New pacemaker soon

I just joined and am very glad to find this site. I am due very soon to receive a new pacemaker. I'm on a monthly check now. I received my first on Nov 1, 1972, so this is far from being my first. In the past year, I have been diagnosed with A Fib. Right now I have a dual lead, but will go to a single lead. My problem is the I have three leads in one vein and the newest are 24 years old. He talked to me about lasering them out, but at my age, 73, he doesn't want to take the risk. I guess, I am wondering if anyone else has had this problem. The drs associate said that he has seen leads last longer. Maybe it's just that I am a little worried. Anyway, guess I just needed to 'talk'. Thanks for listening.:-) xgwso

2 Comments

welcome

by Tracey_E - 2015-02-13 09:02:02

Glad you found us! I hope Gellia sees this. If she does not reply, look her up through the member list and send her a private message. She's in a similar lead situation, without the afib.

Why would they take you from a dual to a single lead?

Are your leads still working? We have members here with working leads 30+ years old. I'd keep using them as long as possible. Lead removal has come a long way in the last few years. The laser sheaths they use are better and there are more experienced surgeons , however for those of us with very old leads, it can still be tricky. I'm planning to eek out every day of lead life that I can! If they can't remove or add more, they can sometimes to switch to epicardial.

Parsing your post....

by donr - 2015-02-14 08:02:56

....for a better understanding.

Heart block at age 32 in 1972, You did not specify WHAT kind of block, but that USUALY requires TWO leads. Blocks USUALLY don't get better with time, so I am guessing that you still have a block. CORRECT?????

That means still TWO leads in use. But - you have THREE leads in there -FURTHER, you tell us that TWO of them are 24 yrs old. This implies to me that you had TWO replaced at a younger age - OR - you started out w/ a single chamber device.

As Tracey asked - WHY are they going to reduce you back to a single lead PM? Very unusual situation.

Donr

You know you're wired when...

“Batteries not included” takes on a new meaning.

Member Quotes

Hi, I am 47 and have had a pacemaker for 7 months and I’m doing great with it.