Hello,,My name is Lou. I had my Medtronic ICD implant in April of this year and my first shock on the 4th of July. Next,in August I had a mitral valve replacement using a St Jude mechanical. I had a valve repair in 1997 so I am not new to heart trouble. The doctor seems to think I had rheumatic fever as a child but I have no one around to ask. I am 56,divorced and retired as a nanny. I have 2 sons. One passed away ,8 years ago due to what may be a genetic heart problem,,he was 22 and healthy at the time. My other son lives here in town and has blessed me with a wonderful grand daughter. I live one day at a time,,sometimes hour to hour. Life is good and should be lived. My surgeon told me to up my fun factor and thats what I try to do. I'm happy to be here and look forward to getting to know everyone.

Hi my name is Buck. I am a new member to this forum. The acceptance email that I received said that I need to post an introduction with in 48 hours or I may be mistaken as spam. How and where do I post my introduction or is that what I am doing right now?

I am scheduled to have an ICD placed the third week in January of '09. Several doctors have told me that my decision to have this procedure done is a "No Brainer"! I am naturally skeptical and concerned as well. I am 50 years old and had a major heart attach when I was 42. Heart problems run in my family. I have an E.F. of 30% along with CHF. I still have energy and can golf, hike, bike, and take walks as long as 5 to 6 miles a day.

My concern is that I still want to be able to do these things after my ICD placement.

I would appreciate any thoughts or suggestions about this. Is my life going to change drastically?

Hi,

This is Willie here and I am from Singapore. Some of you guys might remember me from The Zapper, which I used to visit several years back. I had my AICD implanted in Mar 2001, more than 7 yrs ago. Over the 7+ yrs I have only been zapped once, due to sinus tach caused by excessive exercise.....during a marathon. Other than that one time, I guess life have been pretty kind to me and I have more or less forgotten I even had an AICD until I had my vacation in Europe a month ago, when the EOL alarm went off in the middle of the night. And tomorrow is my big day, having it replaced. Thought that it would be good for me to meet up some old friends and make new ones too in the forum and ask for your prayers to keep me safe tomorrow. Cheers everyone and I hope to be back to wish you guys Merry Christmas on the 24th!

Willie
Guidant Ventak Prizm II

Hi, my name is Tim. I turned 57 in early December. I've been married to my wife Rebecca for 32 years. Things just wouldn't be the same without her support. We have two grown sons. One is married and the other is still single. Our married son has blessed us with twin grandson's who will turn 3 this coming May. They bring real joy to our lives.

Imagine my surprise when I went for my yearly physical to have my GP tell me that my EKG had the appearence of having had a heart attack! I told him that I thought he was trying to give me one!!

So, he sent me off the the cardiologist were upon further review it seems that I have a left branch bundle block and cardiomyopathy. After a summer of EKG's, echocardiogram's, catherization and a regimen of drugs in hopes of improving my EF of 16, the decision was made to give me an ICD. To this day I have never had any symptoms of something wrong. Never any chest pain, SOB, have always been able to do whatever I wanted.

So on October 23, 2008 my life changed forever and I was implanted with a Medtronic Concerto. It is pacing my ventricles 100% to help my EF. The surgery and recovery seemed to go as smoothly as it could. I stayed out of work for a few weeks while thel leads healed over with scar tissue. I did have a small set back with some dizzy spells, but the cardiologist changed around the way I was taking my meds and things seem to have improved.

I found this site by way of the Pacemaker Club website. I was glad to find a group and place that was dedicated to ICD implants.

Merry Christmas to all!

Did I mention I like to trout fish? This guy came out of the West Branch of the Delaware River.

Hello, all! I'd say, "Glad to be here", but that might imply that I'm happy to have CHF and a Boston Scientific ICD - LOL! I'm just blessed to be alive in an era when so much can be done for all of us. See you on the forums.
Chiz

Greetings from the deep jungles of South Arkansas. My name is Leland, 68 years old. Retired from the USMC after 22 years which included 3 tours in Vietnam. I retired again in 2000 after 20 years as a senior manager for a major DOD contrator. With Social Security I could be called a "triple dipper". I have lurked on this board for about a month and learned a great deal of helpful information. My first VT happened on April 20th this year while in bed, just passed out but never lost it completely. I still remember the first responders and the ambulance arriving after wife called 911. Ambulance EMT zapped me with the paddles and I came out of it. They took me to two different hospitals ending up in Little Rock. They implanted "igor" my buddy...A Boston Scientific/Guidant mod H217 with 3 leads. Igor has shocked me back from darkness 3 times since. The Drs have changed meds 3 times, it now has been 88 days without a shock. I get these surreal/detached feelings a few times daily, scares hell out of me. Dr says it is just Igor using the pacemaker. Current meds: Tiazac 420mg, Carvedilol 25mg 2x, Cozaar 50mg 2x and Sotalol 160mg 2x. Thanks, Leland

