This is for the 56-year-old guy who removed his post “No turning Back” and deciding YES – NO to Pacemaker.

• by ANDREW75
• 2023-11-18 13:31:58
• General Posting
• 352 views
• 1 comments

75-year-old male here, fairly fit, and able for my age! The “No turning back” was an issue with me also, I agree it is difficult. I guess our egos go to being young and fit to that of being old and infirmed.

I had a device similar to a Holter ECG called a Zio patch for two weeks. I believe it gave my Cardio Dr enough information to go to a permanent Biotroniks Linq. This was 27/7 monitoring and revealed that I had low pulse for 36% of my time monitoring for 245 days. I also had a rather high number of single PVC’s, about 9,214 per day. I realized the onset of my heart conditions was “Silent and Illusive”.

I had very few symptoms, most notable when windsurfing, I started to get puffed out and had to cut down on lengthy sessions. Two years ago I had a torn bicep and pleurisy while windsurfing. I was hospitalized and upset at getting “old”. 

Last year I had become even more of a danger to myself and had to stop completely, my strength had weakened even more. In truth I had been gradually weakening over several years.

My Cardio Dr offered to fit me in the next day. I knew him well he had been treating my wife for four years, so it was a fairly easy decision. I read two years’ worth of hospital notes, called him up and said: “let’s go”.

I am seven weeks past my surgery and feel it was the right decision. Modern pacemakers are fantastic devices. It is a privilege to have one, I am very lucky to live in the Western World. My pacemaker gives the tools to my doctor to look after me.

I hope you come back to read these insights.

Good luck Andrew