Pace Yourself: Making the Call
My body has new hardware and I can’t wait to test it’s limits.
I was diagnosed with sarcoidosis in 2020. I have scars on my heart which is most likely because the disease affected my heart at some point prior to my diagnosis. As part of my sarcoid treatment, I have regular lung tests and heart monitoring. All of my results were considered within range, yet I still had symptoms.
For the last few years, it has become far more difficult to breathe; walking up a flight of stairs or going out for a very easy run or mountain bike ride has left me gasping for air. I began to avoid picking up our young son because I would lose my breath and sometimes become dizzy. I lost consciousness twice and began to experience episodes of dizziness and feeling faint.
Times of self-doubt crept in. I questioned if my shortness of breathe was caused by a lack of fitness due to all of the health challenges I’d experienced; or in my darker moments, if it was something I just made up.
Both feelings are normal and unfortunate side effects of managing multiple chronic illnesses.
About a year ago I met a cardiologist at National Jewish Health in Denver who asked impactful questions. He took interest in my case, especially my overall quality of life. His decided to cross reference my clinical test results and medical information with my personal experiences and my goals.
We found that my heart rate stayed very remaining low for extended periods of time and when I exercised my heart rate did not match my effort. I could be exercising at maximum effort, with a heart rate barley increasing beyond 100 beats per minute.
I committed to additional exercise and heart testing, to potentially explain some of my symptoms. Based on the findings and my symptoms he introduced the option for a pacemaker and what the device could do for my quality of life and overall health.
As time passed, my symptoms progressed. My visit to NJH in February was impactful; we determined a pacemaker would be needed at some point. This was not life and death yet, but I’d most likely need the device at some point and the when was still up to me.
