14 Symptom-Free Years

Gina Hamilton was only 15 years old when she was told that she needed a pacemaker. She said that she cried immediately upon hearing the news, but then she stopped the tears suddenly to ask, "What's a pacemaker?"

In July 1978, the chest pain that the teenager had been hiding from her parents flared up while she was shopping with her mother.

"I told her it was nothing, but my mom knew instinctively that it was something, and that I needed medical attention," said Gina.

Gina's father recently had experienced a heart attack, so her parents took Gina along to his follow-up appointment that was scheduled for the next day.

For the year or two that preceded the chest pain, Gina had been having episodes of lightheadedness and fatigue that were assumed to be teenage chemical changes. She had even passed out on two occasions. Knowing her history, the doctor ordered blood tests, a heart monitor to assess the rhythm and conduction, and an echocardiogram to evaluate the structure and function of her heart. Learn more about the heart and blood flow.

Because of her young age, the local doctor sought a second opinion, sending Gina to a hospital five hours away from home. More questioning, more monitoring, and a cardiac catheterization confirmed her diagnosis. The chest pain was the result of a prolapsed mitral valve, and sick sinus syndrome caused her heart to beat too slowly. The slow heart rate caused the fatigue and fainting. A pacemaker was implanted. Learn more about pacemaker implantation.

Over the next nine years, Gina received seven pacemakers and was hospitalized on an average of every 18 months for complications.

"One day I was just a normal teenager," said Gina, "and the next day I was a medical oddity. I was back and forth to doctors, and in and out of hospitals from age 15 to 25. I was still lightheaded, tired out easily, and couldn't walk up a flight of stairs without getting breathless."

Gina's family reminded her to be grateful for the pacemaker because it was a safeguard that kept her alive.

In April 1989, Gina approached her 26th birthday with hopefulness. Her cardiologist arranged for a special birthday present. He replaced her device with the newest pacemaker technology from Pacesetter, which is now a part of St. Jude Medical.

"And that is the moment that changed the rest of my life," said Gina. "I'm so grateful to him and the people who developed the technology."

The new pacemaker is AV synchronous, which makes the upper and lower chambers of the heart beat in proper sequence.

"My doctor knew that's what I needed to alleviate my symptoms. I walked out of the hospital the next day and left 10 years of limitations behind," said Gina.

"This pacer has outlasted all the others," she continued. "It's given me 14 symptom-free years to enjoy raising my daughter and building a career. I'm now 39 years old and in the best shape of my life!"