Ready for an upgrade!

Hi all, I've been away for quite some time. I had my PM installed 10 years and a month ago when I was 45. I was sitting at my desk a few days ago and started feeling a ticking sensation at the implant site. I called the doc, went in 30 minutes later and found that the PM went into "survival mode" or something like that, basically battery dying, and am having it replaced next week. I still play competitive basketball, tennis and everything I did before after the initial shock most of us go through.

My question is, what new technology is out there or questions that I may want to ask before it gets installed? I was hoping for an MRI approved device but the doc says that I would have to change the leads which is a much more risky process. Any thoughts?

Lastly for just a replacement, what kind of recovery is expected? As always your feedback is appreciated.

Eric

4 Comments

It depends...

by golden_snitch - 2014-09-13 03:09:55

Hi Eric!

It depends a bit on your initial diagnosis, if there is any new technology out there that you'd benefit from. With a "simple" complete heart block for instance, there is not really much new stuff out there. With that diagnosis the pacemaker needs to do nothing, but track your sinus node and make sure the ventricles beat at the same pace.

MRI-conditional pacemaker are one big development, then you have special modes/features to reduce ventricular pacing, Medtronic has a couple of features to delay atrial fibrillation (not that new, just the combination of them is new), and with regards to rate response not much has changed over the past ten years, there is just one new sensor called "CLS" (closed-loop stimulation).

Inga



time for upgrade

by neff - 2014-09-15 09:09:16

I have had my pm for almost ten yeas too. When you get yours I hope you write on hear how it went. So far I have never had any trouble.I am not expecting any this time.
Diane in yelm wa.

time for upgrade

by neff - 2014-09-15 09:09:57

I have had my pm for almost ten yeas too. When you get yours I hope you write on here how it went. So far I have never had any trouble.I am not expecting any this time.
Diane in yelm wa.

lee

by LeeT - 2016-03-14 07:03:50

please don't under estimate its value

You know you're wired when...

The mortgage on your device is more than your house.

Member Quotes

The pacer systems are really very reliable. The main problem is the incompetent programming of them. If yours is working well for you, get on with life and enjoy it. You probably are more at risk of problems with a valve job than the pacer.