Hey Amy, To tell you the truth, I guess I am still adjusting somewhat since I've only had mine for three months now. In the beginning it was tough for me because I wasn't given a choice and wasn't the one making the decisions. I had SCD so I don't even remember the first several days in the hospital for the most part, so my Wife was making all of the decisions, including having the ICD implanted. I just don't remember too much about the beginning.

When I got out of the hospital after a week, I found that I was extremely depressed. Now I not only knew that I had died and don't really understand why, but I have this damn thing in my chest that's going to eventually shock the hell out of me. I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat, I didn't want company, I just didn't want to do anything, and I really didn't care about anything. I constantly worried about how it was going to feel when I got shocked and wondered why I would want to live not knowing from day to day if I was even going to make it thru another day, and do I really want to be shocked over and over just to live. Was it really worth it? My family of course didn't understand, and why would they since they weren't in my shoes? Oh they would just say maybe you should see a counselor, you need to talk to someone, and i'm thinking I can't even get my own family to understand, but you want me to go spill my guts to a total stranger. Not going to happen. Then it happened. A month after implant to the day I was sitting right here doing just what i'm doing right now and I got my first shock. That first shock changed everything. Now I knew that I was just fine and I was so glad that it saved my life. It didn't hurt. I'm not saying I would crave a shock at this point, but now I know that I worried myself sick over something that wasn't anywhere near what I had expected. It was so fast that I couldn't even figure out if it hurt or what. All I knew was I felt instantly better, and it was like my depression almost instantly lifted.

I guess what I would tell people at this point, is don't worry yourself to death over this thing, because I think you'll end up figuring out that you did all of that worrying for nothing. I am not concerned about the lack of the companies disclosing defects about the ICD's as I am about the medications some of us take. I worry a lot more about medications that nobody knows anything about until things happen to people years later. I guess the other thing that helps me is the fact that out of everything that happened to me, the one thing I will never forget is the actual dying. I remember dying when I had SCD, and it was to this day the best feeling I have ever had that I can recall, so if I was ever afraid of dying before, I have no fear of it now.

Hi Everyone,

After viewing this site for a week or two I thought it appropriate to join your group. I must admit that just by viewing the messages on this forum I have gained so much and a feeling of belonging already. I have been moved by many of your stories and feel that I 'know' many of you already. The creators and administrators of the site deserve a lot of credit.

Anyway, to introduce myself. My name is Gary, am 54 yrs and live in Southern England. I have been married for 34 yrs and have 2 grown up children who have left home, and two young grandsons. I have been retired for 18 months now and there is no doubt that being retired has taken away some of the pressures of life that many posters on here still have to face and I am grateful for that.

I had a heart attack in 1994 but after a period of rehab soon returned to normality. In 2003 I received a stent after experiencing some Angina symptoms. Again I returned to normal and was very active, cycling, going to the gym and generally keeping fit. However on 22/07 this year I suddenly went into VT for the first (and only) time. I went to the ER where I was shocked back into normal rythm. The following day I was given another stent and the day after became the not so proud owner of a Guidant ICD. To date I remain Zap free and long may that continue!!

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it!

Gary

Good morning.
I am Clint, I live in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. I am pleased to have found you guys. I hope I am operating the board Ok...if not I take instruction pretty well.
In addition to the IDC, I can clearly see that I have a great deal in common with a number of you already. I received my ICD two weeks ago yesterday at Stanford Hospital. Fortunately, I got it before I ran my heart to failure. I was wearing an event scanner. Immediately after sending in my 1st three data recordings I got a call from a Cardio Doc at Stanford. He told me to come see him immediately and "oh yeah, have someone drive you". It seems that I have situations driven by VT and PVC. I never had (physical) heart problems in the past - so it pretty much blew me away.
About me:
As soon as I figure out the nuts and bolts I'll post a picture for you all. If you print several out, you can put them around the foundation of your house to scare away the bugs.
Like Don, I ride big motorcycle, am a VN vet and a ULC Minister. I have performed a number of marriage ceremonies for friends. And...again, like Don, I have worked in the high voltage utility industry for over 35 years. Crazy Clint plays with electricity 500,000 to 120/240 volts and everything in between.
I am 59, married to a wonderful - beautiful woman. I have two kids, both grown and doing well. CP is a musician and has his own recording studio. KK is an event planner and concierge. My lovely wife AP is a teacher.

Ok that's a long winded intro. I will look forward to participating and trying to figure out why a healthy old rock and roller has this thing implaned in my chest. Who do I talk to about getting a USB2 up grade with 520GB of memory?

Seriously, about the image, I have a few on my hard drive but will need some advise on posting one if any of you all are interested.

Have a great day...it's beautiful and cool here.

Clint

Hey everyone, my name is Marianne.

I am glad to find y'all, I am a member of another group that is geared towards Long QT, which is what I was diagnosed with after my SCA on January 4, 2004. But I'm really excited to find an ICD group.

