Just had my first PM check

And got the printout, like y'all suggest. No setting changes since it's still very new and there's not much history built up yet. If anyone would be able to help me read it, I'd appreciate it if you would e-mail me privately. I don't relish the idea of doing that via postings.

A couple good numbers... 1.3% atrial pacing, 6.4% ventricle pacing, which makes sense because my cardiologist said my atrium was doing just fine, but my ventricle wasn't always getting the message. I was thinking 6% wasn't much, especially compared to the folks here who have 100% pacing, but then I thought about that being 6 out of every 100 heartbeats, or 4-5 per minute, and that's a little sobering.

My other favorite stat that I could read: since it was put in 15 days ago, there have been 1.5 million heartbeats, which works out to about 75 bpm on average. Being a little bit computerish, it's pretty amazing to me how much info can be stored and interpreted by interrogating our little computers in our chests.

PM Nurse said I'm cleared to drive, but work wants it in writing, which I should get when I see my doctor on Thursday. So I'm getting close to back to normal. Just need to be careful of my arm and leads for a few more weeks.

Thanks to everyone who have given me good advice - you all don't even know - I've done so much searching and learning here in the past couple of weeks.

Hope everyone has a most excellent evening!
A-M

3 Comments

first pm check coming

by attybern - 2009-02-03 06:02:10

Mine is a little newer than yours, 4 days. It will be interesting to see my numbers next Monday.

Computer type

by ElectricFrank - 2009-02-04 12:02:39

Me too. I look at my report and calculate all sorts of things. I have an Excel spreadsheet set up where I record PVC's, pacing voltage, Electrode impedance, battery parameters, and a few other ones. That way I can plot them and keep track of trends.

Our hearts are amazing devices when you consider 1.5 mil beats in 15 days.

It is great to have such a low pacing %. Mainly it will extend the battery life. These readings are misunderstood a lot. All it takes is a few missing beats in a row to pass out and that is way less than 1%. On the other hand I pace 100% in my ventricles, but I can tolerate a complete pacing failure since I just drop back to somewhere around 30-40 BPM.

Good luck and welcome to the group,

frank

thank you all

by abreaux - 2009-02-05 09:02:27

for the support - I really appreciate it! I was on a high Tuesday, then freaked myself out yesterday because I kind of forgot to be careful when I lifted my mom's wheelchair in and out of the trunk of the car, then worried half the night about my leads. Saw my cardiologist today and I'm restricted from driving for another 4 weeks. Was so upset at dinner, but I'm accepting it a few hours later. It will all be fine in the long run, and I still get to play with my PM numbers - thanks for the Excel suggestion, ElectricFrank!

I work with libraries, and we all worry about people carrying around books and videos with RFID chips in them. Someone can tell what they are reading if they can read the chip. And people walk around with GPS in their phones. And here we are walking around with a little computer in us that can be read from outside. Yowza...

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic man.

Member Quotes

The experience of having a couple of lengths of wire fed into your heart muscle and an electronic 'box' tucked under the skin is not an insignificant event, but you will survive.