you guys are great!

hello,

i must say i have really been enjoying this group. i can tell most of you are young. it's nice to hear the different things you feel with your devices, complications, how you cope etc. i have read so many messages that have validated how i am feeling and then the dr. say "it can't happen" no, it doesn't feel that way etc. it's like we should all band togewther and march saying....something. i have picked a few of you out that i can truewly relate to.

thank you, thank you soooo much.
you are all in my prayers :o)

luckyloo

8 Comments

Coping

by hooimom - 2007-05-11 11:05:55

Hi Luckyloo,

I am discovering that living with a PM will probalby mean constantly trying to learn and understand what is going on with me. Just when I think I have it half-way figured out, the next question or concern comes at me. I know it is impossible for my doctor to understand what I am going through since she does not have a PM. My family cannot understand, try as they may. I am so thankful to have this site to share with others going through the same thing I am.

Don't get me wrong, I am happy to have my PM. Most days I feel much better than I did before my PM. There are those days though, when I just need to hear an encouraging word or get a little advice and there are wonderful people here who do just that!

When did you get your PM?
Michelle

coping--great group

by luckyloo - 2007-05-12 02:05:55

hi everybody!

thank you for the welcomes!

michelle, i received my ICD (with pacemaker function turned on ) in 2000. 2 years later a lead fractured...probably from playing tennis. when i had the new lead put in, the EP's replaced the device even though it didn't have to be replaced but since they were opening me up, they thought they'd do it. unfortunately, they replaced my good medtronic with the guidant ventrak prism 2 which was recalled. i don't know if you remember in the news last year? , the defibrillator that was allowed to be implanted even though guidant knew it was defective. the same month i received the guidant, they released the fixed version. that made me so mad! the dr.'s didn't recommendmy battery is almost dead so i'll need another shortly.

take care,
luckloo

Recall

by hooimom - 2007-05-12 04:05:29

I haven't experienced a recall and haven't had to have my battery changed yet but can't say that either experience is something I look forward to. I had a collapsed lung after my lead knicked my chest wall so my surgery experience was not great. I am praying my battery and leads have a nice long, long life!

I used to hear about PM recalls and think, "That would stink!". It's bad enough to find out there is a recall with your car, but at least they don't have to cut you open to fix it. Little did I know I would be living with a PM a year after that thought.

Why did they change from Medtronic to Guidant? That is interesting to me. Did you switch doctors or did he just change his mind. If one PM is working and that model is still available it seems like they would stick with that one for you. Oh well, I am just a simple lay person without a medical degree.

Michelle

recall

by luckyloo - 2007-05-12 08:05:16

hi michelle,

my first ICD was put in at u of rochester in new york. i was sent there by u of mich for evaluation. i have a rare condition and it was diagnosed there. my follow up was at u of mich (my hometown isn't real strong with EP's...good ones. at u of mich they are guidant people....not anymore.

i have been reading more and more about kick backs hospitals get if they use a certain product. i think this was the case. in my hometown...in fact west michigan, , EVERY hospital is medtronic. the news media couldn't get a comment about the recall from any of them because they are all medtronic hospitals.

i would like medtronic. i have a peripheral nerve stimulator implanted in my right arm that is medtronic so i'd like to stay consistent.

take care,
luckyloo

Medtronic

by hooimom - 2007-05-12 09:05:48

Will the hospital let you request a device? I have a Medtronic and my husband just got a Medtronic insulin pump on Thursday. He was diagnosed with diabetes three weeks after I got my PM. He says I stressed him out! I guess I did. I haven't had any problems with my PM so I would probably like to stay with Medtronic next time.

What part of Michigan are you from? My husband is from South Haven and went to Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo.

Michelle

oh yeah

by randrews - 2007-05-12 12:05:22

This is a great site. After I got my pm I was such a wreck and so unprepared and so ignorant of pms and health issues. I have found the emotional support and comradrie a gift from God. I'm glad you have found that also.
Take care,
Rusty

michigan

by jessie - 2007-05-13 03:05:37

hi, what part of michigan are you from? i live on the border to michigan and moved back here in 1972 after being in toronto for 10 years. i grew up here and always loved being a border town to the u.s.a. where i live you just hop on a ferry and 5 minutes later you are accross the st. clair river lol lol it is a nice ride and our two grandchildren love going when they are here in the summer.so all the best jessie

medtronic-michigan

by luckyloo - 2007-05-13 08:05:54

hi michelle and jessie,

i live in grand rapids. i also went to WMU for one year.

i go to the "young ICD conference every year at u of mich. it's nice to meet young ICD people....they can relate (just like all of you :o)

i think at hospitals you can request but i'm not sure. many hospitals are mad at guidant so i doubt they'd argue with you. if a guidant device could do something a medtronic couldn't and the patient needed that feature then maybe that would be different.

take care!
luckyloo

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