Heart Pacemaker Please help we can't make decision

Hi I'm Howie, My Girlfriend of 2 years Rose who is very dedicated to me went to Long Island Jewish Hospital in New Hyde Park, New York on Thursday to have a angiogram, and back on Friday to have a special Echo Cardio gram 3D. The specialist said I need a Pacemaker. I have cardio myopathy and I'm experiencing PVC which I don't even feel. we were sent home with a halter monitor to check on my heart 48 hours, to see how many PVC I experience in that time. We also got a diary to jot down all of my activities. I'm a carpenter and a woodsman sawing down trees fixing the roof on my house, I'm constantly on the go. I'm 64 years old. My parents also had enlarged hearts my Dad lived until 87 my Mom until 82 without the help of a pace maker. I'm retired and need to keep working on my properties I have to make a decision what to do. Will I be able to use circular saw chain saw and my drill and every once in awhile work on my car? PLEASE Help this is a life altering decision I have to make.
Rose says I'll respect your decision what ever it is and be by your side till death do us part and hopefully we'll be together when it happens 30 years or so down the road.

4 Comments

I'm with Tracey & Angry Sparrow

by Many Blessings - 2013-06-22 03:06:44

Hi Howie,

Like stated above, a PM or CRT-P will only help with certain issues, and might not help with others that you may have. If it were me, I wouldn't get one until it's absolutely necessary. There are many pros to having one, but there are also cons.

My advice is to do your homework. Do a search on this website (top right hand corner), ask lots of questions like you're doing now , get a few more opinions from a cardio doc and EP doc, find out what your EF is, confirm what a PM will and won't do for you, and make your decision from there.

PS: I have an enlarged heart (have since birth) and the CRT-P did not shrink it at all. It also did not help my A-fib, cardiomyopathy, or heart failure, but did lessen the actual symptoms and "temporarily" brought up my EF. This may or may not be the case for others out there, so make sure to take what they have experienced into consideration as well. They may have had better luck.

Good luck with your decision! Let us know what you decide to do!





as frank would have said

by jessie - 2013-06-22 03:06:44

engineer that he was. gather all the info and then make an informed decision. good luck to you. jessie

pacing

by Tracey_E - 2013-06-22 12:06:26

You can use a chain saw and drill with a pm. Arc welding is about the only thing we need to avoid.

Pvc's are premature little partial beats. The pm can only add beats when we go too slowly, it can't do anything to prevent what the heart does on its own. Pvc's are harmless, most everyone has some. They can be annoying but if you aren't feeling it, pvc's are not a reason to get a pm. It won't fix pvc's.

Do you have symptoms? You did not mention how low your hr was on the Holter, or what your EF (ejection fraction) is. Those are the two reasons to consider a pm. And are they talking a regular 2 lead pm or a 3 lead CRT? A 2 lead pm will help a slow hr, so if your rate is too low it will speed it up. A 3 lead can sometimes help with myopathy if the EF is too low by forcing the left and right ventricles to beat in sync.

If your heart rate is good, if your EF is good, if you feel good, there is no reason to get a pm. If the day comes you do need it,it's nothing to fear. It really is not life altering, imo, I forget it's there most of the time. There's nothing I want to do that I cannot.

Was the specialist a cardiologist or electrophysiologist?

Thank you

by howie - 2013-06-22 12:06:27

I forgot to say Thank You to all that care to write us with their thoughts.
Thanks,
Howie and Rose

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