ICD and Pacemaker Testimonials

As most of you may know, Mr. Wilson Greatbatch invented the pacemaker over 50 years ago. I work for Greatbatch, Inc. the maker of components for medical devices such as the pacemaker and ICD's. We manufacture 80 - 90% of the components that go into these devices. I was wondering if anyone would like to share their story about how one of these devices has saved/changed their life.

3 Comments

Testimonials

by SMITTY - 2008-08-28 04:08:12

I agree with Ela-Girl completely. However, my mommy won't let me go our and play this afternoon so I'll tell most of my story again. Not that it is much different from the others.

You asked and I hope you are willing to accept the bad along with the good.

I have no doubt that Mr. Greatbatch's invention of the pacemaker has saved countless lives and has helped many people have a better quality of life. However, I believe you will find that many of the people posting messages on this site are not totally happy with life after their pacemaker and/or ICD became part of it.

Before going further, let me say that most of the time the problem posted here cannot be blamed on the pacemaker/ICD, but is due to the ineptness of the doctor(s) and/or their associates involved in the implanting and maintenance of the device. With that said from here on I'll confine my comments to my experience with my pacemaker.

At the beginning I wish to state that I got my pacemaker at a hospital in Central Texas that prides itself on its cardiology department. In fact the electrophysiologist that implanted mine boasted that he had implanted more than 3,000 at the time. I had a Medtronic KDR 703 dual lead pacemaker implanted in 2000. The implanting and recovery from the surgery could not have been any less eventful. Actually that is not totally true. Before the procedure I was given a hefty dose of Valium and I slept through most of the procedure. Unfortunately I woke up because the deadening effect of local anesthetic had worn off before the pacemaker was fully situated in the pocket and closing of incision was completed. So, my first knowledge of my pacemaker was a very painful one while they completed the procedure.

After getting the pacemaker things went along smoothly for three weeks, when I got for my first checkup. The nurse/technician doing the checkup (I did not see a doctor) told me nothing except that she was making a few changes in some of the setting. I was so totally ignorant of how a pacemaker worked that I knew no questions to ask. When she finished, I was told every thing was fine so I thanked her and left. The walk from that clinic to my vehicle was about fifteen minutes and before I got to the car I felt something that felt like an electrical shock without the muscle contraction in my chest. Eight years have gone by and yet I remember so well my blurting out to my wife "what in the hell was that?" It was a feeling I came to know well because in the next eight years I estimate there have been some 20,000 of them.

I would complain and the pacemaker clinic personnel would assure me what I was feeling was not caused by my pacemaker, but they would check it just to be sure. Each time I got the report, "your pacemaker is not the cause." This went on for 27 months and for all practical purposes totally controlled my activities. Finally in desperation, I asked to have it turned off. I did not know what the repercussions may be from that request, but a person can reach a point that anything is better than what I was living with each day. The doctor that implanted the device objected slightly, but he changed the settings to low of 30 and high of 120, all the time telling me it was not going to make any difference. He was wrong! I had no more shocks and the muscle soreness that had developed because of the constant shocks was gone in about three weeks. My normal heart rate, without the pacemaker, was in the 55 to 65 range and I got along just fine without a pacemaker. Actually I had lived with that heart rate for more than 25 years with no adverse effects.

A couple of years later my heart rate was in the upper 40s to low 50s (this was due to the medication that I was taking I would learn later) and I was short of breath. My cardiologist suggested that I have the pacemaker reset to increase my heart rate. It was set for a low of 70 and high of 120, same as before. Within a few hours I had my first shock. This one was light and really not much more than an attention getter. It was certainly something I could live with, so I thought. A few weeks went by and the SOB was not better even with the pacemaker maintaining a steady 70 BPM. As it turned out, I would require a stent to solve the SOB problem,
For the next two years the shocks steadily got worse and the Pacemaker Clinic personnel were about as ineffective in providing help as some stranger on the street would have been. Finally my primary care physician decided that possibly an injection in my spine would deaden the affected nerve and stop my pain. About that time I was referred to a new electrophysiologist who after considerable investigation decided my problem was the result the electrical impulse from pacemaker to the ventricle "leaking across" and stimulating a nerve. I was given a choice of letting the doctor replace the existing lead with one that would be positioned in a different place. I elected to try the injection, which worked better than anyone had hoped.

A little more than two years later the deadening started to wear off and it was back to regular shocks from the pacemaker. I have started the injection routine again. This time the injection is being done in small doses rather than one big injection. I don't know why, except they tell me this is the preferred way to do this.

In the mean time a new puzzle has surfaced with the pacemaker. As stated above, the settings are low or 70 and a high of 120. About 1.5 years ago my heart rate started to drop with physical activity, Rather than the pacemaker holding it at a minimum of 70 it frequently goes as low as 43 or 44. I am guessing my pacemaker stops it from going lower, but my question is if, as I have been lead to believe, the pacemaker is supposed to not let it go below the low set point, why am I getting readings in the mid-40s BPM. I have asked at least 10 different doctors and Medtronic and have yet to get an answer.

The result is I cannot say with certainty that my pacemaker has or has not been of great benefit to me. I do know it has been a trip to hell and back a few times.
I have no doubt that Mr. Greatbatch's invention is a great one for some. However, in my opinion this is one of those cases where the invention is just the first part of the equation. To complete the equation there needs to be an in depth training program in pacemaker operation before a doctor is allowed to implant one. The way it is now apparently any cardiologist with a minimal amount of training on pacemakers can implant them. From the questions and answers I have read here, some of the people have gotten little help from their doctors and that makes me believe that some doctors are really not qualified to implant pacemakers. They seem to have little or no idea of what to do when they implant a pacemaker and it does not perform exactly what the manufacturer has told them it will do.

I think most doctors are healers and good ones at that. But few of them have the technical aptitude to fully understand the intricacies of a pacemaker's operation. In my opinion a good electrophysiologist is a good doctor, a good cardiologist, a good surgeon and last but not least has above average knowledge of electronics.

With that I'll stop and leave it to others to comment on the possibility of many doctors using the pacemaker as a cash cow.

Best regards,

Smitty

No offense...

by ela-girl - 2008-08-28 04:08:58

...but all you have to do is look around this site to read 'testimonials' of how these devices have saved lives, improved lives, and changed lives. The good stories and the bad stories and all our triumphs and problems are all here on this site. This site as a whole is a testament to the world of pm's and ICD's.

ela-girl

PRIVATE MESSAGE

by pete - 2008-08-29 03:08:58

Hi ive sent you a private message so that it might be possible to send you my long and detailed story as to how I was eventually saved. Cheers peter

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