Pacemakers for 43 Years

43 years!

by Good Dog - 2016-07-03 14:00:50

I would have been depressed if you hadn't made it 43 years. I am hoping you get at least another 30 - 40 years. I have had mine for 30 years, so you sure have me beat. However, I only had 3 PM's for 30 years and am now only on my 4th.  By the time I have 43 years I hope to have had no more than 5 generators. Why have you had so many?

Sincerely,

David

welcome!

by Tracey_E - 2016-07-03 17:04:31

We have had two or three members over the years who have been paced as long as you and from childhood. Gellia comes to mind. I haven't seen her online recently but I know she reads more than she posts so hopefully she'll see this and jump in. I'm a relative newbie compared to you with a mere 22 years. I'm a few years younger than you (49) and they held off giving me the first one until I was an adult. 

Almost with you

by Dr. Huevos - 2016-07-04 04:32:14

I Received my first in 1976, I'm now on number nine. You must have had lousy luck to use up sixteen in 43 years. That's just a little over two and one half years per pacer. I'd bet it was those early ones that were trouble. Big Monsters, especially for a kid. My first was put in my abdomen and got infected, then the second in the same site the leads broke. But by this time battery life wasn't bad.  I'd be interested to know about how you got to so many. Ouch for all those operations.

Complete Heart Block at birth 1963

by mls1963 - 2016-07-06 17:07:13

thanks to everyone for you comments yes I've had an interesting pacemaker experience over the past 43 years, I was born with heart rate of 30 my parents were told I wouldn't live 3 days! My natural heart rate has gone down since then, and I did get my first abdominal pacemaker implant when I was 10, I went thru pacemakers like hot cakes including wire breaks, recalls all kind of fun stuff! I've usually gotten about 4 yrs out of a battery because I'm 100% battery operated! But I've even had 3 children between 1984 & 1987 I had fixed rate pacer at that time so my rate was increased each month for 7th 8th 9th month to increase my rate to grown the baby ultimately delivering at heart rate of 110. The most dramatic change in my health happened in 2006 when I got biventricular pacemaker which took my Ejection fraction from 18% to 54% literally a second lease on life!

Pacemaker for 43 years

by fgal001 - 2016-07-25 19:02:43

mary-Lynn 

live had mine for 26 years. I'm curious - what happened that caused the need for the bi ventricular pacemaker? Was that caused by having been paced for so long or did something else cause it?