Most Recent Messages in General Posting

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ASD, A-Fib, A-Flutter and now PM

What a year! I started off feeling fine. A routine physical with EKG informed me I had atrial fibrillation. This led to an Echocardiogram, which led to a TEE which led to open-heart surgery in march to correct a large ASD (atrial septal defect) and the a-fib (maze procedure.)
Four weeks after the surgery, life was starting to get good again, when my heart beat sped up without reason. Back to the hospital to discover I now had atrial flutter! Ablation procedure to stop the flutter....

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CT Findings

Hi Everyone! I finally got a copy of the CT report and I thought I'd share the SVC finding...

BTW you might want to grab a chair and sit down.....

"There is a chronic near total occlusion of the Superior Vena Cava just proximal to the insertion of the azygos arch with marked enlargement of the superior intercostal veins, the accessory hemiazygos vein and the distal azygos vein and arch. Prominent subcutaneous collateral veins are also noted."

OK, you can breathe...

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beginning symptoms

I was just told I need a pacemaker. I have known I have complete heart block for 10 years but have never been symptomatic. My heart rate is usually about 46 but i have seen it anywhere from 37-55 while awake. I had some episodes where it sped up and things became distant 2 times. The medical doc thougt it was panic attack though I've never had one. My cardiologist says, I'll have to get a pacemaker eventually anyway and it's possible I felt my heart pause. I was very scared that day and tho...

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Soft Touch Seat Belt Thing

Does anyone have this PM protection pad advertised on this site? Wondering if it works well. I am having a problem when I drive. The seat belt irritates my incision and applies too much pressure to the area. I've been using a soft heavy washcloth but it keeps slipping and looks a little silly too.

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Tate

Hope Tate is doing well this evening. I have a five year old granddaughter so I can identify with him. Our thoughts and prayers are with you tonight.

Sue and family

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I need your help!

I am so frustrated! I had my PM implanted in March 07 and I am still having SO many problems. I was told my Doctor was one of the best but he (actually a team of 5) can't figure out what is wrong. I got the PM because I have a second degree heart block when I exercise. My heart rate would go from 170 to 60 and stay there for a minute or two while working out. The signal from the upper chamber to the lower chamber was not going throught so that is where the pacemaker came in. After MONTHS the...

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Travel Insurance

What are members experience with obtaining travel insurance once you have pacemaker/defib unit?

I had an infarct 20 years ago, and have had some issues with travel insurance in the past, usually having to concede that any cardiac issues would not be covered by insurance.

With more recent travel I haven't had to worry as the questions on the application form relating to cardiac issues only covered the last 10 years, so I could ignore my past experience (I have been symptom...

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Finally an answer?

Hello everyone. Wanted to update....wow. Thank you all for your support!

This last Tuesday I had a CT with contrast (ordered by my internist only after I've been to hell and back trying to get an answer) to look at my chest to see if there was a connection to the swelling and pain in my left arm. The result was colorful.

I apparently have obstruction in progress of my Superior Vena Cava (SVC). What kind of obstruction is yet to be determined (could be a clot?) so I go back...

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I R I S H P A C E R S W H E R E A R E U ?

Sorry to be a bore ~ Just wondering (again!) whether any Irish Pacers (pacers living in Ireland) would be interested in getting together. Please let me know if anyone is interested, there's 4 of us so far (from Dalkey, Donegal, Co. Down and Galway) but there must be more of you out there ........... drop me a line with any thoughts, thanks and look forward to hearing from you ......
(colinandanita@eircom.net or anitaabboyle@hotmail.com)
Thanks and best regards,
Anita.

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Anxiety

It has now been nine (long) weeks since my PM. I am having such anxiety and boutsof crying. I have an appointment to see a therapist and probably start on an anitdepressant which I have always been totally against, but I need to do something for this anxiety. I also feel that I need some adjustments to my PM and I do have an appointment to go in to see to cardiologist for that soon. My energy level is low and I also have a slight headache once in awhile which I have never had many headaches...

