Most Recent Messages in Checkups & Settings

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Update/Changes/More Dependent

Hi All,

I had posted previously that I was waiting for an appt with a Cardiologist at a VA hospital a couple of hours away from me. The General Practioner Dr. had reviewed the ECG results and said that I had a possible 1st degree block (?) I thought this odd when they had told me when it was implanted that I had a 2nd degree block. Today I had a thorough check up today after not having been checked for a year (had no insurance and justgot covered through the VA). Things have changed....

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what questions should we ask

hi everyone hope you all doing well this may seem a silly question to ask but hubby has another pm cheak at hospital tomorrow ,we alwasy have trouble getting any info of them or copys of the report witch wer were told we can ask for ,but they say its not there policy to give copys ,we are still in the prosess of understanding all this pm stuff for hubby so are there any questions we should be asking when hubby goes tomorrow thanks for any advice xx

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Had My Wound Check

Well Hello everyone!!! I had my wound check yesterday! All looks great, its pretty swolen and bruised (i guess thats to be expected) The thing I was not prepared for was, that you can actually see the raised area of the PM..I can trace the entire thing with my finger!!! Will it always be like this, will it remaine raised and noticable?? WOW. Scarey!!! The also did the PM interrogation, all is working well....its settings are great so far, and I am...(sadly enough) 84% dependant on the PM....

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Questions

Hi all, hope everyone is doing okay.

I have a question regarding the information the pacemaker holds until my next checkup. The doctor said on my follow-up visit after my implant that I was pacing at 50%. I have a dual lead that was implant due to 2nd degree AV block.

I am scheduled for a three month checkup in May and was curious as to how much information the doctor will get when he tests the pacemaker. Does it keep info since the last visit for him to see how I have been...

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mammogram due

I have had my pacemaker for approximately six months. I will
need to go and have a mammogram next month. Is there something I should do before going for this mammogram, or
should I wait longer. I am doing fine otherwise, atleast so far.

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I take it all back!

I've just come home from my appt with the Doc for my routine PM check. He and the tech were informative, supportive, and patient. I had nothing to worry about. They did increase upper Atrium limit to 170 (from 150) so I can walk uphills better. Anyway, thanks for your input and support!
Janet

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nervous

I haven't posted in about a year. I'm the one that had to put a second mortgage on our house to pay for pacemaker surgery in July 2008. because I have no insurance. I don't know if anyone remembers this. Tomorrow I'm going in for a routine PM check. I've canceled the last 3 appts for this because I have very little confidence in the technician, and my PM Doc seems indifferent. We have to pay cash and sometimes, for their mistakes, which is hard to take. My question is this: my "upper sett...

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Leads and unit failure

Recently I have been having some of the same symptoms as before my implanted dual chamber medtronic PM such as lightheartedness, breaking out in a sweat when I exert myself at all associated with some shortness of breath but no chest pain or discomfort. When I relax the symptoms subside. These things started right after taking a shower a couple of weeks ago and accidently slipped and in trying to support myself by grabbing the rail that swung the arm on the side of my PM up and over my head...

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How often is the 'norm' for a pacemaker test?

I have not been for a pacemaker test for nearly twelve months, I am having one in May, but I have had several 'episodes' of rapid heartbeat and weakness over the year which will probably not be recorded.
I am not on any medication, apart from half aspirin every other day.

I had my pacemaker January 2008, I do not see a cardiologist anymore so wondered if anything was not quite right how would I know !!!

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All is well!

You were all right, everything is great! Leads are solid! The heavy feeling in my chest is my pacemaker working. Now that I know what it is it isn't scary. I just need to get used to it! The light fluttery 10-30 second racing is PVC's. I am going to quit smoking tomorrow. The number of them will most likely go down at that point. If they don't decrease & they continue to interfere we will think about beta blockers.

Here's the report:

Medtronic Adapta dual lead
Battery...