Hi y'all,
I'm Dave, and live in Liverpool, UK, home of the Beatles and Everton FC (and the other one across the park LFC!). I had my ICD fitted at the end of May this year and have had no shocks. I had a heart attack in the swimming pool at my scuba diving club. I was playing Underwater Hockey at the time. Fortunatley our club doctor was on hand to take charge. I had 3 stents fitted and was discharged. A week later I had a cardiac arrest at home in the garden. Fortunately I had 2 builders on site, one of whom gave me CPR, and paramedics shocked me 3 times. I am so grateful to him and the medical team.
I'm quite fit now, but have been advised not to scuba dive any more - but I'm waiting for medical confirmation of this. There seems to be some debate - I may be able to dive to 14m. I'm also unsure of playing Underwater Hockey again even though max depth is 3m. Maybe in the New Year.
By the way I'm 58, have 2 children, and am looking forward to being a grandpa next June / July.

I think that'll do for now.

ttfn (ta ta for now)
Dave

Sorry it has taken so long for me to reply. I have gotten a little behind. I think I might be able to give a little insight. I have been in the Air Force since 1986...Active Duty until 1989 and Air National Guard since then. I became a dual status technician in 2003(I work full time for the Guard during the week). I'm only 40 and have 17 years left until I can retire from the civillian side..unless I am discharged on the military side at which time, 30 days later I lose my full time job. My cardiomyopathy was found by accident ...at that time, it was thought to be just a viral infection, so no big deal. I started getting better until last year when my EF dropped considerably. At that time I was tagged with CHF and told I needed to get an ICD because of my increased risk of sudden cardiac death. I said absolutely not because I like you knew what would come next. After almost a year, my EF decreased again and we decided for an ICD implant in April of this year. Just before my implant at my yearly medical review I presented the Medical Group with all of my records for the last 3 years. 2 months later it was determined that I was Non Worlwide Deployable which essentially is the end of a career. Luckily for me, I was in a non mobility position. I was able to produce statements from my doctor and a couple of Senior Officers suggesting that I be allowed to stay in some capacity, so the State Air Surgeon allowed me to stay in on an Assignment Limitation Code(ALC-C). I now have to have my records reviewed annually and every two years, my commander will decide if he wishes to keep me, then we send the paperwork to the State Air Surgeon who has the final decision. I can still pull drills, deploy CONUS and am required to pass a PT test every year (i had a cardio waiver for this year because of the surgery, but still did push ups and sit ups a couple of weeks ago). There is always the possibility that they can pull my file and put me out, but I have made it so far.

I fought hard because I am not ready to go. I know that they day I am medically discharged, the 30 day clock for my civillian job starts. I will draw a disability for my civillian job, but at age 40, that isn't what I want to do for the rest of my life. I also know that since I can't prove this is service connected, that I get nothing from the military until age 60.

I worked hard to get to an E9 position and once I got there, this came up. I was angry too. I'm an E8 now just waiting for my time in grade and have found out that I still might get promoted. So, don't give up. You never know. Start reading the Army medical regs. I worked for JFHQ for the last year and I know more than one person in the Army with medical conditions that should have put them out, but it didn't. Hope this helps. Bottom line is the ICD has to come first...mine has already save my life, so I'm glad I had it implanted. Hang in there and good luck.

Hello all:

My intro email requested that I post an introduction. I am on my second ICD. The first a Guidant which went low on batteries after three years from "excessive" shocks. I had an arrhythmic storm and took just under 50 hits in 3 hours. I now have a Medtronic and have not been shocked for close to three years.

Happy New year to all and talk to you soon.

