Foreign Travel

Hi,

I've had my PM for 2 weeks, but I'm still depressed that I'll have to live with it the rest of my life.
I love to travel; but now I'm worried.
I think travel around the USA and Canada is fine, since we have excellent hospitals and medicare.
But outside North America, it seems to be dicey.
For example, if I travel to Egypt, and the PM goes haywire, what do I do?
Of course, everything depends on how reliable are PM's?
My EP says they are extremely reliable, and he has not heard of any that failed. Is this a fact? Are there statistics?
What happens if the PM fails on a cruise out in the ocean?

Ken

8 Comments

ken

by jessie - 2008-07-31 01:07:58

i am from s.w. ontario and since my p.m. i have been to alaska on a cruise, to europe soon on a 12 day cruise in the meditarranean. you need to focus on life and not death. you will become anxious if you worry too much. so like bambi and duard say live your life as much as possible jess in the airports tell them you have a p.m. and thye will ahnd search you. pat you down. it can either be in private or right there. i prefer right there.

no problem

by winesap - 2008-07-31 02:07:37

I took a month long foreign trip that began 3.5 weeks after implant surgery. I had all the arrangements made prior to my emergency that resulted in the PM implant and based on my recovery the EP said that travel was fine. I had absolutely no problems - my photo in the gallery was taken in the middle of the trip. And as an aside that may garner negative responses from the group - health care in the USA is not the best health care in the world based on numerous metrics. In many places of the world you may actually have better chances of surviving a major emergency than in many places of the USA. I have been very impressed with the medical services I have received outside the USA but then I also have received outstanding care in the USA being well insured and financially secure. Continue doing what you love to do - these things we have in our chests only make our life better.

PM Failure

by janetinak - 2008-07-31 04:07:26

I agree with all the above responses & I want to respond to your concern about PM failure. I am 100% dependent & on my 2nd PM. Before my 1st insertion I worried (& I am a world class worrier!) that mine would fail. Just quit & then I'm gone. I was reassured a lot by my EP & his nurses so I did it. Well my 1st one began running out of juice & they were able to tell me it was. On a phone check they called me back to come in & discuss replacement. I was aware that I was increasingly SOB with very simple things that I could do before w/o any problems. So for me that was the warning & the EP's office was right on top of it. When I travel, I carry my PM card, have a travel letter from my Cardio's office with the billing code & a standing order for a blood check for my Coumadin level & how to contact my Cardio's office. Maybe this will make you feel less anxious. Go for it.

Janet, member in good standing of the world class worry club

Don't worry!

by bambi - 2008-07-31 11:07:01

Hi Ken,
You will be finding that having a pacemaker will improve your life, not make it worse! I have traveled to Japan, 5x to Jamaica [on working mission trips!] and all over the US with my pacemaker. You are actually safer with your PM than traveling with the condition that brought you to needing a PM! They are, in general, very hardy dependable little machines!
There actually is a member that has traveled and lived in the middle east. Check out the member gallery to see his pictures.
D.Ward makes excellent sense!
I suggest you think of your PM as a little more insurance from disaster!
Bambi

PM Reliability...

by dward - 2008-07-31 11:07:27

You likely have a better chance getting seriously sick from worry, stress and depression.

You don't say if you are totally dependant on your PM, but whether you are or not, you could get your PM checked prior to a major trip.

To worry about travel is not worth it. I mean, what if you got a serious infection from stepping on a nail while in some remote area? Does THAT stop us from doing things like hiking remote trails in Timbuktoo?

Your choice now is to:
1) Focus on life, which will now be a little more "insured" now that you have a PM - or -

2) Let worry and depression bring you down...

Which sounds more appealing?

Cheers,
D. Ward

HOW ABOUT THE PLANE

by pete - 2008-08-01 03:08:40

The plane is more likely to develop a fault than you pacemaker. You did not worry about that before you had a pacemaker. People who need a pacemaker and for various reasons have not been given one have a lot more to worry about. I think the chance of your pacemaker developing a fault is .02 per cent. We all have a 33% chance of developing cancer. I think that puts it in perspective. I know quite a few people who have died in a car crash so if you really want to increase your chance of remaining in the land of the living you should give up driving. I dont think that having a pacemaker is anything to get depressed about. Best to wake up every day and tell yourself you are one of the lucky ones.Cheers pete

right on pete

by jessie - 2008-08-02 04:08:22

we are the lucky ones for sure. i think egypt is a bit dicey as it is so i hear very dirty. don't know about healthcare there. have a friend who just returned thursday to canada so can ask. a lot of countries have excellent healthcare. good luck jess

travel

by Mary Thompson - 2008-08-05 04:08:16

Two years ago I had been to my pm doc and asked to have my pm checked as I had been feeling dizzy, tired nd just not right. I had a technician do the usual check and told all was ok. I took a five day hiking trip down into a side canyon of the Grnad Canyon, Havasu Canyon. The 8 mile steep walk in went ok, the next day 6 mile hike to the falls was fine but I wasn't sure ;that I could make it out but did on my own. Two months later I went to Mayo Clinic Phoenix and they determined that I had a fractured wire and scheduled immediate replacement at which time my pm couldn't get my pulse under 300 so that was also replaced. I feel great now and have just been to Costa Rico and Africa. I worried more about preventing insect bites than my pm. I just try to live in the moment, that's all we really have. Trust your body to tell you how the pm is doing.

Mary

You know you're wired when...

You can take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’.

Member Quotes

A properly implanted and adjusted pacemaker will not even be noticeable after you get over the surgery.