today

Good Morning to you all.
Thankyou for the warm welcome and all your responses,
i am so sorry it took this long to get back to you, well actually i tried tuesday morning but when i went to add my comment i lost everything, so here i am going to try it again....

so some of you asked what happened that jack needed a pacemaker, we are not really sure, his heart rate apparently dropped way to low,
he was sitting in his recliner had fallen asleep, when he jerked and fell sideways, i went over to him, his eyes were open but he couldnt see me or respond to me, i called 911, and by the time the 1st responders got here he was starting to come around, when the paramedics got here he was totally with it, and didnt understand what all these people were doing at our house. he of course didnt think anything was wrong and refused to go to the hospital, but talking with the paramedics, he agreed but only if drove him and they would follow, but then he had another episode, and this time they had him on the floor doing CRP, i heard them say his heart rate was at 35 and they couldnt get it back up, (they must have been in communication with the hosp,) i also remember them saying they gave him 2 rounds of something, and seeing the monitor with the number 35 on it. big red numbers that i will never forget.
at first they tought he had had a siezure, but the tests he had at the hospital showed he didnt, with more tests done the heart dr said he has an electrical blockage in the heart, and needed a pacemaker. he did have a stroke a yr ago in december, mild one with no lasting effects, and then a heart attack this past sept, i asked the dr if that caused the blockage and he said no, that his heart healed itself, so then i dont understand why this has happened. alot of people have said age could be a factor, that he is getting older, and things just wear out.....
i am still trying to wrap my head around all this,
i wasnt sure how jack was feeling about all this, as he wasnt talking about it, but yesterday he was talking to a friend, she was asking questions, then he told her he didnt want to talk about it, as it was making him shake. so i guess he is just as scared as i am......

smitty, jacks pacemaker does have 2 leads on it, and his munbers are 60 -120, i undertand that the pacemaker wont let his heart get past the lower number, but still not sure about the higher one, can his heart rate go above that or does the pacemaker stop it before it does? guess we are going to have to do a lot of reading on this subject.....

so we had our first phone check yesterday...... the tech told him when he put the magnet up by the pacemaker that his heartrate went up to 99, but that is was ok, and all looked good.... modern technoligy, how strange they can take a reading like this over the phone!

so a stupid question...... i went back to work monday night.... and had to leave jack home alone, the whole time i was gone, (4.5 hrs) i did nothing but worry about him.... but at the same time it did feel good to be out of this house and have something else on my mind....(a distraction form this all) is this normal?. i dont know if i should quit my job to be here with him, or keep it....its just a part time job, about 12 hrs a week......

You all have a Great Day!
and Thankyou again for the warm welcome
Dana

4 Comments

No

by walkerd - 2009-01-29 08:01:01

Life must go on Dana and I speak for myself only but if you quit your job your husband may in his mind think he is being a burden, I know I would have and do have times I feel that I am to my wife, Im 51 and am on disability for now anyways put on by my cardioligist. I know when i got back home after my surgery I felt like a burden to my wife, I had to force her to go back to work, I tried to go back to work two months after my bypass and pm/defib at my doctors dismay, got lightheaded, dizzy, and had chest pains doctor told me not to go back unless i wanted to have worse happen to me. Just support and talk to your husband dont treat him like he is a invalid that is the worst thing you can do. Well I know it was counterproductive to me, its bad enough knowing I cant work, and all the other things this has brought on. just keep doing what you are doing dana you sound like a fantastic wife. I know I have one.
dave

Answer, Maybe

by SMITTY - 2009-01-30 11:01:29

Hello Dana,

At the risk of boring some people to death with my long winded comments, I'll try to answer some of your questions.

Pacemakers can increase the heart rate, but it will not slow it down. So when your husband's heart rate goes above 120 the pacemaker continues to monitor his heart function, but does nothing toward regulating the heart beat until it below 120.

I will venture a guess on what happened to your husband as I have had an almost identical episode of what you described. Because of my past experience I'll say I have at least one chance in a thousand of being right. My problem was atrial fibrillation (A-Fib). In case you are not familiar with the term A-Fib is when the atrium starts beating so fast (it is more like quivering than actually beating) an insufficient amount of blood is transferred to the ventricle to be pumped to all parts of the body to keep us going. As a result we pass out. The A-Fib is relatively short lived, but when it does stop and the heart slows down it slows too much and is followed by an extremely low heart rate. People that do not have a pacemaker and have an A-Fib attack can be in deep trouble. However those of us with a PM fare much better because the will step in and keep the heart rate at least at the low setting rate.

