Need to learn what mother will feel like after PM dies

My mother is 85 and not a candidate to get her PM replaced.  She reached RRT back on Feb 3 2017.  We know her battery will fail over the next month or so but we do not know how she will feel when it stops working.  She has been paced for nine years (this is her second unit)... 100% paced but she is not dependent on it.  Even paced, she has AT/AF incidents occasionaly.  I assume those will increase after the unit dies.  But will she be able to move around the house?  


8 Comments

Why ?

by IAN MC - 2017-04-21 08:01:08

You don't explain why your mother is not a candidate to have her PM replaced ?   If she is being paced than she needs a pacemaker.

But in answer to your question.  Assuming that she has a PM because of a slow heart-rate ( bradycardia ) then if you don't replace it she will have spells of dizzyness, maybe cardiac pauses . She would be quite likely to faint and may well injure herself in the process. The worst scenario would be that a long cardiac pause would lead to her death.

 She may not necessarily see any changes in the AF episodes but anything is possible.

Why is she not having another PM ?

Ian

Need to learn what mother will feel like after PM dies

by sascec - 2017-04-21 08:21:44

She has colon cancer and pulmonary issues that make her too weak to handle the surgery (per her team of doctors).  She is on oxygen currently to assist breathing.  We noticed that the Optivol fluid reading showed ongoing accumulation.

I'm Sorry

by IAN MC - 2017-04-21 08:32:55

Really sorry to hear that  .  Your mother is obviously very weak and the advice of the doctors re surgery must be respected.    I guess that the simplest answer is that she will revert to the same symptoms that she had prior to being fitted with a pacemaker.  Having oxygen-assisted breathing should help.

I am sure that with the right medical care , the effects of not having a pacemaker-assisted heart will be managed somehow.

Maybe someone else on here will have more to add

Best wishes

Ian

 

SORRY

by BOBJ - 2017-04-21 10:34:09

Not sure if this will help, but is she on moriphine? If not a low dose might help her feel better and too it will help with some of the symptoms.

Need to learn what mother will feel like after PM dies - comments

by sascec - 2017-04-21 10:43:49

Not yet.  Hospice comes once a week to monitor her.  They tell use they will begin pain management when the time comes.

end of pacer life

by Tracey_E - 2017-04-21 13:43:37

From the time it goes into replacement mode, it should still be fully functional for 3 months then partially functional for another 3 months after that. In the second mode, it paces at a steady rate, does not go up on exertion. After that, she'd feel like she did before she got it. If she's mostly bedridden, it sounds like she may not even know the difference. 

End of pacer life

by sascec - 2017-04-21 14:08:13

I reviewed the spec sheet on the Medtronic D314TRG Protecta XT-CRT-D PM and it does not advertise a RRT to EOS ramp down mode.  Here is what the form shows: "From the point that the RRT is set, the pacemaker will operate for approximately three months for typical pacemaker configurations during the normal operating life."  Unfortunatley, the doctor no longer montors the PM so I have no data.  Her Cardiologist did change settings to get another month of life out of the battery but the EOS should still be in June (or maybe even July).

sounds like 3 months after June/July

by Tracey_E - 2017-04-21 15:20:44

If it's going to operate normally until June or July, then you may still have 3 months of limited function after that where it paces at a steady rate. At that point everything turns off except basic pacing. 

You know you're wired when...

You participate in the Pacer Olympics.

Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.