Well Hello Family. I am 62 years old and have been married to my best friend and mate for life for 37 years, we have two lovely daughters who are on with their own lives so our nest is empty except for our Jack Russell (Saydi).

I do feel that all of you are part of my extended family, sometimes it's hard to explain to those who are not going through what we are what it's all about, thank Heaven for those of you who have been here to help us through the trials and pitfalls of living with an ICD.

My cardiac history goes back to the late 80's when I started having heart attacks once a year till 1992 when on June 2, I was fortunate enough to receive a double bypass on my Right and Left coronary arteries using mammary arteries for the graft (thankful for the high pressure arteries instead of veins from my legs)........Fast forward 11 months, another heart attack, this time on my circumflex. They tried a new device called a Stent but were unable to snake it around the corner so they settled on and plain angioplasty.

During these years my "cardiologist" would run labs every 6 months and he always made the offhand comment that "I should do something about my blood sugar" It was usually between 200 and 275. Finally he retired and I got myself a new young cardio doctor who did the same thing. First thing, blood labs where my blood sugar was 315........She called me at the office the next day and asked what I was doing......Seemed odd, but she insisted that I come in RIGHT THEN........It was then that I learned that I was a full fledged diabetic, we tried everything, diet, pills and finally insulin. The insulin worked but it is a constant battle with the blood glucose meter.

I have since learned (primarily from my own research) that being diabetic can lead to coronary artery disease. Darn, I wish I had known that 25 years ago.

Over the years during my annual cardiac exams (Nuclear Scans and echo cardiograms) indications were that my heart was weakening. My ejection fraction went from 50 following my surgery to between 10 and 15 last year, confirmed by a cardiac catherization. It was recommended in February of last year that I receive a bi-v icd. I put it off until May when it was implanted. They were unable to get the third lead in my Right Ventricle in the conventional manner so they did a mini-thoracotomy and attached it. It's supposed to make my left and right ventricles beat in a more synchronous manner.

I received my first shock in October at 4:30 a.m. Didn't feel it but probably was out of it when it fired off. My second shock was on November 19th at 11:30 p.m. Didn't feel that one either because I passed out or had SCD and fell backward in the tub. After an interrogation, my cardiologist told me that I had a live saving event. Pretty sobering but the more I think about it, it's not as dramatic as my everlasting life saving event that I received by grace from my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Pretty long introduction, but I feel that I must still have things to do here on earth or I would have been taken home on many occasions.

My name is Mark Baker, I'm 45 and I had an SCD on August 17th, 2008. I was driving two of my sons to the Lakeside Shopping Centre (mall) at the time. Fortunately the ensuing car crash was gentle and no-one was hurt. Also fortunately the car came to rest outside the house of an off-duty police officer, who is experienced in CPR, he saved my life, along with another driver who had just done a first aid course - thanks Tim & Shelley! The car was written off, but that's OK, as I'm not allowed to drive now anyway.

I was given my Guidant Vitality 2 EL (T177) ICD on 4th September by Dr Farwell at Basildon CTC. Despite a ton of tests, I still don't have a diagnosis, I have a long list of what I don't have (Long QT, Brugada etc) The only suspect is Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy, though the thickening is only in the septum and is only 30%, found in MRI. I am seeing Prof McKenner in UCH London soon and hopefully that will result in a diagnosis. My main concern is to get a diagnosis and then screen my three sons as soon as possible, so they can get preventative treatment, if necessary. The fear that one of my sons will have an SCD while unprotected is causing my wife and I some stress. The boys are 21, 18 and 11 year old.

I'm on Bisoprolol 5mg as my only meds, which are making me tired all the time. I still haven't gone back to work yet as my company's Occ health Dr won't allow me back while I am so tired.

I live in Grays in the UK (a few miles east of London), I work in Basildon for Visteon, a US based automotive component company, it used to be part of Ford. I have worked for Ford/Visteon for 27 years.

That's quite enough ramble for now!

Cheers,
Mark[/img]

My name is Suleika and I just recieved my ICD two weeks ago. I was diagnosed with ventricular tachycardia after being in the hospital for three weeks. Im 29 years old just had a baby 6 months ago and this has not been a very easy month for me. Im happy to have found this website because I felt as if I was kind of alone out there. Im currently on Flecanide and it seems to be working. Im sorry this is so short and I will def. write more in future posts.

