new pacer

Thursday I had my St. Jude dual chamber pacemaker implanted. Friday noon I came home. So far I have not had one pain pill and I am cooking light meals. My shoulder is a bit tender and I am tired but my constant buzz headache and dizziness is gone. Looking forward to seeing what being active is going to be like. I thought I was heart healthy with low cholestral and low blood pressure until I found out that it wasn't the heat that was making me faint!!! I am still trying to figure out what damaged my heart (as in maybe the radiation for breast cancer 3 years ago). I rely on pool exercise for muscle tone (because of arthritis) but I am out of the pool for a while. I consider myself very fortunate for just popping into my doctor's office and asking if I was having a heat stroke or a heart attack (3 weeks ago). They popped a holter monitor on me and told me the next day that I needed a pacemaker as my rate was dropping to 20 frequently.

4 Comments

Home and Dry

by Wannabe - 2012-10-06 06:10:35

It seems as though you were driven by good sense if you ask me, grittygrammy. So glad it was discovered in time that you needed a pacer and now hope all will be well and you'll be feeling heaps better in no time. This club's the place to ask questions and be reassured about all aspects of pacemaking! Take care and allow yourself to heal at your own individual pace. Best wishes and blessings. Sheila

good for you!

by Tracey_E - 2012-10-07 09:10:00

So glad to hear you are doing well!

Eating well and being active keep our cholesterol and bp down which means we're less likely to have plumbing problems (clogged arteries). Electrical problems are completely unrelated to how we take care of ourselves and therefore nothing we could prevent. They usually just happen, though it can come from infection, medications, other heart surgeries, and also sometimes cancer treatment though chemo is known for doing more damage than radiation.

If you have questions, please don't be shy.

U go girl!

by Bevof NC - 2012-10-12 10:10:29

Can't keep a good woman down! You sound like you are doing all the right things . Like TraceyE said..A pacemaker is for the electical problems of your heart. Your arteries are the plumbing aspects of your heart. Get well very soon..don't push.. enjoy a little time off. ..Then get with all your activities that you love. Best of luck to you! BevofNC

thank you all

by grittygrammy - 2012-10-14 01:10:23

I am now in day 11 of my new PM and am tired from a restless night last night. All others I have slept like a bably. I am really feeling so much better I didn't know how sick I was and how it slowly crept up on me. My biggest problem is keeping my left arm in check. I have no pain so I keep finding that arm going up (as when I am sleeping) but there have been no repercussions. Thanks to all of you for the kind posts. Hope that allof you out there are having a great October. Pat

You know you're wired when...

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

Member Quotes

I just want to share about the quality of life after my pacemaker, and hopefully increase awareness that lifestyles do not have to be drastically modified just because we are pacemaker recipients.