Ok...this may sound daft so bear with me...
Now that my hubby has an ICD, will we still be able to have children in the future? I am thinking that the pressure of ’parenting’ maybe too much? I don’t know if his AF is generic or not? I would never want to compromise my hubbies health. I have a million questions, this is just a start!  Are there any partners out there that could give me some friendly advice:)

 

Hi all,

I'm not actually pregnant yet, but planning ahead for the future, and have a silly question...

I know I've got 3.5 years battery life left on my current pacemaker, and the technician told me at my last appointment (last month) that they would probably change it when there's about 6 months left on it.

I know this sounds daft, but I'm guessing this means I need to have HAD a baby before the pm hits the six-month mark, or else wait until I get a new pm and it's well settled in? Am I right in thinking it wouldn't be the most sensible thing to be undergoing a replacement op whilst pregnant?

Anyone have any experience of this sort of thing/similar situation?

Thanks in advance! :)

 

Hi all, my just-turned-three year old has had a pacemaker since two months old, and we've had numerous issues. She's now on her second pacer due to a staph infection on the first abdominal pacer pocket caused by a laproscopic gtube surgery. She has had open-heart surgery to repair two CHDs, DORV and a VSD. Recovery didn't go well and she ended up with heart block with an intrinsic heart rate of about 30-40 bpm. So a pacer was placed. When that became infected at 6 months of age, we went back for another heart cath, removal of infected pacer and leads, temporary wires placed for a week, then a new pacer placed transvenously in her left shoulder. This one has been in for over two years now and she's doing great. We always thought she ...

 

On October 24th I will offically be into my fifth month of life with a pm, and I have to say that I'm feeling better and better all of the time! With that said, my husband and I are ready to pick up the pieces and start trying to have a baby again. Is there anyone out there who's delivered a child with a pm? My OB said that's he's never delivered a child to anyone with a pacemaker, and my cardiologist seems to think that my OB should clear me for pregnancy. Needlessly to say, it's a bit confusing on our end. If there's anyone out there who could share their pregnacy experiences with a pacemaker I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,

Anna

 

Our 11 year old daughter has double inlet left ventricle with the Fontan repair and complete heart block. She got her first pacemaker at age 5, and had surgery in '08 (atrial lead + new pacemaker); '09 (ventricular lead replacement) and again just on 8/9/10 to implant her third pacemaker and another new ventricular lead. Post-op visit indicated that her threshold was 4, and they can't double that to set the preferred safety margin of 8 -- pacemaker only goes to 7.5. Battery life will be severely reduced since the threshold must be set so high. Dr. says probably because of scar tissue. Probably looking at another surgery way sooner than we care to think about...

Anybody out there with a similar experience with their child? ...

 

Hi
Nice to receive your message. If your mom can get one & doctor don't think she is to old, I would go for it.
I was always so healthy, never weighted over 112 pounds, walked three miles per day, ate good food, never smoke or drink. Was 58 years old & two weeks before had blood test all perfect range. Then brushing my teeth for bed my left arm started to hurt very bad, my husband (Airline Pilot) trained to act fast said I am getting the car taking you to ER. The hospital was about five mins from our home. It just happen a Cardologist & his medical team was on call that night.
He looked at me & said "you are in the middle of a heart attack." To make a long story short, they started the tsp drip to bust clots which took a ...

 

I am not ready to have my second baby...right this instant... but the idea is starting to be discussed more and more. Maybe next year! Wondering what kind of preperations if any, I would need to do before I got pregnant as far as the PM goes.

I have a few other things to square away first LOL....but want to be ready!

I know some of you have had babies with a PM....please chime in and offer feedback!
THANKS

 

My daughter is 14 years old and got her first pacemaker 2 weeks ago. Last night she came to me complaining of shortness of breath and felt as if her heart was to slow. After a little while she felt better, but complained the muscles around the pm site hurt. Her pm is set to fire at 80. Do these symptoms mean that the pm fired? Although I am used to all her cardiac problems - she has had OH 4 times because of a congenital heart defect -this is a whole new ball game.

 

hello...

my son is 8 years old and has a complete heart block. he is having his surgery to place his pacemaker this coming tuesday. my nerves have been getting the best of me lately. his rate is 48 when awake and falls into the 30's with a 3 second pause at night. never shown any symptoms and you would never think he would have an issue with his heart....just looking to see if anyone can fill me in on what to expect...he's getting anxious also....

 

Watched a hospital program late last night. Centered to some extent on Great Ormond St Hospital for Children. One of the patients a 14 year old boy keen on sport was brought in having suffered a heart attack. A flap of skin was discovered inside his heart which was removed during an operation. However the doctors were convinced that he had further problems and he ended up with an ICD after further tests . I was quite amazed when they tested the ICD during implantation. His body almost bounced off the operating table. It took 2 hours to put it in and test it. I must have experienced that during my many cardioversions prior to my pacemaker. They told him it would stop him suffering SDD or sudden death syndrome. His mother was quite tearful a...