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Problems faced

I have pacemaker since September 2009. I continue to have uneven heart rate. The heart rate is high while asleep. I used to have continuous pain on the left side of my pacemaker. Sometime it is tolerable and some times it is not tolerable and I am not able to do any thing. Recently I found that whenever I lift my left hand, the pulse rate jumps from 80 to 120. Doctors and PM techs are not able to solve this problem.

Can any one suggest best hospital in Chennai- India to solve my prob...

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Follow Up After Surgery

Hi, I would like to ask if anyone has had this happen and if you think that it is odd.

After my recent replacement pacemaker my Dr. went to my husband in the waiting area and gave to him the followup instructions. This is what he was told; Have your wife set up an appointment for 3 months followup. Take this antibiotic until it's gone and this is for pain. He gave my husband 2 prescriptions to have filled.

Here is the Question; Is it weird that I am not seeing anyone to ch...

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Great Checkup this morning!

I just came back from my 2 week post pm implant check up. The doctor and the tech were both great! The doctor answered all my questions. I think I had at least 20 or so, lol!

Currently, I am pacing 80% of the time. He also said that it takes time to get back to the way I felt before, but wants me to continue walking, but wait another 2-3 weeks to push my hr up to its limit. My pm is set from 50 to 130. So I'll see how it goes when I resume my normal exercise routine about resetting th...

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My incision check

Hi Heartu and All! I went to my incision check today. Well he checked my incision and did an interrogation too, which I was hoping for! Incision looks great and my pm is working perfectly. Unfortunately I didn't get any printouts or anything. He said my heart is doing it's job and it was beating intrinsic (is that the right word)? Naturally, or something like that. I was just happy things are working good, and the interrogation wasn't as bad as I thought and I'm feeling better every day!...

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Going for my post op visit tomorrow

Tomorrow will be 2 weeks since my pm implant for third degree heart block. My appointment with the EP is supposed to be a wound check. Should I ask any specific questions at this appointment?

After 2 weeks I still don't have the strength I had before all this started. My situation was that I had 2 episodes of wooziness before I ended up in the hospital and 5 days later got the pacemaker. At the end of the day I am pretty tired. I have been doing minimal housework and take several shor...

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Should I expect to get results?

I had a six month checkup last Wednesday where I had an EKG & ultrasound (Is this the same as an echogram?) to check valves, EF, etc. Should I expect the doctor to call me with results or not? I realize it's only been a few days & I'm OK with that. However, communication with this guy isn't easy. I saw him for less than 5 minutes & all he asked was how I was feeling. He's out the door practically before I can give him an answer. Would it be out of line for me to call & ask a few questions regard...

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PACEMAKER READINGS?

Could someone explain what I was told at my one-week interrogation with the PM representative?

He said the lead to the bottom chamber of the heart was at 100% and the upper chamber of the 36%. The heart rate had been between 60-80.

Then he reset the PM to 60-140 range. Next checkup with him is in 3 months.

Am I figuring this correctly? Does this mean the 100% on the lower chamber means it didn't have to work at all?

Does the 36% on the upper chamb...

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Shocks

Well im getting shocked again and im going to have to go back to the cardiologist again. They say that third time is a charm well whats to be said about the fifth? LOL. I called my cardio and he wants it adjusted before surgery tomorrow so they trying to squeeze me in today or in morning. I hope today because in the morning thAt would be crazy.

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Bandages off/shocks

Today I get my bandages off from my PM surgery last week. I am hoping he will be able to make some more adjustments too because I am still getting shocked every time I bend over and sometimes just randomly when I am sitting here. He made some adjustments a few days ago and said the lower lead seems to be resting right over a nerve. I really hope that I do not have to be opened back up to have the lower lead readjusted; I may just deal with the shocking experiences, LOL

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What do these settings mean?

The lower range of my PM is 60 and the upper limit is set at 120. Another note I made it that the PM paces at 70%.

What do these things mean?

Thank you so much.

John

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