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Wildland firefighting

I just finished the S-190/S-130 courses and was wondering if anybody has had any experience applying for a spot on a Hotshot crew with an ICD?

I know that I will need doctor approval, but even with that, I feel like it is a longshot. How hard is it to jump through all the hoops and how realistic of a goal is it to be on a hotshot crew?

Physically, I know I am in good enough condition. I am a 22 year old avid kayaker and snowboarder as well as all shorts of other outdoor a...

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Stationary bike, 3 day's after surgery

I want to use my stationary bike, it's a recumbent type, I really just want to kind of push it around, no aerobics, just to keep myself more active. Has anyone done this? My discharge say's normal activities, just have to keep my arm down until the leads heal. What do you think?

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Just an update

Hey fellow pacemakers! Just checking in. I've been pretty busy lately, and feeling very good. It's been 3 months since install, and I feel good. The needle stick pain is going away. I don't know, maybe moving around helped. I'm in the process of tiling my kitchen floor. I didn't know how I would feel doing construction work with my pacemaker. Little did I know it helped out more than I thought it would. Seems like each day is getting better and better. I have set a lot of new goals in life, fina...

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New Member Batteries Included

March 19th, 2014. A day changer for me. I am a professional Aviator. In May 2014 during a Transport Canada Medical check up including an ECG I was found to have a LBBB. Went to the Cardio Doctor and was cleared to fly. After a flight on March 16th. I came down with a 2nd Degree Heart Block that shifted into a Bradycardia. I was blessed with great care and the Medtronic A3DR01 with a double chamber was installed. I am now a grounded bird till in 3 months prove to Transport Canada that I am...

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Pacemaker and B/P ?

my B/P has always been good around 110/70 +/- coupe points.

last couple days just feeling strange, so i went to my medical department at work had them check my B/P it was 153/76. call my Cardiologist went in yeterday morning she checked out my Pacemaker just to make sure nithing had changed with it. it was fine she checked my B/P it was 168/83. She was a little puzzled and said that is high i can put you on medication. I told her i would perfer to monitor it for a week and get back t...

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jaw pain and heart thumps

I had emergency pm implanted 1-14-2014. Have felt like hell still and now having jaw pain and heart beats go boom ever now and then when I lay down at night?? Still waiting to feel wonderful. Going for stress test next week. Cardio said could possibly have blockage when they took bp readings on both arms, my right was higher than left and she does not like me having the jaw pain. Any new pm people have similar complaints. Ever heard of Pacemaker Syndrome? Would love your input. I am begi...

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Voltage

I had a St Jude PM put in Feb 5, 2014. I have seen the PM nurse a couple of times since then. I am scheduled to see the nurse on May 30th. She told me that at that time she would lower the voltage on my PM. She said the reason for this is to extend the battery life. She said at the current voltage the battery would only last 4 1/2 years. My question is how will this affect me? They set my heart rate at 70 bpm when I left the hospital. When I had my first check up the nurse told me I was pacing...

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heart beat

Good Morning All, I am 6 months with pacemaker and doing fine. At night I notice my heart beating very fast so purchased a wrist monitor, Omron. Last night it monitored down to 57 and up to 102 for pulse. This went on for the 3 hours that I stayed awake. Did manual pulse and it matched the Omron. Is this up/down of pulse somewhat normal? I only note the heart beating at night when I lay down for routine reading before going to sleep. I do have checkups in next couple of weeks and will a...

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Revision/ablation scheduled

Received a call from my cardiologist today, moving my surgery date up. On march 3rd I went in for a scheduled visit and walked out with a surgery date of May 28th for a pm and lead extraction, ablation, and new 4 lead pm. My merlin at home has been sending constant alerts to the cardiologist, and concerning him enough to bump my date up. I was attempting to hold off until May for personal reasons, such as a hectic life:) I realize that I can not have the joys of a busy life if I do not take care...

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driving restrictions

I live in GEORGIA , what restrictions are placed on my driving license ? Also can I still get liability insurance? THANKS FOR YOUR HELP //GAM

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riding again

I have a st.jude de-fib device which was implanted a week ago .I am a maxi scooter rider have a 500 ie aprilla maxi scooter .I have heard that the leads on the old st jude devices were bad but they said that that problem was corrected .the thing I'm wondering about is will my device be interfered with by the scooter's motor located under the seat ?I have not decided to continue or give up riding but I am open to suggestions and welcome all.. thank all for answering my recent question regarding...