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From EP Lab Digest.

This article might be of interest to everyone. It sounds like a marvelous invention. I hope it will soon be available. It's about time that someone comes up with a pacemaker aesthetically better for thin skinned women, and men.

~ Dominique ~

Features:
Anatomically Correct Permanent Pacemaker Casing
- Sergio Sanchez-Zambrano, MD Cleburne, Texas.

Article.

The electronics of current implantable devices are outstanding and truly life-saving devic...

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Left Shoulder Pain

I thas been nine weeks since my PM implant and around 2-3 weeks ago, I started having almost spasm type pain in my uppe left shoulder on the inside. I had been sore at times since the implant but now if I turn my shoulder a certain way, it really pains for a few seconds. I am wondering if I may have some inflammation in the rotator cuff and would need some Physcial Therapy. Any comments?

Sharon

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To: Pat

Thanks Pat for your answer to my PM pinching. I have
only one lead wire and today was the first time to be
aware of this discomfort in that area. This is not a constant thing. Just got a phone call from MD and they will see me
Monday morning just to make sure everthing is ok.
Gene

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AH! Sorry!

I didn't write a birthday post for FOUR pacers. Not good.
Well, better late than never I guess.
So, lets see....

1.Amanda: July 29, 1956
2.Karen: July 31, 1962
3.Neat: August 2, 1966
4.Constance (carismendez): August 2, 1983

And now, I’ll do my best to overanalyze the birthdates given, just for my own amusement.

Amanda was 6 when Karen was born.
When our pacer “Neat” was born, Amanda was 10, and Karen was 4.
Then, when Constanc...

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Just

celebrated another birthday thanks to the Pacemaker. I don't know if you know the book Harry Potter but did you know I share a birthday with him and his author J.K. Rowling. Had a nice quiet day with family.

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Holter Monitor Data

After the Holter Monitor Data is studied, is it ever in a summarized format that can be reasonably understood by the patient? Has anyone ever seen their findings? --EL

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29 with pacer and ready to start a family

I'm 29 and have had a pacer since I was 17. Things have gone well over the years and I've only had 1 battery change since but my doctor tells me that in the next 2 years I will probably need the surgery again. He also said I could be considered high risk because of a slight arythmia. Of course, my husband and I talked about having a baby in almost exactly 2 years too. I don't take any meds and I'm very active but I'm concerned.

For those of you who have had children with a PM - did an...

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inappropriate or appropriate?

This is a very private matter for me because I am pretty new to the whole pacemaker thing so I don't exactly know if this was ok or not.
I went in for a check up on my pacemaker and everything with my device is fine. I just need to know for pacer check ups where they have felt around your pacers and how low down your chest they feel. It probably sounds silly, I didn't think much at all until some more awkward things happened in the appointment with just us two and the closed door.

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Tate's Getting PM on Aug. 6

Hello new friends,

WOW! This is all so new to me. Please offer any information that might be helpful to us. Our soon to be 5 year old son (Tate) will receive a pacemaker on Monday, Aug.6, 2007. Tate was born with Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and has recently developed a slow heartbeat & irregular heart rhythms. Tate has had 3 open heart surgeries & several heart caths during the past 4 1/2 years. He has gone into total heart block on 4 different occassions. We knew he would...

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update time once again!

I got my day finally scheduled to go to Mayo Clinic it will be Oct. 1 and 2nd. The first cardiologist apt was suppose to be in Aug. and he referred me on right away is what the lady over the phone told me today. I take it that he knew he couldn't do anything for me.
I still have been pretty weak and continue to get tired really easy though have came to realize that i'm just going to have to work around this.
My chriopractor has been one of my great friends through out my child ho...

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You know you're wired when...

Your signature looks like an EKG.

Member Quotes

This is my second Christmas with my pacemaker and I am so happy to be with my family.