Most Recent Messages

a couple of thoughts

"The journey between what you once were and who you are now becoming is where the dance of life really takes place."

"Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some sort of battle."

"Life is a rough road. That’s why man created 4x4’s."
-Angelie


I’m interested in knowing some quotes that help get you through difficult times, or LIFE in general.
I love reading quo...

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I Wish I Was So Smart

We must keep records of everything.

’If somebody has a bad heart, they can plug this jack in at night as they go to bed and it will monitor their heart throughout the night.  And the next morning, when they wake up dead, there’ll be a record’

-Mark S. Fowler, FCC Chairman

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Would appreciate any feedback…

Well the doctors have tried 3 times now to
get a lead to work in my upper chambers. My heart
is going back and forth between a junctional rhythm
and atrial fibrillation.

This last week they cracked my chest and tried to
attach a lead directly to the outside of my heart but
again no luck. My upper chambers just won’t
conduct an electrical signal.

The thoracic surgeon is saying there is no more that
can be done but that is a little hard...

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Disapointing interrogation :(

Alright, so I had my pacer interrogation today. The EGM shed some light on what I've been feeling. Turns out that I've been having short bursts of atrial flutter/fib with a rate of 320bpm. Yikes! The longest run being about 13 seconds.
Thank heavens that pacers now are equipped with diagnostic recording. The scary thing now is I have no idea what they're going to do with me. I see a ventricular lead being placed in my very near future. If that's what they suggest, I would at least want to...

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pacemaker question

I have been told I have to have a pacemaker. My passion is metal detecting - I have a new MineLab 4500. Is there anyone out there who has a metal detector who also metal detects. I have to wear headphones with this unit and it also has a lithium battery. I am very discouraged at the thought of giving up my hobby. Also, am trying to find out if a lead garment (like what is worn in x-ray labs) is an option and tried by anyone. Thanks so much ahead of time for any response!

lucylo...

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Clavicle Crush

My pacemaker technician mentioned the possibility that I am experiencing a "clavicle crush."  Has anybody ever heard this term before?  I can’t find much research on this topic. Would appreciate some feedback.

She said that my clavicle is putting pressure on my top lead wire and causing the wire "insulation" to pull and weaken, effecting my pacer settings. She switched my settings from bipolar to unipolar and says she thinks this will make a differe...

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MIG/ARC Welding

Hey

I'm a starting mechanic and when working in a garage i'm around welders and such very often. I was wondering if anyone had any knew if this was a problem and if so how far of a distance away from the welder should maintain?

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can any one help

my husband has a mitral valve replacemant and a pacemaker fitted the pm ws fitted 8 weeks ago since then he is convinced that the leads have moved or are moving he gets this pain were it feels like the lead is moving up and down has any one else felt this or how can you tell if the lead has moved thank you a very consernd wife of a pm member

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Rapid Heart Rate

I have a dual lead pacemaker. It was installed on 6/25/08. It was for tachy-brady syndrome. I would have bouts of A-Fib and my heart rate would also drop to 30 bpm's for days. Like everyone else the pacer took me a while to get used to. I've been feeling pretty good for a while now. Recently it seems like my heart has been racing but my heart rate is at it's normal 60 bpm. Why can't I see this rapid heart rate when I check my pulse? Is this due to the double leads? I know when I had an...

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chat dosent work for me dang.

just wondering is there any other chat programs yall go to to chat.
the chat here dosent work.

thanks

Ronnie.

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weird feeling

a weird question but does anyone know why i can feel a crakling sensation over my pacemaker especially when moving my arm?

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Electromagnetic Compatibility Information

I’ve noticed a lot of posts with questions on electromagnetic compatibility - good information here:

http://www.medtronic.com/wcm/groups/mdtcom_sg/
@mdt/@crdm/documents/documents/electromagnetic-compatibility.pdf

(Copy and paste the address to your browser)

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Heart Healthy Eating

Protein Power for a Healthy Heart

No food group offers more versatile protection from the causes of heart attacks than protein. Lean beef, eggs and pork are packed with homocysteine-lowering B vitamins. Fish delivers omega-3 fatty acids that keep heart rhythm steady and discourage blood clotting. Skinless chicken and turkey are low in artery-clogging saturated fat, and their protein keeps food cravings (and the risk of overeating) at bay. Beans—legumes such as chickpeas, black beans a...

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feeling down......

I got my ICD implanted in April of 2008 and have had nothing but pain from it. I just went to another Doctor for a second opinion about my ICD because it has moved down into my armpit area and it hurts me to reach my left arm over my shoulder because it moves all the way up and over my clavicle bone. My Doc didn't suture it down obviously and seems to think if I try to wait until April of next year that it might feel better and then we can talk about relocating it. He thinks my pocket is too...

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High blood pressure

Hi everyone, you have all kept me going this last 2.5 weeks since i started pacing. I'm the one who went into total heart block whilst having lipo on my legs.

Went to hospital for my legs yest and asked if they would do my bp, it was 170/100, scared me to death, the nurse said i'd best contact my gp. Came on here and am now assured that this is fairly common with people like me who have had a really low pulse rate for a long time. Am going to get it checked again tomorrow just to b...

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Iam glad to have found this site!!

Iam so glad that I found mary cumming's blog . SHe is the member of this club and the one who told me about this club. Thank you for your responses. I know,i may sound naive at this point but I guess iam still in denial. If I had pain then may be it would have sunken in fast(not that I want to be in pain),but it's been so easy to ignore and even forget that I have any problem. In this month me and my husband completly mastered the technique of denial and ignoring the fact. Today's Dr's visit wa...

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Waterski Cardio's opinion

Hi everyone hope ya'll are having a great day!
I have talked to my Dr. several times and he says I should be able to do anything - Thank God! - my heart is fine - I have bradycardia, my heart rate drops lower then it should and I had a "cardiac arrest" on 10/03/08 and that is why they decided to put in the ICD, at my first Dr.'s appt last week the St. Jude Rep. was there and did the interrogation on my ICD, I also talked to her about barefooting and she said it would be OK and the fact that...

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A little Support Please!

Hello everyone.

It has been a very long day for me and I don't feel like there has been enough of the positive things. So.... I have decided to encourage Everyone to make their donation to the Heartbeat fund today. If you have already made a donation... Thank you. If you have not, please do so.
We can discuss our PM ICD problems till the day is done, but we have to be aware that it is because of the PM and ICD that we are able to do just that! No matter how much it hurts, or how...

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colonoscopy, again

For my last lithotripsy I had medicine (demerol) for pain, but no benzodiazepine like versed to cause amnesia. Why wouldn't that work for a colonoscopy?

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colonoscopy

I asked for your advice, experiences and opinions, and I thank you for them. Now I'd like to express myself further: I've had gastric juices extracted from my stomach through an ng tube, a liver biopsy, a bone marrow extraction; an epidural with my first child and natural childbirth with the second (if I had to do it again, I'd go natural again); two cystoscopies with a ureteral stent insertion and removal, and four lithtripsies (kidney stone procedure) and none of that bothered me as much as t...

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You know you're wired when...

You take technology to heart.

Member Quotes

We are ALIVE! How wonderful is modern medicine.