hi there,my name is Bruce,i am 45 years old and i live in Scotland,uk,i got my icd fitted 8 weeks ago after my heart went into VF then VF,when i was taking part in a hospital trial test regarding heart failure and insulin resistance,i was lucky in the fact that i had a cardiologist,a heart specialist nurse and a room containing a defibrillator at hand,i was shocked by external defibrillator and taken to ccu,in ccu i was told that i would have to be shocked again as the rhythm of my heart was not back to normal,to my horror they said they would do this with just a small amout of sedative an i would probably feel it,but they didnt have time to put me properly under,they were right i felt it ok,i then heard the cardiologist say its going to cardiac arrest and the next thing i remember was being awoken by a nurse,after a couple of days and lots of tests i was informed that i was getting fitted with an icd,i was fitted with it under slight sedation and given a drug to put my heart into VF so the icd would shock it back to normal rhythm just to test it ,which it did,later that week i was sent home with a booklet on icds,i was left with a lot of mixed feelings regarding having this machine in me,so its great to speak to others who have shared this experience,the rest of my medical history is that i was diagnosed as having familial hypercholesterolemia aged 9 years,i had a heart attack with cardiac arrest aged 30 years and bypass operations aged 30 and 33 years,i was left with heart failure and angina due to this,i recently had an angiogram which showed that two of my arteries had multiple narrowings and these were distill,and to narrow to operate on,i then had my icd event,i take lots of meds and have a lot of mixed feelings at the moment,if you have any comments or questions please ask,i was also informed of this site by another of your members,so thanks for that.
regards Bruce,

Hello everyone. I'm Kevin from New Albany, IN. I'm 40 years old with a wife and two great kids...and an ICD(Guidant). I have ideopathic congesitive heart failure. My condition was found by accident as I don't show any outward symptoms. I had lived with my condition for almost 3 years when the discussion of an ICD came up. Because my EF was around 35%, I was referred to a heart rythm specialist. After many discussions we decided we would wait and if my EF decreased I would agree to implanting and ICD (I thought I would come out ahead because my EF had increased over the 3 year period). Well my EF decreased and I reluctantly agreed to have the ICD implanted. My ICD was implanted on 23 April 2008 as a precautionary measure. Turns out it was the best decision of my life. On 31 July 08, I went into VFIB while sitting on the couch. As I passed out, I received one full shock. I went to the ER and the docs said without it I wouldn't have been talking to them. It was the second full shock in a ten day period. 10 days before while on a work trip, I received a full shock that I had no idea was coming until the three clicks from the ICD warned me. I was in VTAC and had been for 16 seconds and wasn't even dizzy at that point(I was actually driving and getting ready to pull into a parking lot).

Needless to say, I am a nervous wreck now. When I got the device, I just kind of ignored it and went on. I went on a trip for work 10 days after the surgery. I continued my life as it was, because I thought it was truly precautionary. Turns out I was having VTAC issues that hadn't showed up on a holter monitor and I hadn't even noticed. My device has recorded 16 total episodes, that includes 2 full shocks. I have received therapy on 6 occasions(or maybe it was 7, I've lost count), the latest therapy came on 4 Nov. Thing is, almost all of that therapy happened before the shock and I had no idea it was happening, most of the time at night. The last therapy, I knew it happened. Which is why I'm glad I found this sight. Since the 31st of July, I have only had the one episode because of the Sotalol that I am taking, but I know every beat of my heart now. I just wait for this hunk of metal to zap me again. It wasn't that way before July and nothing has really changed, but I realize every skipped beat, every PVC, every moment that my heart beats.

I have read some of the posts and see that there are others out there like me who are thankful for the device, but at the same time would rather rip the thing out and sail it like a frisbee.

Hopefully some of you that have live with an ICD for a long period will help me get beyond my fears. I will say I am a little better..for the first month after the shock, I couldn't drive and that was fine, because I didn't want to leave the house. I'm ok being in public and working now. Tomorrow, 30 Nov will be a big step for me, I am getting on an airplane and going out of town for business...hopefully that will help some more.

Hope to hear from some of you.

hi there and welcome,this is a great group of people with great knowledge of icds etc,hope the trip goes well for you,was great to hear your story,regards Bruce

Hi: My mom just had a defibrillator implanted and we've got lots of questions. I lok forward to learning from this group!
Marnie

Oops, totally posted a normal post describing my whole life story before I even mosied on in here. I'll sum it up for you:

Name: Theresa Rogers
Age: 24 (will be 25 on Jan 27th thanks to my ICD)
Machinery: Medtronic Maximo VR with single Sprint Fidelis Lead (thankfully NOT a defective one)
Locale: New York (approx. 20 minutes Northwest of Manhattan)
Associated Heart Condition: Dilated Cardiomyopathy
Meds: Coreg CR 60 mg/ Diovan 160
Family History: Father-passed at 24 from DCM resulting in SCD, Aunt-passed at 40 from DCM resulting in SCD, Maternal Grandfather- 76, currently fighting throat cancer diagnosed with DCM at 50 years old, had pacemaker put in and is still trucking along
Therapy delivered only 1 time and it was this past Wed. and I have every intention on keeping it at the 1 time (not that I can REALLY control it).

Well, we are preparing to run out to grab some food, I look forward to coming back and reading more of your posts before Dexter comes on tonight (EXCELLENT SHOW) which starts at 9.

Hello, my name is Lacey I am 28 yrs old. I developed perpartum cardiomyopathy three days after my son was born July 2000. Found out all lot i had know clue that even existed. Found out what ef was by the my was only in lower 20's and still is. SO been on heart meds for eight years of my life will always be on them. In July 2008 got an ICD put in. More stress. BUT I HAVE A Lovely 8 yr old son and a perfect bf even though he not so understanding so time. that it about me so far....

