bumpy roads

I have had my pm for only one week. Went to work....passed out a couple of times.....ended up with a pacemaker all in several hours time. My diagnosis is third degree heart block. I had NO CLUE I had a problem. I have never been sick in my 60 years with anything much. My question is this: My husband and i are planning to go to Haiti on a mission trip in two weeks. If any of you have been there, you know what I mean by bumpy roads.......will that be a problem for my pm??

4 Comments

Bumpy Roads

by ElectricFrank - 2013-02-05 01:02:00

With the block you shouldn't have any need for an option called Rate Response turned on in the pacer. So ask if it can be turned off. It will sense the bumpy road as the same as your running and speed up your heart.

Otherwise, you should be able to tell whether motion like a bumpy road is painful. I was out running driving around very bumpy 4 wheel drive roads in just a week or so after getting mine. A shoulder belt can be a problem pressing on it.

enjoy the trip,

frank

healing

by Tracey_E - 2013-02-05 10:02:17

Ditto what Frank said about rate response. With av block, you shouldn't need it, and if it's turned on you might feel your heart race on bumpy roads.

As for healing, we're all different. I would not have felt good riding for extended periods of time on bumpy roads that soon after surgery. Will you be working with kids, etc, where you're sitting a lot or doing more physical labor? It's important to not lift anything heavy and to be careful about raising your arm above shoulder level for 6 weeks.

Honestly? I think 3 weeks out is a little soon to head to the middle of nowhere to work long days. A vacation nearby or a place with easy access to health care, a place where you can rest when needed, sure. A place with difficult access, the risk of food poisoning (everyone I know who's done mission trips in Haiti got food poisoning!), long work days? I'd wait a bit longer, but that's just me.

You should try to go

by Karshooter - 2013-02-05 11:02:34

I passed out 7 times last year before I got the right doctor and determined it was 3rd Degree AV Heart Block by implanting a loop recorder. A Never felt sick before or after passing out. On the 8th episode it showed my heart stopped for 27 seconds. That afternoon I had a new pacemaker. The doctor said "we are not treating the symptoms, we are curing your illness. He is right. I now realize when hiking and getting a little winded the past few years it wasn't that I was growing older, I didn't have full function of my heart. I was walking 6 miles a day in 2 days and snowshoeing 3 miles a week after the procedure.

Ask the doctor if he can get you in for an early check. The work you are doing in Haiti is very important. Be cautious when you go. We lost 4 neighbors, dentists, off a cliff in December down there. Nothing to do with a pacemaker. Best to you!

thanks for the advice about bumpy roads

by kansasgranny - 2013-02-07 06:02:41

I did see my cardi; he sees no reason I cannot go on our trip as planned. This is not a heavy construction trip. We wil be at a hospital where we have gone every year for the past several years...I can go to the guest house and rest if need be. At 1 1/2 post implant I am feeling good and looking forward to the trip. Appreciate all your input.

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