was shocked

hi everyone well hubby had another pm check today at the hospital were he had pm fitted they were more helpfull there than the hospital were we live ,they answerd every question we asked even though i forgot to ask some as you do . well im a little schocked as they said pacer is working at 99% dependant so does this mean pm doing most of the work for the heart sorry probley a silly question to ask but still getting used to it all ,and he has had 3 episodes of af since pm put in 8 weeks ago he having ecg moniter fitted for 24 hours on monday thanx everyone for your support

6 Comments

not uncommon

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-17 01:12:32

Many of us pace 99% of the time. I think my number was 99.4% last time I asked, a big improvement over my previous 99.9, lol.

Pacing is not the same as being dependent. His heart is still working, it's just not working fast enough so the pm is stepping in and giving it a boost so it beats sooner than it would on its own. Dependent means that without it your heart would stop beating. Without it, his heart would beat slower and less efficiently, but it would not stop beating.

Me, I consider myself dependent. If you turn my pm off, my hr drops into the low 20's so I'd arrest pretty quickly. I don't think about what would happen without it, I concentrate on how wonderful my life is with it. I've had one since 1993.

Thank Yo

by ppt - 2008-12-17 06:12:21

Thx - now I know to ask for the % when I get my first pm checkup. I know I have an "on-demand" pm.

ppt

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-17 08:12:18

We're all on demand! Some of us just demand more than others. ;o) How much you use it isn't that important, what matters is knowing we are safe from our hr's dropping to dangerous levels.

A pacemaker will keep an eye on your natural heart rate, think of it as a guardian. They never "take over", they always give our hearts a chance to beat on its own first. If it doesn't beat fast enough, it sends an impulse to force the beat. Our heart is still doing the work, it's just getting the signal from the pm instead of our own electrical system.

Thank You Again

by ppt - 2008-12-17 08:12:29

Wish you were a Doctor ! I understand now :-)

he he

by Tracey_E - 2008-12-17 09:12:41

I've nagged a lot of doctors over the years! I was diagnosed in 1970 and got my first pm in 1993. I hate not understanding what's going on!

ive just looked again

by bullseye - 2008-12-18 01:12:38

thank you for your replys ive just looked at what they wrote and it says 99%of the work done by the pm does that mean dependant? sorry to be a pain

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