Hello, we are so glad to find this ICD Support group. My husband Steve (age 57) received a pacemaker and defibrillator ICD unit this past July 2008. Two years ago he had an oblation surgery to stop atrial flutter. It seemed to be 100% successful and we thought he was in perfect health again. During a regular stress test and medical checkup in May it was discovered that he had episodes of V-fib – which he could not feel. His heart and arteries were in perfect condition, other than this sick sinus, and he has always been phsically active and a hard worker, but the doctors found his heartrate was running at a low of 30bps with sudden racing to above a 300 quiver. Since the ICD implantation, he has not felt well much of the time due to being zapped so often. It has gone off a total of nine times in five months, with three of those zaps being within a 5 minute period of time. The hardest part is that we never know when to expect it. Hard physical labor is not always the cause. We have thought perhaps stress might be a factor, but the zaps have also come while relaxing. He's having a hard time dealing with the emotional shock and the general malaise he feels for hours afterwards. I don't know how much of it is due to psychological trauma and how much is actual physical ailment. He is only on one medicine at this time: a beta-blocker called Metoprolol. After the first two shocks, the doctor changed his medicine to Solotrol, but it was after that that he got the 3 shocks within 5 minutes while walking across a parking lot. He said he often felt detached or light headed on the Solotrol, so the medicine was changed back to Metoprolol and the dosage increased to the current 300 MG level. We don't allow him to drive anymore, and he lives in fear quite often. Each zap feels like someone whacked him in the chest with a 2x4 board. We are discouraged that our quality of life has taken such a drastic change and are wondering what we can expect for the future. We agree with a statement Sue wrote on this board: “ ...I am not so much afraid of death itself but afraid of being alive but not able to live wht I would consider a productive life.” We're hoping that someone with similar problems can tell us how to deal with frequent shocks, or give us a suggestion to reduce the number of them.

Lana and Steve

Hello to all;

My name is Joe, I received my ICD on the 10th of December. Right now I'm going through the "what the hell do I do now" mode. I'll be 54 on the 16th, so I guess it was an early birthday present. I live on Long Island, NY, about 40 miles east of NYC. I'm married, with a 28 y/o daughter who lives in Louisiana. I work for the state, but my biggest concern right now is my Army career. I've been in the Army since 1974, 12 years as a regular and the Reserves since 1986. I'm sure a Medical Board is in the offing, and I'll be given the choice of retiring or being medically discharged. I knew the day would come but I wanted to go on my terms. I'm not angry, I realize the need for my ICD and the time Iit'll give me that maybe would not be there if I didn't have it. But I don't like being pushed into doing something I wasn't ready to do. It's getting late and I have to get up early. Talk to you all another day. Thanks. Joe

I am Gordon S and live in San Angelo,TX I had a MI in 1993 that resulted in a triple bypass, then three years later developed VT from the scarring in my heart. I am on my second Medtronics ICD and have almost worn this one out.

My name is Jo. I was implanted with a Medtronic Virtuoso in August 2008. I have HOCM.
I have a 15 year old son who has HCM (not implanted at this time) and a 16 year old daughter who has been screened negative to date.
I have taken metoprolol for the past 3 years.
No shocks yet but family history predicts SCA in my mid 40's. I will be the first to have an ICD when it happens.

Hi,

My name is Howard. I live in Northern California near Sacramento. I was diagnosed with HCM in March of 2007 after a very mild coronary episode. My cardiologist prescribed Toprol, and because of my level of fitness, (I ride a bike) advised me to slow down and not ride our tandem so hard. Quote: 'No Lance Armstrong stuff.'

At my annual follow-up with him, I asked if he had any plan for treatment. He told me that he was going to 'watch it.' He is a good doctor, but I was uncomfortable with how he said what he said. My wife and I discussed it and decided that we needed to get a second opinion.

I got a referral to Stanford to have more extensive testing. The doctors there confirmed the original diagnosis, but added something I had not counted on: I was at a high risk of sudden death because of the nature of my condition. They advised that I have an ICD device implanted to eliminate most of the risk. So that was a 'no brainer.' We scheduled the procedure which will be done on Wednesday, December 17 at Stanford.

I'll post more once I get back from Palo Alto.

Mettabhavana

Howard

Hi, My name is Leslie. I'm 51 years old and just had my pacemaker/defibrillator placed 12/12/08. I have cardiac and pulmonary sarcoidosis but haven't felt this healthy in years. My doctors have been recommending the ICD for a couple of years due to positive cardiac Pet Scans and the fact that there is no way to really monitor this disease. I think it probably was the right decision but I also feel as though I've been hit by a Mac Truck and I'm awfully scared of getting shocked inappropriately. So I guess you could say I'm in a "wait and see" stage. Hopefully I'll learn to live with this damn thing. Any thoughts on what would make it easier would be much appreciated.
Leslie