the time. My valve will almost certainly outlive me. Pacemakers are reliable and mine will let me live as normal. Warfarin is no big deal as long as you are careful. Compliance and monitoring tilt the odds in my favour, but you can't cheat the numbers forever.
This has got a bit off track, but what I am wrestling with at the moment is whether there is value in looking after my body as best I can and planning for my future the same way as a regular person. Or would I be better off making the most of the time I have left? Should I be taking out life insurance and looking at accessing my superannuation early because I won't live until retirement age? Do I need to accept that I am not normal and healthy just because today I feel fine, that one day a complication will spring up that will kill me?
They replaced my broken bits, wired my chest shut and sent me out into the world to live my life, with no information about how my future might be affected by what they had to do.
But I am starting to get the impression that this is not the case. That artificial pacing can damage the heart. That asynchronous pacing is worse, because one side paces naturally and the other doesn't, which is not meant to happen.
I want to know. I want to know if the PM is going to ruin my heart and shorten my life expectancy. I want to know if the changes caused by artificial pacing are going to cause other problems. And I want to know if there is anything that can be done to slow or prevent this.
No medical person has ever told me that, for example, I might want to make life decisions based on probably living another 20 years rather than another 40. They just say that each intervention is no big deal, they do it all the time. My valve will almost certainly outlive me. Pacemakers are reliable and mine will let me live as normal. Warfarin is no big deal as long as you are careful. Compliance and monitoring tilt the odds in my favour, but you can't cheat the numbers forever.
This has got a bit off track, but what I am wrestling with at the moment is whether there is value in looking after my body as best I can and planning for my future the same way as a regular person. Or would I be better off making the most of the time I have left? Should I be taking out life insurance and looking at accessing my superannuation early because I won't live until retirement age? Do I need to accept that I am not normal and healthy just because today I feel fine, that one day a complication will spring up that will kill me?
They replaced my broken bits, wired my chest shut and sent me out into the world to live my life, with no information about how my future might be affected by what they had to do.
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