 

My doc told me the only reason I have High Grade AV Block is it's congenital. My two kids are now 12 and 13...I was reading that adolescents can start being symptomatic. Should I have them tested - a baseline ECG or something? They are both very active in sports - running, football, pilo's...I truly worry they'll drop one of these days. Would I use their ped or go to a cardiologist?
Thanks!
Tracie

 

Hello

I had my pacemaker fitted 11 days ago, I am currently 25 weeks pregnant. The pacemaker has been placed under my left breast and I am now wordering if I will be able to breast feed on my left hand side once my daughter is born or not?

Has anyone else had there pacemaker placed under their breast so it can't be seen and then gone on to breast feed?

Many thanks

Jen

 

I have gone through several PMs and would like to offer help or assistance to other PM patients. I feel like I would have a lot of experience in dealing with people concerning their PMs and the related issues, problems, and concerns. I can be found on Facebook under my name, Charles Edward Nobles and would invite other PM patients (young and old). I have had more than nine PMs, Open Heart Surgery, and Coarctation of the Aorta. I would be willing to chat, email, or talk on the phone to anyone that would be needing someone else for advice and/or encouragement........

 

Is there anyone out there who has been pregnant/had a baby since getting their PM? My husband and I are thinking about starting a family in the next year or so and am wondering if there is anything I should know. Can there be any complications? Or is everything just like if I didn't have a pacemaker? Can you breast feed? Is there anything that I need to do before I get pregnant to get ready for?

Nikki

 

I am the grandmother. My grandson is very active and you would never know he needs a pacemaker. They put heart monitor when they diagnosed him at 1yr old on a routine visit to the Dr. It has now went to stage 3. I have never seen him pass out or do anything abnormal. He has now complete heart block. They say his heart is good but the heart does not know to send the signal from the top to bottom. No one on my side of family has this and no one on the mothers side has this. Does anyone know where this comes from? And if they said his heart rate is 40 how come he shows no sign of having a problem? Is that possible?

 

I would like to share some of MY personal knowledge about PMs, I had Open Heart Surgery at 3, 9 PMs since then, I currently am about to be 40 years old. I lead a VERY active life, I travel the entire U.S. setting up the inside shelving for new Big Box Stores, I get 5-6 weeks on the road, I come home for 3-7 days, I then return to another part of the U.S. and continue setting up a different kind of store about every 6 months. I thank God for my PM and the ability that it gives me to lead a VERY productive, active, and sometimes a long day scheduled life. I will probably continue to do this for many more years. If anyone would like to CHAT then join me on Facebook just look me up; Charles Edward Nobles (Edward Nobles). I will add you a...

 

Hi there,
My son had a pcemaker implanted in Oct 2009 in Sydney, Australia. He was really sick for 2 years with syncope, low HR, high HR, weight loss, tiredness etc. They finally diagnosed him with complete heart block and a pacemaker was inserted the following day. Thank God his heart is not allowed to drop below 60 now (I can finally sleep at night!). I am still concerned though because his hr is still irregular and it gets up to 120/130 bpm for no good reason. He is also experiencing pain around the pacemaker site that shoots under his arm and through to his back. Doctors here do not seem to be able to give me any answers. All tests are normal. Does anyone have any suggestions

 

Hi I am new to this site, but not new to the pm. My son Cody had transposition of the great arteries and a vsd and asd @ birth. He had surgery to correct this @ 4 days old. Cody was 6wks premature because he is a twin. Cody ended up with a pm @ 17 days old. Cody is and always has been the more active twin which is funny considering his twin is perfectly healthy. I find it very hard to keep Cody from being an active boy. Cody is now 5 and is on his 2nd pacemaker. When Cody was 2 1/2 he broke a lead. Cody did not show any signs or symptoms and this was only noticed @ a routine pm ck 2 wks after they think he broke it. Cody was running in circles @ the hospital prior to surgery with a hr of 40. Cody has 2 brothers and loves to be a...

 

My son will graduate from highschool next year. While in Georgia we have the Hope scholarship, I was wondering if anyone out there knew of some that were avaliable for children with pacemakers? My oldest daughter got different scholarships and she only had to pay for one class when she was in college. She lived at home but still had to work for different things. Which I think is a good thing. She is very responsible.

 

My daughter is 4 and had her pacemaker placed in April 09. She has done so much better with her pacer. She used to pass out 6-7 times a week. Her heart was struturally normal at the cardiologist so he ordered a Holter Monitor and after 2 days she passed out again while getting out of the car. The monitor showed that her heart stopped for 30 seconds. They tried medication but she was allergic to it. Then they placed her pacer in her abdomen. It is a dual chambered epicardial pacer with a high and low setting plus a drop setting (if her heart rate drops suddenly it will start pacing). She came home from the hospital after a week and still had fevers. They called it Post Pericardialotomy Syndrome. We live an hour and a half from the hospital....