Up to that point I was unaware of any type of problems at all (heart wise) and was all excited because I had just landed a "plumb" new job. Uh huh....started the job on Monday, two days later I "die" in the conference room. I did try to go back to work about 6 months later, but unfortunately I was unable to sufficiently concentrate. I have semi-severe? brain damage, so my doc's say.

As I was saying, I had the arrest Wednesday morning, January 4, 2004. I was extremely lucky that there was nurse in my training class, who immediately began CPR or I would not be here today. She kept it up until the EMT's arrived.

All I'm going to say now is heresay on my part, because I remember NONE of it. The EMT's apparently shocked me 8 times between the office and the hospital. In the ER, my mother told me they told her that they shocked me over 20 times. THEN...yes, then, hehe, after I was installed in CCU, I arrested again and my nurse in there said she lost count at 36. She told my mom I was not going out on her shift. That goodness. Anyway, 2 days later the ICD was implanted (Guidant). I woke up 6 days later. By "woke up" I mean that's when I can begin remembering things.

So I am currently drawing disability, and thinking about attempting to go back to work, doing something. It's been 4 1/2 years now, and I think my brain is somewhat better. Well, there are days. I live in Alabama, I am divorced and have two "grown" children. They are! Just ask them! Actually, they are. They are 23 and 19. I also have two dogs, one a mutt named Sandy, and the other named Abaddon is a Rottweinie. Uh huh...part Daschund and part Rottweiler. Dont ask me..... He's a cutie though. No really my son used to work at a local Vet clinic, and knows the people who bred him. He's my bud and we are hardly ever seperated so I dont know how he'll take it if I am able to go back to work.

I'm starting to ramble.....thanks for reading.

Marianne Oh, I'll post a pic asap, my computer is down right now and I'm using my mother's. She has very pictures on here, but mine should be back up in the next few days.

I'm Anita, and my son has an ICD.

On Sept 25, 2001 I dropped my 15 year old son, Evan, off at karate class and went across the road to the mall. Evan had passed his first degree black belt two months before. About 15 minutes later, I got a call from the sensei there was a problem and Evan was being taken to the hospital. Turns out he had suffered cardiac arrest during warm up. Luckily the instructor was a trained fire fighter and performed CPR until the EMT's arrived and defibrillated him. He was without pulse or respiration for a total of about two minutes. I don't want to go over the next ten days, you parents know what I'm talking about, but he ended up with an ICD. There is no history of heart problems on either side of the family. He was also a wrestler. His diagnosis was catcholaminergic ventricular tachycardia, which I now know is a default diagnosis when they really don't know what caused his arrest. Last Friday Evan just had his second ICD put in.

I'm a single mom who was a teacher at the time ( I'm since retired and gone on to a second career) and aside from some visits in the hospital, his father has not been involved at all in Evan's medical issues.

I guess that's all for an intro. got to run now. I wish I'd had something like this forum seven years ago. Thank goodness I have a good therapist.

Anita

I am Grace, 81 yrs old and my ICD was implanted on April 14, 2006 (Good Friday) and has kept me functioning very well. I woke on April 13th telling my husband I was feeling odd. I was standing in front of my kitchen sink when he saw me falling and before he could reach me I hit my head on the tile floor. I had passed out. I only remember him saying Grace, Grace as he picked me up.
After that I was clear headed. We put a cold compress on my head as I was bleeding profusely. I called my Dr. while my husband was cleaning up a pool of blood on the floor. They recommended I go to ER. Previous to this episode I thought my only problem was an irregular heartbeat. I have been on a good program of Vitamins and Nutrients for the past 25 years. I have a low Ejection Fraction and would like to know if anyone is aware of how I can improve my Ejection Fraction naturally with nutrients.

I hope that I'm posing this question in the correct area.

Grace

Hello ,

My name is Irene, but since I'm Dutch: 'Eerainuh' is the way it is pronounced I'm 43 years young. Love lured me to Australia and I've now lived there for 9.5 years.

My heart trouble started in '96 at the age of 30. I had a massive heart attack early one morning. It caused several VF's, and unfortunately resuscitation caused a liver rupture, which didn't exactly help. All I know of the first week is what I have been told, as I was kept in a medically induced coma. I won't go into the juicy details as they are not relevant now .
We discovered I have Factor V Leiden (a blood clotting disorder), and Hyperhomocystenuria, a condition where the body produces too much homocysteine. Also I was on the pill, I smoked and overall I wasn't a happy chappie. After the MI I was in a wheel chair for 4 years, because it took that long to find out I needed a stent. After the stent I was finally angina-free, and I 'only' had my reduced EF to cope with. Still, it was a big difference.

5 Weeks ago I ended up at Emergency because of tachycardia, pain, dizzyness, etc. In a way that was a good thing, as now tests were done that I was overdue for. So a few days later I had an echo, which showed an EF of 30%, a mural thrombus in the left ventricle, and sludge in the aneurysm in the apex. We decided to implant an ICD. I also had a change of beta blocker and some meds were added.

The beta blocker turns out to be magical (well, so to speak ): yesterday my EF was 50%. It truely is mind boggling and I'm still digesting the news.

