New Pacemaker

Getting one Wednesday. Not scared, but a little anxious. Low heart rate and occasional pauses of up to two and one-half seconds between beats. Constantly tired and praying for some energy. Glad to have a place to discuss this change in my 65 year old life.

7 Comments

Nothing like it

by manaman - 2013-12-08 04:12:59

first the little titanium gift will adjust to you and then you will adjust to it. In a few months you won't even know it is a part of you, just life as usual. It will fix your heart but not your head. Just thank GOD you got it and then forget it and let it do its JOB
Cecil

Search on

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-08 07:12:02

Search on: ..."Some Tough Love for Newbies". Posted by donr. It's a long post but should answer a lot of questions.

Go to top of page on the forum and paste into the search bar.

Hang in there. Life gets better!

Theknotguy

Welcome!

by Gellia3 - 2013-12-08 10:12:06

Hi,
Welcome to the club. I'm more a lurker than a poster, but I just celebrated my 65th birthday by getting my 8th replacement! Recovery is coming along fine.

Please come back and let us know how you are when your energizer bunny is implanted. We'd all love to hear from you.

I wish you the very best,
Gellia

new pm

by judyblue - 2013-12-08 10:12:55

Welcome to the site! Your recovery is your own, but all of us here love to comment on it. I have felt acceptance and welcomed here for 10 weeks and counting. Please feel free to comment on what you are going through. Along with personal experience being shared, there is a tremendous amount of knowledge. Many of us have educated ourselves incredibly about this disease.
good luck!
judy

Hang in there

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-08 11:12:57

It starts out as a big change in your life. Then you get settled down to reality which isn't as bad as you may have thought. Some limitations but none you can't live with. Remember older age isn't for the young, they couldn't handle it.

There's a posting on this site. Something about tough love for the new PM person which gives a synopsis. Hopefully one of the other members will see my comment and give you the correct name. It will kinda give you a basic road map of what we go through.

Prepare for the worst, look forward to the best. I was ready for all the bad things but was pleasantly surprised at the good. I have a strong heart beat now. I'm not cold all the time. I don't get dizzy when I stand up. I can take a deep breath. My memory is a little sharper - although my wife would disagree with that.

You may experience some aches and pains while you adjust. You may notice some "extra" heartbeats while you adjust. Work with this forum you'll get a lot of good info here. You may also want to work with a psychologist (if your insurance pays for it) - a large percentage of PM people do get depressed. Working with a psych person will circumvent most of the depression. If possible work with a therapy dog - it 's amazing what a cold nose and a warm heart will do.

In the meantime, hang in there. Life gets better. And let us know how it went.

Theknotguy

Normal

by Grateful Heart - 2013-12-08 12:12:38

It's normal to be anxious. No one likes surgery....especially when it involves our heart.

You should feel better and have more energy after the implant.

Ask any questions you may have, it will help to ease your mind. We've all been through it.

Grateful Heart

What a Difference

by silvestris - 2013-12-16 02:12:10

My surgery went well. Five days out. Absolutely no pain, just some soreness at and around the insertion site. I have been taking it real easy since the surgery and today is my first day out in the real world. I was able to take the steps at the courthouse with ease whereas before I would have to do half steps. I feel like a million bucks, really better than I did before my stroke fifteen months ago. That tells me that my Bradycardia had been working on me for some time.

I go tomorrow to get my staples out and learn what to do to send my PM readings to my doctor. I hope with time that things get even better, but what I feel today is so much better than what I felt before implantation. Thanks to all for helping me with the psychology.

You know you're wired when...

Titanium is your favorite metal.

Member Quotes

I am not planning on letting any of this shorten my life. I am planning on living a long happy battery operated life. You never know maybe it will keep me alive longer. I sure know one thing I would have been dead before starting school without it.