My Mom

Hello all.

I just found out today that my 84 year old mother will have a pacemaker implanted either today or tomorrow. I was searching pacemaker information and found your club. I don't know anything about what to expect.

Just a little history...

My father passed away 3 weeks ago from cancer. It was sudden. In fact, Mom was the one with the heart problems and poor health. Dad on Halloween night, had severe pain and was taken to the hospital. He was full of cancer and passed away November 5th in home hospice care. They completely relied on each other, so we have been worried about Mom.

Mom was at her doctors office on Wednesday before Thanksgiving and had a fainting spell and severe chest pain. She was rushed to the emergency room. She has been in the hospital ever since and just this morning, it was determined that she needs a pacemaker and possible ICD. We won't know until we get the ECG results for sure.

Sorry to ramble, but any insight that you could give me about what to expect would be greatly appreciated. THANKS

6 Comments

Sorry

by Angelie - 2008-12-02 01:12:43

Sorry for the loss of your Dad. I know you're worried about your Mother, and rightfully so.
You've stumbled upon a great site, and I'm glad that you've found us.
I'm 33, and have only had my pacemaker for about 4 months, so I don't know what advice I can offer ya, but I mainly wanted to welcome you here and apologize for the loss of your father.
If your mother has a pacemaker implanted she will be lightly sedated for the procedure. It's considered a "minor" procedure in the cardiologic realm of operations. She will be sore for a while, and asked to take it easy. She'll have driving and lifting, pushing, pulling, restrictions for the affected arm. The procedure itself and post implant was not bad for me. The hardest part for me was not being able to lift my arm above my head for a month, and not driving for 2 weeks.
I hope healing takes place in your family. Physically, spiritually, and mentally. Bless you,
Angelie

Prayers are with you

by Hot Heart - 2008-12-02 03:12:22

Hi there, I can understand how worried you are. I had an emergency pacemaker fitted 4 weeks ago and had no idea of what to expect.

You lie down on a bed similar to a dentists bed, head on side, someone can hold her hand. There is a slight discomfort with the procedure, not really painful at all. They make a small incision, then the surgeon pushes into the muscle to make a little pocket for the pm to sit in. The fitting of the wires isnt even really uncomfortable to be honest; its just that you feel scared of what they are doing. Wires in place, they screw them into the pm and stitch you up.

I jumped off the bed and ate a full dinner and pudding with a cup of tea then coffee.

Its your mum and I can understand how worried you are. The main problems for me have been things that probably wont affect your mum, like not being able to drive, not being able to stretch up into cupboards and not being able to run and go to the gym.

I find that wearing a loose fitting bra like a sports bra in bed stops the pm from pulling, and I dont tend to walk around bra-less any more, its more comfi to have one on.

I'm also more comfortable in bed with a couple of extra pillows to sink in to and a hot water bottle is good.

I am so sorry to hear of you losing your dad as well, life seems to suck sometimes doesnt it!

Send her our love and best wishes for a speedy recovery.

Mom Getting A PM

by SMITTY - 2008-12-02 03:12:30

Hello Robby,

Sorry about the loss of your Dad. Although it has been 35 years since I lost mine, I remember the day as if it were yesterday and I can well imagine the sorrow you feel. Time helps, but nothing ever erases the sorrow of losing a parent.

I hope the following can help ease some of your concerns about your Mom getting a pacemaker. It is the most complete guide on pacemakers I have come across anywhere. It tells what they are, why we get them, and what to expect afterward. The article is long and if you have already seen this I apologize for sending you useless information.

I wish your Mom and you the best,

Smitty

PACEMAKER IMPLANTATION

A pacemaker is a treatment for dangerously slow heart beats. Without treatment, a slow heart beat can lead to weakness, confusion, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and death.
Slow heart beats can be the result of metabolic abnormalities or occur as a result of blocked arteries to the heart's conduction system. These conditions can often be treated and a normal heart beat will resume. Slow heart beats can also be a side effect of certain medications in which case discontinuation of the medicine or a reduction in dose may correct the problem.

But sometimes, the conduction system of the heart becomes irreversibly damaged for any one of a number of reasons. And some people require medications that cause slow heart beats as a side effect in order to prevent other serious problems. Since there is no medication that one can take on chronic basis to speed up the heart rate, a pacemaker is the only solution.
Fortunately, having a pacemaker implanted is only a minor surgical procedure. This is not open heart surgery. After a pacemaker is implanted, most people resume their previous lifestyle with little or no limitations.

The procedure is performed with mild sedation and a local anesthetic. Patients are not put to sleep. A 2 inch incision is made parallel to and just below a collar bone. Pacer wires are then inserted into a vein that lies just under the collarbone and advanced through that vein under fluoroscopic guidance into the heart. The other end of the pacer wires are connected to a "generator" that is implanted under the skin beneath the collar bone. This generator is about half an inch deep and one and a half inches wide. The skin is then sutured closed and the patient leaves the hospital later than same day or the following day. Incisional pain is mild and transient and usually responds to Tylenol. It is possible to feel the pacer generator under the skin and a slight deformaty of the skin can be visually noticed.
Patients may not shower for a week after the procedure to keep the incision dry and should avoid excessively exerting the arm on the side the pacer was placed for that week.

