Most Recent Messages in Checkups & Settings

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Suggestions for low cost checkups?

I normally have my PM checked every 6 months, but it has been over a year now and I really need to get the battery level checked, if not just for my peace of mind.

Short story is my wife, son and I are living with the inlaws while I look for work, and have no income to pay for a PM checkup.

Any ideas to help me through this tough transition? Once I secure a job as an RD, the hospital insurance should cover it, but who knows how long it will be until I find a job!!

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my PM moves.

in March, they are going to replace the batteries in my PM, and my new Doctor,is going to go in and "seat" the PM better, when it was put in in 2005, if l turned on my right side while in bed, it would flop forward, in fact l could manualy "pick" it up, (hint:you should not be able to do that!!!!) so l went to my cardologist then,Dr Lewis, here in Syracuse.and he told me it would attach itself in time, well it never did!!!!!!! so my new cardiologist is going to fix it,with mesh to hold it.

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Battery Life & Other Issues

I have recently been seeing a pulmonologist and my cardiologist over the last two months because I have been running low on physical energy and can walk very long without having to sit down and rest. I now fall asleep sitting straight up and without warning. I had a lung strength test done and also a cardio catheterization done, and I told I had low blood oxygen transfer which is making me weak. I also have sarcoidosis, and I am scheduled tomorrow morning for a CAT scan because I had dark spots...

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prepared for checkup.....

Thank you Don and Pookie for your pep talk regarding information I need to take back with me from my checkup today. Feel fulfilled at checkup appointment but when I'm back home, I feel "short changed". Things will be different today. I'll be more assertive but with a smile.

It's the beginning of week 6 since implant of Medtronic MRI Sure Scan and I don't feel ready to go back to work. They said it would be 5 to 6 weeks. Being a flight attendant requires a lot of lifting. My own bags...

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phone check in from mexico

My wife has a Medtronic pacemaker and we're traveling to Mexico and want to check it over the phone from there. Any ideas how to do that? We know we have to call directly with no country code, but how do you do that from Mexico?

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Happy to be tweaked,,,,

Happy New Year fellow pacemaker peeps! Hope you all had a great Holiday season. Well last time I posted I had been somewhat concerned that I was pacing so much but mostly when driving my SUV, which so happens to have a keyless ignition system. After conducting an experiment of driving my husbands truck which is just your normal old ignition starting beast, I discovered that I was pacing while driving it as well. As the days went on I realized that I was pacing all the time and it was driving...

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PEN AND PAPER

I am a firm believer of writing down whatever questions I have before a Dr's appt..........How often we leave the office thinking that "I wished that I had asked this or that".

GERb

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New here, dad is nervous

Hi, hope someone here can give me an answer....my dad had a pm placed last week secondary to low heart rate with exercise. He has a dual chamber pm with the rate set at 60. He went for his first checkup yesterday and they said it was not working correctly and accused him of not behaving post op and are questioning a dislodged lead. He has had one episode of sob-which was his primary complaint, and he also had an episode of lightheartedness .

They made some adjustments and told him it...

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Telephone check up

Hi, received a PM in August 2011. Today was my first time with the Telephone check up. They couldn't get the magnetic reading. I am not sure if I was placing the magnet in the correct spot. So I have to go in into the office in February. Should I be concerned?

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Optimzation

Hi
There is some info on the Optimization setting, posted by Pookie, and how when it was turned off all her unwanted symptoms went away. Can somebody please explain what the Optimization setting does and how it could cause unwanted symptoms?
Cheers Roy

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what info to expect from checkup`

Hi Everyone,
First time poster and new member. 72 yr old healthy female and still employed as a full-time flight attendant and on no prescription drugs. Palpitations, elevated BP, very good EKG and ECHO....the Holter Monitor revealed 5 sec pause. Cardiologist and electrophysiologist diagnosed Sick Sinus Syndrome and scheduled PM implant.

