Hi my name is Mark
In May at the age of 30 I had a sudden cardiac arrest. My wife did CPR at home and I was shocked by the ambulance crew. I was in intensive care for 9 days but woke up on day 4. I spent 5 weeks in hospital and had an ICD fitted.
I have been home nearly 3 weeks and trying to adjust to how life is now.
I would really like to hear from and chat to other people. I am waiting for neurological and cardiac rehab to start.
One year ago to the day my husband had a cardiac arrest when we were out, no phones, so pretty scary all round.
My advice is take one day at a time especially at the beginning, small steps to get back on your feet. Don’t be afraid to ask for help from GPSs, cardiologists and neurologists. Ask for information in layman’s terms.
My husband is one of the rare people who have struggled after the CA, he is not the norm but be aware of the anxiety and depression that can affect HA/CA survivors.
The rehab will help and sometimes your local gym has cardiac rehab classes for afterwards.
Take care and you will get there and survive.
Hi had cardiac arrest while in Spain July this year my wife and friend gave me cpr until ambulance arrived. The hospital put it down to dehydration, when I arrived back to England saw my cardiologist.who confirmed due to my heart condition it was a cardiac arrest.August i was fitted with a pacemaker/defibrillator, in my self i fill great i take each day as it comes. The only downside for me is that dvla have taken my life of me, as I was a class one hg v driver.
Hi Mark, do u know what caused it?
I'm 35 and had heart attack and cardiac arrest in April. Kim.
Hi Kimb3,
I havent a clue why I had the arrest as 5 seconds before I knew exactly what I was doing, more worrying and annoying for me in some ways is the doctors also don't know and have't been able to put their finger on any reason yet. Hope you are recovering well, its nice to hear from others that are of similiar age and have suffered the same.
Hi Mstower
Maybe you and Alice_Ro would have a lot to chat about!
If you or your family ever need to chat to a cardiac nurse, please call our heart helpline on 0300 330 3311. Best of luck going forward and adjusting to life back at home.
Ashleigh
Thank you we have called the help line and found it very useful.
Thanks Ashleigh! And hello Mark. Our stories are remarkably similar.
I am 29 and had a cardiac arrest completely out of the blue (no known heart issues, healthy former athlete) in early April. My partner, Alex gave me CPR at home too and I was then revived by an ambulance defibrilator.
I was in hospital for 3 weeks (hats off to you for surviving 5!) and this included some time in intensive care in a coma. I also had the ICD fitted, which successfully treated me for a second cardiac arrest in May.
I have had some cognitive damage through a hypoxic brain injury (from the first cardiac arrest) that has impacted things like memory and multi tasking. But things have hugely improved. Improvement has not been linear for me and I have just had another burst of cognitive improvement in the last 2 weeks after what felt like a standstill or even a backwards spell. So I would advise not to fear that however you are feeling now is going to be something you're stuck with.
Also, every case is so different. Some 60+ year olds are back doing 10ks quickly. Try not to get too bitter or think you're not 'doing recovery' well enough. I have personally struggled with this sometimes. You may well have lots of extra challenges that other patients, including me, don't have. Caridac arrest survival is a spectrum.
If you would ever find it helpful to talk on the phone then I would be very happy to do that. Or we can perhaps message on here or WhatsApp? I know I found writing exhausting a couple of months ago. A guy in his early 20s who had a cardiac arrest chatted to me on the phone a couple of times. I found it reassuring, though I could never remember what he said - perhaps you can empathise?!
I have very recently managed to go back to work on very reduced hours.
Last Wednesday I had some successful PVC ablation (surgery to eliminate cells causing extra heart beats) that the doctors hope may reduce my chances of further cardiac arrests. I'm recovering well from that at home.
They still don't know the cause of my cardiac arrests either and say they may never do. If you are in that boat they eventually give you a 'diagnosis' of idiopathic ventricular fibrillation , which I think must be latin for 'we don't have a clue', ha! But at least a diagnosis means you can buy travel insurance. I am going on holiday next month.
There is so much I would like to talk to you about. Have you managed to get a place on cardiac rehab? I was told I wasn't eligible but have just started pushing for it again now I'm more able to, as I think it would be really helpful.
It's great to meet you Mark! Good luck in your recovery.
Ask me anything,
Alice
In 2012 a colleague, then aged 30, was found to have a heart irregularity. He was fitted with an ICD as a day patient a few days later. Personally I think he should have been kept in overnight instead of being discharged around 8:00 pm with a three hour journey home.
There is a need I feel for heart checks in young people (I do not know enough to say exactly when) to try and prevent this type of event!
Hi through the BHF we have recently found out about a charity called CRY Cardiac Risk in the Young they are fantastic and offer free screening to those under 35. My wife had a screening done recently through their charity.
Hi Mark..how are you coping now.
I arrived on holiday in Egypt and had my Cardiac Arrest on the second day.. I was 2 hours in A & E and my heart stopped 7 more times.. I was then put in to a coma for three days and 3 weeks later travelled 6 hours by ambulance to Cairo for my ICD..whilst i was there and before fitting I had another cardiac arrest.. they rushed me straight to theatre for insertion of my ICD.
I'm now 5 weeks out of hospital and just wondered how you are getting on and if you have been coping psychologically
Regards
Paul.. Egypt
For anyone who's had a sudden cardiac arrest and in the UK you might be interested in the peer support group SuddenCardiacArrestUK.org, we've over 1100 members of which 75% are survivors. We hold meetups around the country and are planning the next big one in September (2019)
This is what is Happening to me right now. What sort of rehab are you needing?
HI, I had a heart attack at 27 and a cardiac arrest at 35. I had an ICD fitted then and I'm now on my 2nd ICD due to a battery change. I did the cardiac rehab twice after each event. Message me if you want to chat. Here to help.👍
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