having a pacemaker

Im a 50 year old male, i got my pacemaker back in july 2001, I was scared half to death when the doctors told me i needed a pacemaker,what changes would be happening in my life?,would my life be shorter having one, would it fail on me, I work 50 to 80 miles out in the woods as a logger, what couldn’t I do that I had always been able to do?, many fears and questions. well now 8 years later Iv’e had no problems at all, the only things Im not supposed to do are weld and run a chainsaw, Iv’e done both and had no problems. life has been normal for me, sometimes I forget I even have one until I feel the little lump in my shoulder, within the next few days I’ll be getting a new one, mines getting old and theres a recall on the one I have, they have decided to replace mine early to avoid any problems. those fears are back again ,but I know my doctors are good and will fix me right up. having a pacemaker hasn’t changed my life much, its given me 8 more years I wouldn’t of had. where I live 3000 people have them, from babys to elderly, there an amazeing little machine, thanks medtronic....

3 Comments

replacements

by Tracey_E - 2009-06-04 08:06:17

Replacements are a piece of cake! I've had three now. It's much easier than the first placement because they leave the leads. They try to go in the same place and use the same pocket so it's mostly scar tissue. I always get mine well before I have to also, do not want to go into ERI mode.

Regular welding is ok, it's arc welding that we should avoid. I've heard not to use chain saws either, but plenty of the members here do without problems. I don't, but because I'm a klutz not because of the pm LOL. New pm's are well shielded and most household items do not cause interference. I still laugh every time I see a warning sign because microwaves are in use.... if you've got a pm old enough to be affected by a microwave, you've got much bigger problems- like a battery that's been dead for 20 yrs :O)

FRANKS ADVICE

by pete - 2009-06-05 02:06:01

Frank gives good advice. Its not nice having the wrong settings on a new mostly untried device. Tell them you want to play safe. Good luck

Replacement

by ElectricFrank - 2009-06-05 12:06:20

Since you have had such good luck with your current pacer, I would discuss it with the doc in advance about what kind of replacement they have in mind.

A common problem that shows up with people here is that they decide to update to the latest wizbang device where the settings are quite different than old reliable. Then you go through a time of getting the new set correctly.

I've already talked it over with my cardiologist and let him know I want the same make and also I want my current settings right from the start. He was kind of upset that he wouldn't get to play with a new toy at my expense.

frank

You know you're wired when...

You run like the bionic man.

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