ICD/ Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD)

[nazali]

So not sure what I've discussed on here,
but last year I had a STEMI and was 5 minutes for checking out had the para's not dragged me to hospital (I though it was heartburn)
they found 3 blocked arteries, and put 2 stents in me, (one about 2 weeks later), I had been having mild silent heart attacks for years
which has made matters worse

I was in hospital for about 6 weeks, it was touch and go for a while, they where discussing, transplant and mechanical heart, bridge to transplant. My EF was 10% and I was very tachcardic and very low blood preassure, my whole system collapsed actually due to some med's had a bad effect on me,

ANYWAY, they did get my EF up to 25%

But they are banging away at getting a ICD, my echo's allways show good, but the MUGA (which is computer controlled radiation tracer) has said lower.

Under 35% is considered high risk of instant death due to (the hearts natural pacemaker not working due to too much dead tissue)
No matter how healthy I remain if my heart get's a bad rhythm boom, I'm done.

I have another Muga coming up and another consutation, where I suspect "they can't force me" but will read me the riot act if my EF doesnt go up and I still refuse....

IF NONE OF THIS MADE SENSE thats fine.

If this made sense to you, I am totally happy to continue this converstaion

I aint too proud to say this scares the crapp outt me, I'm more worried about what can go wrong.

I've also heard of "external" life vests which do the same thing, but there not supposed to be as good,

txs all

[vreihen16]

I went through the same speech almost 6 years ago, but with a 15% EF and CHF (heart drowning itself in retained fluid) without ever having a heart attack and absolutely spotless plumbing.

My pre-hospital cardiologist always wanted to install a defibrillator, as insurance against what he called an extra beat every once in a while. After four weeks in the hospital being force-fed vitamin pee via IV and pissing out 15+ GALLONS of retained water while connected to a 24/7 EKG, I finally gave in to my new cardiologist and let them install the defib the day before they sent me home. That whole stay, I was walking laps around the hospital ward and felt fine.

Within a few days of getting home, I blacked out while standing twice...hitting the floor hard. Next thing you know, I was in an ambulance headed back to the regional trauma center for another three weeks. They tagged me as a fall hazard, confined me to the bed, and *twice* sent me to ride the lightning because my EKG readings were going crazy. This is when the transplant speeches started.

TL;DR - They determined that my ticker was suddenly (since the defib implant) in some sort of permanent afib. The cardiologist wanted to get me on the transplant list, install an LVAD (the vest with an implanted pump), etc. When I refused, they settled on some nerve ablations to disconnect the natural electrical connections to my ticker and use the defib 24/7 as a pacemaker. When they finally released me, I could not walk 50 feet and was attached to a 24/7 albatross of an IV infusion pump around my neck with heart meds. They sent me home to die! Good thing that I didn't listen to my doctors for once. The IV was discontinued after two years, and my latest echo showed a 35% EF as of a few months ago. My primary care doctor sees my 95/65 blood pressure and remarks that it's the best that my heart can do today. On the bright side, hypertension is off my medical charts.

The batteries in the defib are rated for 5 years of fill-in beats. Mine has been running for almost 6 years now as the primary beat source. Ask me how well I sleep knowing that those batteries are the only thing keeping me clinically alive, or how I felt today having to go through four metal detectors at the courthouse when testifying in a case?

Regarding the defib install, it is almost an outpatient thing these days. The only post-install conditions are not being able to lift your arms over your shoulders for a month or so...and not being allowed to drive a car for 6+ months until they determine that the box won't deploy to revive you.

The bad thing in my case is that one of the probes seems to move slightly and cause a "misfire" if I sit or lay in certain positions. The doctors say that it's not the defib, but there is no other possibility that coincidentally runs at exactly 70 BPM. My DW hears me griping about misfires in bed at night, but today for the first time she actually felt it when I was sitting in the court waiting room trying to find a comfortable position. She said that it felt like a mule was kicking me from the inside!

One other thing that may only be because mine is running the entire show is that my internal compass/gyroscope seems to always be off-kilter. I am afraid to try riding a bicycle or motorcycle again, and could not walk the line to pass a field sobriety test. Heck, there are days when I can barely keep it between the walls walking down a long hallway.....