Hello,
My name is Marty I live about 20 miles east of Indianapolis, Indiana. Six years ago I had a heart attack received a stent and was released from the hospital on Christmas eve 2002. This past year 2008 I was back in and receiving my Medtronics ICD on Christmas eve. I'm 54 married for almost 35 years. The only kids we have are the four leg variety 3 mini dachunds and 1 cat. I"ve worked in maintenance for about 30 years. My hobbies are gardening, home improvement, and woodworking when time allows. This of course is all new to me and I'm still trying to take it all in. I found this web site a couple of days ago as a guest and found myself coming back to it because it made feel really comfortable and everyone does act like family.
Thanks for the support, Marty

Hello to everyone; My name is Wendall Broadwater and I reside in Canton, OH. I am a power plant engineer. I am married my wifes name is Arlene and I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters. I am now 54 years old; I had a heart attack at the age of 45 and I have dialiated cardiomopathy; I am between stage 3 and 4 of CHF. I have a medtronic heart failure pacemaker/defibrulator. I also have 16 stents and had a triple bypass i April of 05. I am as active as possable and have lost 35 pounds and now weigh 140 which I think is ok for only being 5'and 4" tall. I must confess at first felt sorry for myself but not I try to take each day as a challenge. I recently had a pacemaker revision where the device was reimplanted subpectoral and am still healing from the surgery. By all indications it was the best thing I ever had done. I now have much less pain and the device is more protected and is now hardly noticabble. Sorry to ramble on, but it is so good to just be able to talk to people who understand. I will be happy to answer any questions or to help encourage. My bigest concerm now is my ejection fraction as it was 18 when the ICD was implanted and for nine months it increased to 44 ; ut now it is dropping back and is nor 26. Thank you for allowing me to ramble on. I look foreward to hearing fron some of you soon. Thank and God Bless.

Hello my name is Charles,I had a ICD on the 8th of December 2008,I would love to hear from anyone in the support group.

My husband had a heart attack in August 2008. We went from thinking he had a broken rib (ran into a wall carrying a paint tray) to getting angioplasty. I actually drove him to the hospital (about 20 minute drive). He had a 95% and 100% blockage. Plus we also found out that he had a previous heart attack about 2 years earlier. A week after being released from the hospital his EF was 25 - a month later the MUGA showed an EF of 30-35. We've been told he did a lot of damage to the heart by waiting so long to go to the hospital. (Was driving to work Wednesday afternoon and had to pull over because the arm pain was so severe. Went to work anyway. Went to the hospital Thursday morning.) My husband was told that when he is in cariac rehab they can tell which patient is him by his EKG. I've been searching the internet for some place he can find info that he can relate to. He is very concerned about getting this done. I'm concerned about him not getting it done. Hopefully this site will help him.

Hello!

Thanks soo much to whomever put this support group together! I just knew there was one somewhere on the net and feel blessed to have found y'all.

My husband's had a very rough last year. He had a ruptured appendix in March '08, then a hernia operation early Dec. '08. Really wasn't feeling better after that surgery but thought it was just the aftereffects of the anesthesia. After some prodding (yep, from me) he went to urgent care (this was on the Saturday after Christmas) who diagnosed him w/ bronchitis. We then followed up on Monday with his regular doc who sent him to emergency figuring they'd find a blood clot. No such luck! Instead, the next day he had a heart cath (soo not what we were thinking was the avenue he was going to take) and they found 3 blockages and a 10% EF. The following Monday he had a CABG, was doing great until this past Thursday nite/Friday morning when his heart rate went over 200!

Needless to say, seeing your husband jolted 6-8 times was a lot to take but they finally got his rate down. The doc had talked to us about him possibly needing an ICD but I believe this episode confirmed that decision. The only thing now is whether the surgery will be Tuesday or Weds. They really didn't want to do it so soon after open heart but I think they really don't have a choice.

I do have a question.....he is a mechanic and unfortunately, arc welds about 50% of the time. Big no no I'm reading! Besides the obvious (NO MORE WELDING), has anyone heard of a device that is safe? Or perhaps is there a shield that can be worn while welding, kinda like we wear to get xrayed? Just wondering here....

Thanks for letting me ramble. Sure not the place I thought I'd be right now (posting on an ICD forum) but sure glad I found you guys!

Ursula

Hello everyone,
my name is Christine and I am glad to find this board. My husband Dirk got his first ICD (Guidant) in march 2002. After collapsing in front of the computer they found Brugada. Before that my husband lived some years with the wrong diagnose of sick-sinus-syndrom. But who knewed Brugada in the 80s? In June 2006 he got his second ICD(Biotronic). During a stay in California in december 2007 the ICD shocked for the first time while beeing in a supermarket. That was expected, lifesaving, drastic. Since this time there have been some situations shortly before shocking.
There are a lot of questions about living with an ICD and this desease. Everys 3 - 4 months there is a examination in a great regional hospital. We are living in Germany and there aren't so many people with Brugada. That's why it would be interesting to know others with the same questions, uncertainties, experiences.
Some pictures will follow in the next time.
Hope we will spend a good time in this board!
Christine & Dirk