MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLNESS
The Result of Ignoring Warning Signs by P eggy D ougherty M arcus
W EDNESDAY, OCTOBER 30 – I am out doing my weekly grocery shopping, put my groceries in my car, drop my cart off, and – WHAM! – I wake up in the Saraso- ta Memorial Hospital ER with a heart rate of 197, surround- ed by techs of all kinds, IVs being started in both arms, X-rays, multiple exams…I hear the whirring of a machine
PACEMAKER I am in uncontrolled AFIB for 40 hours when on Sun- day, December 22, the decision is to perform an emergency pacemaker implant for Tuesday, December 24, at 5:00 a.m. The device is new and called the Biventricular CRT. I am wheeled into the “Cath” lab, something out of a NASA launch room. I wake up to my left chest heavily bandaged
near my head, the machine you see on TV, with the doctor yelling, “200 CLEAR,” and then the electric charge. THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31 – They perform a “Paddles” procedure on me in the OR, trying to shock my erratic heart rate into sinus rhythm. They tell me I have AFIB and they are going to put me on multiple drugs and discharge me the next day. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 6 – My first visit to my new cardiologist and they do an EKG prior to him coming in. He looks at the scan and says, “You do not belong here,” opens the door, yells for a wheel- chair, and says, “Call the ER, we are bring- ing Peg over.” My heart rate was 177. Meet the cardio electrophysiologist in the ER who tells me he has cleared his schedule for a cardiac ablation. Now comes more
and I am flat on my back. They had to do a second procedure through my groin so I could not sit up for six hours. Before I left the hospital, a Patient Advocate came to see if I needed anything once I got home – Nurse, OT, or PT. I told him that no one in all of my discharges asked me how I was dealing with the mental stress of this ordeal. They all said deep breathing, meditation, and gummies work. Thank you – but don’t know how and won’t take them. My mental health is in shambles. A behavioral therapist arrives to talk to me. She recommends I read the Bible, particularly the passages on “Anxi- ety”…Please discharge me! UPDATE AS OF SUNDAY, JANUARY 5, 2025!!! I am home resting, watching the colors
Me and my pacemaker...The area is still extremely swollen after six weeks.
of the rainbow wash all over my body from the bruising and hematomas, but so incredibly grateful to God, my sur- geon, and cardiologist for not waiting. They said I had the most aggressive AFIB they had ever seen. They believe it was stress induced. The latest stress and fear came from not knowing when these episodes would hit. I could not drive and had to have someone around in case of another fit. I didn’t know if the next one would cause a stroke or worse scenario, fatal. I spent a lot of time alone in my hospital bed, thinking about my long 74 years, and how I am going to have to change my ways. Stepping back from tons of volunteer work, saying “NO,” which is very hard for me. I realize now that I got several warnings in August and September, which I blew off as nothing important – mini fainting spells, blurred vision, rough heartburn, asthma flare-ups. I was given Warning Signs for months and ignored them. On January 21, I am being connected to the Sarasota Memorial Hospital cardiac wireless system so they can track my pacemaker. I am enrolled, starting in early Febru- ary, for a three-times-a-week rehab program for cardiac and pulmonary. Both my heart and lungs are weakened from the intense heart rate, but I do not have a heart muscle issue. They call that a plumbing issue. I had an electrical
IVs, CTs with contrast scans for my groin and internal body. The doctor calls my husband Bob after the surgery to tell him I had plaque on both pulmonary veins into my heart and the lower part of my heart and he has burned it away. More drugs added to the regimen. Discharged Friday, November 8. Now I am becoming really worried as I am asymptomatic and cannot predict or feel these episodes coming on. I buy an Apple 10 watch with Heart Rate and EKG apps. THE SAGA CONTINUES Fast-forward to four more ER visits with five total admis- sions, due to this aggressive AFIB, with the last one being Saturday, December 21, with an ER heart rate of 151. The liver ultrasound comes back with incredibly high (bad) numbers for my liver, gallbladder, kidneys, and I’m highly anemic. I am now freaking out, trying to remember if I have all of my affairs in order. And what about my older husband, Bob, who I am a caregiver to? What about him? My mind never shut down. The fear was real that I was in true danger. The mental stress was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Trying to breathe, clear my head, stay calm. This did not work! The high lab numbers were thankfully ALL attributed to the medication they had me on.
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MARCH 2025
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