After a week, the patient may resume their prior lifestyle without limitation. Household appliances do not interfere with modern day pacemakers. However, cellular phones may-especially digital cell phones. These should be kept 12 inches away from the pacemaker when on-preferably at the ear on the opposite side of the pacemaker. Never leave the cell phone in a pocket overlying the pacemaker.
Patients with pacemakers should avoid powerful electromagnetic fields which may reprogram the pacemaker. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans cannot be performed on patients with pacemakers for that reason.

The pacemaker generator contains a lithium battery and what is, essentially, a little computer. The generator can communicate with an external device placed on the skin overlying the pacemaker. Through this device, a physician can change the programming of the pacemaker to best suit the individual patient's needs and investigate the status of the pacemaker. Some pacemakers also report on the performance of the patient's heart.

Pacemakers can also be checked over the telephone. The patient places a device and a magnet over the pacemaker and the pacemaker transmits a signal over phone line that is analyzed in the physician’s office.
Pacemaker batteries give off warning signals when they are running low on power many months before they actually fail. This can be detected either by a telephone check or by a formal interrogation by the external device mentioned above. Pacemakers are generally checked at least every 3 months to allow plenty of time to change the generator when it is running low on power. Changing the generator simply means remaking the same incision, removing the old generator, and plugging the existing wires into the new generator. The patient goes home the same day. Most batteries last at least 5 years.

Pacemakers sense every heart beat the patient has and only pace the heart when the patient's heart rate falls below a predetermined limit. Patients are usually completely unaware of when the pacer is pacing their heart. In some patients, the pacemaker only needs to fire very rarely because the slow heart beat only occurs intermittently. In other patients, the heart beat is always too slow and the pacemaker has to pace the heart all of the time. Such patients are said to be pacemaker dependent.

Another use of pacemakers is for a disease called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. This is a disease where overgrown heart muscle blocks the egress of blood out of the heart. By altering the electrical activation pattern of the heart's muscle, pacemakers can help alleviate this problem.
A special type of pacemaker that stimulates both the left and right ventricles of the heart simultaneously (a biventricular pacemaker) can reduce symptoms and the need to be rehospitalized in heart failure patients with weak heart muscle who demonstrate slow electrical conduction through the ventricles on their ECG. This is known as cardiac resynchronization therapy. The pacemakers are usually combined with implantable defibrillators. Because these pacemakers are specifically designed for patients with heart failure, they may also come with a monitor to detect the amount of fluid in the lungs or the strength of contraction of the heart muscle.

To prevent abnormally fast heart rhythms from developing in the upper chambers of the heart (the atria), some researchers are experimenting with pacing the atria from two sites instead of just one.

So sorry

by chillks - 2008-12-02 04:12:38

Wow! You have been through a great deal with the loss of your father and then your mother having to have a pacemaker...I lost both of my parents within 11 months of each other and was the toughest thing I have ever had to face in life. But somehow, God does give you the strength to get through...I used to think I could never survive the loss of my parents...but I did! And I have such wonderful memories...and frankly still talk with them as if they were here. I really feel their presence a great deal.

I am somewhat new to the pacemaker life as well...had mine implanted in late June. I was pretty uncomfortable for several days. I could not drive for 3 weeks which was the worst. It will be much better for your mother if you and others can drive her so the seatbelt will not interfere with her pacemaker incision...it is very tender for awhile. If she is small like me, you feel like you have a tape measure implanted in your chest...I could really feel it and see it! Took some getting used to! But, think of it as an insurance policy on her heart...your mom will keep on ticking as her pacemaker will take over for her heartbeat if need be! We are all here for you as you are going to need lots of support as the caregiver and in accepting the sudden loss of your dad. Just come to us when you need to do so. Give your mother our best wishes and that we are thinking of her and will keep her in our thoughts and prayers.

Pacemaker complete

by Robby751 - 2008-12-05 03:12:56

Update.

My Mom had her pacemaker put in and she says she is feeling much better. She got to go home to her new assisted living apartment, and seems to be doing well. Thank you for your kind comments and information. I really leaned alot from you and it made it easier.

Keep me and my family in your prayers, because they did find a tumor in my Mom's small intentines and have sent it for biopsy. Having just lost Dad from cancer, this is quite troubling. We won't know the results for a week. Thank you all again.

Thinking of you

by Hot Heart - 2008-12-13 10:12:40

I lost my father when i was little and my mum in my 30's, you just take each day as it comes, try to enjoy the time you have together, look at the positives. I do hope that the results are positive. Take care.

You know you're wired when...

You participate in the Pacer Olympics.

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