Walter's Posts

It has been a long time since I last logged on to this site. 661 days have passed since my heart operation. That kinda puts everything into perspective. 1 year, 9 months, and 21 days to be clear. It seems like an eternity. So much has taken place in such a short time, and yet everything is passing so quickly at the same time. I did finally find steady work this year in April, and am grateful for that, however I am having trouble sleeping at night. I have a pacemaker, which was inserted around September of last year, and my question is to anyone experiencing similar issues. I wake up every night around 2:00 am. Whether I go to sleep at 9 or 11 it doesn't matter. I wake up and can't get back to sleep. This started after I took on my new job, but only fairly recently (within the past two months or so). Stress? Yes. Unbearable? No. In fact, once I'm at work it's really a breeze. I saw my electrophysiologist recently and they adjusted the overnight threshold down to 50 beats per minute rather than 60, but I'm wondering if those having pacemakers have similar issues sleeping through the night. I know it may be age related also, but I never had problems sleeping before.

It's coming up on my 1 year anniversary. March 8 will be a year. I feel good for the most part. I haven't had any notable bouts with AFib, my heart murmur is gone, thanks to Dr. Juan Grau at The Valley Hospital, Ridgewood, NJ, and the pacemaker is doing it's job. Surprise, surprise, they took me off of Eliquis, which I never felt I needed in the first place, but I took it per doctor's orders, along with all the other stuff. Regardless, even my doctor, my electrophysiologist, said that I wasn't really a candidate for blood clots, and the procedure I had done removed the area in the heart that blood clots tend to form. My ribs and chest still kind of pop a little bit when I get up in the morning, but I'm not in pain because of it. Once I stand up an stretch a little everything is fine. I guess it'll go away completely eventually. Now I'm looking for a job. I've been turned down by more places, some of which is because of my age, but also I've had a physical exam hold me up. When they found the pacemaker that put a red flag on me.. I know they can't discriminate, but they do, and unfortunately that is the reality of life. Regardless, I am working as an independent contractor for a friend of mine until I either figure out what to do, or something comes through for me sometime soon. It has been a very long and strange two years, not just because of Covid-19, which I never contracted thankfully, but having heart issues arise in coincidence with Covid-19, everything is just bizarre. I'm feeling good. I just have to keep my optimism high.

Thank you again everyone for your responses; Richard Munson, Tom Everson, Susan Lynn, Tracy Fallu, and Patsy Stewart. I don't see a way of liking them and I think it is necessary to acknowledge that I read your comments and appreciate them very much. Because of you I am looking forward to doing this rehab thing.