I tend to 'research' a lot, and will always try to fully understand what I'm talking about - as far as I can, being a lay person. Plenty of moments I might be dribbling, but when it comes to matters of the heart, I will always try to know what I'm saying... :-D

I hope to learn a lot here, and who knows, I might contribute something sensible too.

Thanks and best health to everyone

Eerainuh

hello.
my name is kristin, i was diagnosed with long QT at the age of 17 in august of 2006 after going into cardiac arrest at my home. i was implanted with an ICD august 21, 2006, and i am still going strong.
i feel very blessed to have been given a second chance at live, and i live it to the fullest.

Mornin' all.

My name is Robert, some call me Pete or Petey. I'm 50, married to my best bud Kolleen for 27 years and a father of three grown children ages, 23, 22 and 18. I received my first ICD in Dec. 99. I am now on my third unit. I was thumped by my first unit 4 times in a 5 year period of time. No hits on the 2nd one and just once with my new one. That was yesterday. Kolleen asked if I'd ever looked for a forum board for ICD users so I thought I'd give it a shot. Looks like I've got a lot of reading to do.

Robert

Hi everone. I am brand new on here. My name is Andrew, and I live in Overland Park, KS. I am 32, and have a wife Vicki, and a son Reece. I just got my ICD on Friday the 29th. Still very fresh, and I am still real sore. Anyone know how long this soreness will last? I had one of these put in because the Drs were worried about some V-Tac that was happening. Very small amounts, but enough for me to get one. I had a TIA(mini stroke) in Feb. I have also had open heart surgery as a child. Anyway, I just wanted to introduce myself and start up some conversations. I have many questions, and would like to talk to some people. Thanks for reading
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Hi,
I just joined as my partner recently got an ICD. I want to learn more. I've already had some questions answered. I'm surprised doctors don't tell patients of this and other helpful web sites. Are there any doctors who respond to people on this list or is that too much of a professional risk for them to give advice here? My partner David has also just joined.

Dan

Hi,
I just got my ICD on Aug 6 after a bout with ventricular tachycardia triggered by a 30 minute jog before work. I've never had a problem before. I turn 55 later this month and have been a runner for 25 years (10 Ks and a couple of half marathons in addition to regular jogs of 3-5 miles). I also hike, bike, kayak, swim and ski. I'm fit (6 ft 1 inch and 170 lbs. with no artery disease, normal blood pressure and a low resting pulse rate.

I never passed out from the VT, but had to be defibrillated in the emergency room (intravenous medications did not bring the VT down).

My ICD was implanted at Stanford University Hospital in Palo Alto. I just had my check up with the electrophysiologist who was my doctor at Stanford and I have had no VT incidents since the initial one. My only problem, besides still being slightly sore from the incision and the invasive procedures of both an angiogram and an electrophysical exam (up both femoral arteries), are some palpitations (real or imagined?) I see my local (Santa Çruz) cardiologist tomorrow to have him interpret an echo-cardiogram done last week.

I am a school district superintendent and will be retiring at the end of this school year ( a very high-stress job). I am also Canadian and will be moving to my home in British Columbia (Salt Spring Island--30 minutes from Victoria). So I will need to become hooked up with ICD services at Royal Jubilee Hospital in Victoria.

The disbelief and anxiety resulting from the sudden onset of VT has been challenging for me. I've been fortunate to have always been healthy and have never been in a hospital up until now. It's weird to think about having this device in me.

David

Hi
My name is Josh and i joined not long ago. i'm 30 married with 2 kids. I live in Alabama and work for a large corp in the inventory control dept.
last year on 6\10\07 I had a mild heart attack and a stent implant. 7\11\08 1st episode of vtach 188 bpm. 7\14\08 medtronic virtuoso implanted.
I love life and wake up everyday with a smile. sounds cheesy dont it.

Hello everyone!

I'm Roxy, one of Keith of WI's daughters. We decided to join so that we can provide updates when Keith is unable to. Since we will be using this same member account we will try to remember to sign our posts, but please forgive us if we forget.

Roxy, Faye, Steve, and Owen

Hello everyone -- I am finally joining the Board here. My wife Aamos is already a member and a frequent poster. I've been meaning to get here for awhile... I'm 53 and had SCD on June 1st 2008. I was closing in on the finish line of a 10K race in Steamboat Springs, CO, when the lights just went out on me. Happily it happened at the finish line where all the people and medics were! I was shocked once with an AED and was soon in the ER trying to figure out what had happened to me. I had a quadruple bypass 4 days later.

On a personal note -- well, non-health-related note -- I am a public-interest lawyer (civil Legal Aid) living in the shadows of the Black Hills of South Dakota. This is a glorious place to live in summer but Aamos and I are finding our affinity for winter weather decreases with each recurrence; in other words we are yearning to head south as soon as we can figure out how we're going to pay the bills when we get there! Living in a beach shack can sound pretty enticing sometimes, especially with the winter winds howling outside the door.

-- Dan