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Warfarin

Hello Forum,

I was fitting with a PM 3 months after an asystole heart event, it was about 20 seconds, they said it could be caused by heart block or Afib.

I have been on Warfarin for 3 months now, my INR has never gone above 1 and I am now on 12mg per night. 12mg is easy as it is four blues :-)

I been for my first checkup and the PM is working about 40% of the time, and I am due another checkup next month. I hope / think the pacing will have gone down (fingers...

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Back to the ER

So yesterday I began to have flutters in my heart, I had some pressure in my head, my blood pressure went up and then I felt like the pacer was firing. Well, I managed to work myself into a situation and went to the ER. When I got there, nothing was showing. They sent me home and I saw the Medtronic guy this morning. The pacemaker showed nothing ever happened, the read out was perfect, and what I had perceived was a panic attack. My Cardiologist, said, this is very common and with a little time...

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Shenanigans...

Two days post op knee surgery and I got a little stir crazy. My fabulous NP got me out of the house for dinner, careened me thru the grocery in a wheel chair throwing chocolate into the cart right and left, and then we were off to....Dairy Queen. Got back home and she refilled the cryo cuff. If only she knew what some of the PMC members suggested might be tucked in there! You have the best medical advice ever!
I know some of us deal with difficult medical people occasionally on this journe...

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Are flutters normal when you are new with a pacer?

I noticed that I had a bit of a "flutter" then kind of a dizziness and then back to normal. I was laying on the couch watching TV. I have been so tired since I got home from the hospital, yesterday, surgery was 1 day ago, so maybe all this fatigue is not helping as well. I took my BP and it was pretty high, 197/93, then I took it again, a little lower then I had to eat dinner and then took it, 140/72, so I don't know if my BP had anything to do with it. My BP in the hospital was pretty low, 110...

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Transmission

Good news!!!! I did my transmission over the phone for my PM this morning. It came back perfect, everything looked good and should last 9 to 10 more years. Mind you this is my 5th PM and I just got it in November. It is only just a few months old. I can't wait until I see the print out of the transmission in a few days when they mail it to me. I want to compare it to the last few transmissions of my last PM. I haven't felt any different or anything like that since the surgery so I knew it...

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Concerns

I had my pacer placed five weeks ago now. I am concerned because of off and on sharp pains, like wire pokes, in the area of the pacer. Some times nothing all day and other days repeatedly. Is this normal? I am on warfarin and Sotalol and amlodipine. Still having lots of irregular HR. And daily I seem to be getting short of breath again. It was so great at first to not get out of breath - but now? I have had A-fib for 3.5 yrs but only 4 episodes in all that time. Pacer because of SSS, brady...

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Surgery was yesterday, got a pacemaker

Thanks to everyone who made me feel so much better about getting this pacemaker. I was released today from the hospital after the A-fib incident. The surgery was fine, no problem. They put in a Medtronic MRI compatible unit which I was told was very good, hope so, I know nothing about them. Now, I have to keep my arm down for a month, so that is not going to be easy, but I will do whatever. Will be on Sotalol and Coumadin as well. This just seemed like so much for a one time Afib, but it is wha...

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Update on hubby

Hi all
Thank you to all who replied to my post just over a week ago about hubby being unwell. Apologies for not updating sooner but it has been crazy my end.

Hubby refused to go to A&E. After 13 hours of the irregular rhythm on the day I posted, his rhythm suddenly corrected back to a normal rhythm.

However, all last week he had further episodes.

I spoke to a Dr at the hospital I work at (& hubby works there too) & she said it does sound like AF but without...

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Bio not working for me

I am a new member and am trying to fill out my bio, but some answers just won't stick. For example, my device is made by Biotronik, but when I press update it keeps showing up as Boston Scientific. My year of birth keeps showing up as a blank. Am I doing something wrong? Any ideas? Thank you.

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You know you're wired when...

Your old device becomes a paper weight for your desk.

Member Quotes

One week has passed and I must admit that each day I feel a little stronger.