I've had two A-Fib attacks. The first was a couple of years ago and I ended up in the ER for a short stay. The latest was a couple of days ago, just before we were to leave on a few days vacation, dang it. This time I came to, other than feeling a little out of sorts, I was alright. I did think I would have to divorce my wife just a couple of months short of our 60th anniversary to get her to shut up about my refusing to go to the ER this time. I was sure I knew what had happened and that last trip to the ER for A-Fib was a big joke. I had three doctors standing around with their thumb in their mouth saying "Mr. Smith do you want to be admitted to the hospital?" By then I felt okay and I have to ask, who in the hell ever wants to be admitted to a hospital when they feel all right.

One last comment and I'll have to stop. There are exceptions to every rule, I understand. Some of the newer pacemakers can interrupt an irregular atrial beat and there are some implantable devices (called and ICD, or defibrillator) that can interrupt an irregular beat of the ventricle. They both do their job by sending strong electrical impulses to literally shock the affected chamber back into a normal rhythm. I should add the shock the ventricle gets will be much stronger than the one to stop A-Fib. Your doctor can tell you exactly what your husband has and what to expect.

I may be able to tell you about the PM used to stop A-Fib about the middle of march. My medications were changed yesterday and if those don't level out my heart rhythm, then I was more or less promised a new PM that has the ability to correct an irregular heart beat rhythm.

As for quitting work, I agree with one of the previous comments. Don't. Your husband is in safe hands with that PM looking after his heart beat. And if you are like my wife, he doesn't need you saying"what's wrong" every time he grunts or takes a deep breath.

Good luck to you both,

Smitty

No answer, but glad to meet you

by abreaux - 2009-01-31 11:01:27

Hi Dana,

It can be scary to have him just sitting there and the next thing you see paramedics. I had a similar situation back in December, except I was driving and the next thing I knew I was in the median and didn't understand why they were saying I was passed out. Then I passed out again a couple weeks ago, and after that, they decided I was having periods of slow heartbeat and needed a pacemaker. I thought they were crazy, but I had it implanted a week and a half ago, and if this will allow me to drive again and start living my life again, then so be it, even though it doesn't feel any different to me than before, except for this weight in my chest.

Please don't quit your job, at least not quite yet. I think it's hard to make decisions like this until things start feeling normal again. And as for worrying about leavig your husband alone, I'm guessing you needed to worry more *before* he had the PM implanted than now, since he could go down at any moment back then, and now, hopefully, he's better than new.

This is just my 3rd post, and I haven't even had my first post-op check yet, so please take that for what it's worth. Wishing you all the best,

Ann-Marie

your right

by jackswife - 2009-02-02 07:02:50

Good Morning Everyone,
you are all right, about me not quitting my job to stay home with jack, my job is my outlet, ......like i had said before its a distraction and keeps my mind on other things, at least for the time i am away,

yesterday i didnt have to work, but decicded that i needed to do something fun for myself, a friend called and asked if i wanted to go riding, it was 34 degrees here and sunny, and my poor horse had been neglected for way to long, so i went.....of course forgot my cell phone and worried that if jack had a problem i was unreachable.... but when i got home he was here and fine, riding his golf cart up the road! whew what a relief that was.....i have always been a natural worrier, and now with his pacemaker is worse, i imagine with time and getting use to the idea he has to have it, maybe will get better...i sure hope so.

Ann-Marie~~~i cant even imagine passing out while your driving! that is a very scarry thought that that could have happened to jack, but he really had no signs that he needed a pacemaker that we were aware of.....prior to this for about a month he was tired alot, and everytime he would sit in his recliner he would fall asleep, didnt matter what time of day it was, within 5 min he would be out like a light.... could this have been a sign???? makes me kinda wonder about it now that maybe it was....

Thankyou to all of you for your support, even though i am not the one with the pacemaker, its so very nice that you all have welcomed me into your group, and i know i have people to talk to when need be......
Thankyou again, you all have a Great Day!
Dana

You know you're wired when...

Bad hair days can be blamed on your device shorting out.

Member Quotes

I've never had a problem with my model.