Regular Shocks

I suffered from consistent disturbing electrical shocks like clockwork daily and hourly at my sternum after the placement of my pacemaker in. ( lower heart area ) for more than a year. My cardiologist kept telling me throught the year that it is all in my head. I insisted on a check by the St Jude's tech. They found issues. To make a long story short, there are issues I am having due to sensitivity. I feel every pace, sometimes intensely. Since the leads have been in for more than a year I now need a specialist to fix the situation. I' going to have my lower lead replaced under anistanesia, then brought to during the surgery so the location and intensity can be tested while I am speaking to the surgeon. Once we find the comfort zone he will put me back under and sew me up. It's a lot to go through just because my doctor wouldn't Lister. If your doctor won't listen to you, dump him and go elsewhere.

3 Comments

What a story!

by AgentX86 - 2018-05-29 20:06:34

Absolutely.  If a doctor (other than a brain surgeon ;-) told me "it was all in my head", I'd fire them instantly.  That said, many doctors just kinda ignore what I have to say.  My cardiologist and EP have been outstanding.  Thank you for that story, though.  It's good for all of us to keep this in mind.

Did you tell the St.J tech about the problem before?  Or was this a different tech that you went to?

Ask nicey, then keep bitching until they listen.

by Rreynolds - 2018-05-30 11:27:14

To answer your question. The first few times I had chest pain from my pacemaker I went to the emergency room and was seen by a St. Jude Rep who interrogated the pacemaker telling me it was working properly. To be fair, the ER had asked him to come in "just to interrogate". The next few times I was interrogated at my now "ex-cardiologists" office by his tech and was told for the umpteenth time that it is all in my head and that it was working fine. Finally, I spoke to a St Jude technician and asked for in depth testing and they did it for me.

Dud Heads

by Dexter - 2018-05-30 13:02:34

I've found that some physicians have a disturbing lack of intellectual curiosity about solving their patients' problems. For them it's just punching a clock and cashing the check. As the old Dear Abby used to remind people, 50% of all physicians graduated in the BOTTOM half of their classes, so never hesitate to change doctors when the red flags go up.

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