Dec 07, 2011 was implant. At check-up Dec 20, 2011, the only info I left with was: 60bpm, no driving, don't elevate left arm higher than shoulde...

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WOOOH

Hiya... EXCITED SO HAVE TO TELL SOMEONE!!!

I had an appointment with my doctor about 3 weeks ago, when I originally got my PM put in 7 years ago, I was using it 87% of the time. My heart would stop for up to 10 seconds every couple of minutes daily - at age 10 my resting pulse was 20 bpm. When I went to see my doctor, he told me that I am now using my PM about 2% of the time!!!!!!!!!!!!


WOOOOH
PirateFly

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second opinion

So I finally got a second opinion about whether or not to do a repeat ablation. This doctor said the opposite of what my doctor has been telling me. He said the ablation is not a good choice because they just cause more problems typically. He said exercise and get off the Sotalol because long term it's not good. I explained that I do exercise but it brings on more irregular beats and that without the Sotalol I am hardly ever in normal rhythm. I asked wouldn't that make me at risk of heart failur...

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cat scan

can you take a cat scan with a pacemaker?


thanks

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High Blood Pressure after Pacemaker Insertion

Hello to all, I am fortunately a healthy individual who loves her new bionic husband with his back up battery. I am the researcher of the family as such I am on a mission to discover if anyone who has received a pacemaker has experienced a rise in their blood pressure following the the insertion.
Facts:
Diagnosis: Bradycardia/Vagus Tonus
Operation: Sept.2011
PM Type: Meditronic ADDRL 01 Atr lead/RV lead
Mode: DDDR

My husband is a 67 yr old athlete and con...

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1st tune-up.

Just back from being "tuned" (6 week after PM). What a nice technician. All OK but changed settings. Switched off movement sensor so i dont go into sleep mode. (My heart was going down to 45 bpm with this on) Upped the threshhold to 60 (it was at 50bpm). So I wont go below 60 bpm now. Lowered the voltage to .3 from .5. Lead seems to have shifted again slightly. Will check again in 3 months.
Cant tell what this strange "bubble" sensation is in my throat. Nothing to do with the pacemaker.

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Does the Merlin Carelink...

Monitor work with a digital phone line, like Time Warner Cable? We are about to switch over from a standard land line service to Time Warner. They say that we still use the same wall jacks which they connect to behind the scenes and then runs through their fiber optic lines to be transmitted.
I can still cancel that so thought I'd better see if anyone here has any experience with this.
Thanks for any input.
Harry

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Finding a good technition in Melbourne

I am looking to find a good pacer technition who works within Melbourne Australia.My dad needs help he has had this heavy leg feeling like they don't want to walk...This is the way he explaines it to everyone.He has had test after test to find his leg problem, but there is no answer.Cardiologist sends him to doctors and doctors says pacemaker problem is the likely answer.They have all given up ! We would like to find someone who can adjust his settings and keep him in a clinic to get his setting...

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Need to see Rep.

I had my ICD/Pacemaker put in March 2011, so not even a year yet. I have the device that sends in the info about my device to the Dr. Last time I did a scan my Dr called me and told me I needed to see the rep for St. Jude.

Since I live a few hours away I asked if I could get it the same day as my 6 month check up with my EP. Does that mean something may have been wrong with my last test or is it normal to have to see the rep? I am just curious as to why I would have to see the...

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Any pacemaker reps out there?

Getting a pacemaker at the age of 36...WOW! For me, it’s been difficult to deal with. That being said, I am happy to have found this site.

I had a dual chamber Medtronic pacer placed on 12-2 for Sick Sinus Syndrome. My rate settings are 60-130. I was recently in the ER having fallen and broke my finger. When they put me on the monitor, I noticed that my heart rate would brady down in the low 50’s, I would have a 1-2 second pause, followed by coupled PVC’s...

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You know you're wired when...

You have the perfect reason to show off your chest.

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.