Most Recent Messages

Any cardiac electrophysiol place in Lexington, KY?

My Mom just had a one-week after procedure check-up today. I am going to take her to Lexington, KY with me for the next few months. I am wondering if there is any good place that she can do her 4-month check-up there. Any recommendation? Also any recommendation to a good cardiologist there?
Thanks in advance.
---Jas

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question about counters

My Mom had a DDDR type pacemaker installed (S602). The LRL is set to 50ppm as my Mom usually has slow heart rate
around 50ppm. The AsVs and ApVs of her pacer are around 50% while the AsVp and ApVp are only around 1%.

My question is whether she needs to set LRL to
a lower value such as 45ppm, so that she can use her own atrial most of the time? My concern here is that if she uses pacemaker too often, will her own atrial gets lazy?

BTW, what is the difference betwe...

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Improvement

Hi. I have had idiopathic cardiomyopathy for at least 10 years with EF down to 18. My echoes were using the word "severe" as the main descriptive word, much to my frustration as I thought I was doing all that I could to try to make it better. I have been very careful about diet, salt, exercise (although way too tired to do much). I have been a patient at Stanford for the last 4 years. The doctor told me I needed a bivent pacemaker and I just could not bring myself to do it. I really wanted...

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THANK YOU!

I want to thank to Mike Angelie and jack who answeared so quickly.Maybe ,i had need to gave you several information about my heart problems.6 years ago i have undergone a MVR (mitral valve replacement and Cryo maze procedure).THE MAZE wasn't successful maybe because of my moderatly enlarged left atrium or surgeon's experience....A short story: beeing A.fib. highly symptomatic .I have been almost all this time in synus rhytm using drugs like Amiodacore RHYTMOL or Elektricalcardiovers...

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Thanks so much!!

I just wanted to thank anyone and everyone who read my message, story, and responded. I have come to accept this "thing" on my chest, long in part to those of you who said it's ok to feel the way I do, and you made me feel better about having my PM/ICD.
None of this is easy, but we are all somewhat in the "same boat". Something I think I needed to hear. You all are the best.
LIFE IS GOOD!!!
Thanks again,
A NEW DAY : )

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new to this

Hi folks
Male 36 - Brisbane Australia
Just been diagnosed with Sinus Node Dysfunction - Sinus Bradycardia and Pauses. I have just started to get dizzy / blurry vision, pre-syncope etc.

Quite stunned & emotionally struggling. I am a strong & well man regularly training / doing triathlons and distance swimming, all came as a shock and it seems there is no going back.

I have read some posts on here and realize that I must sound pretty lame for complaining as many o...

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It's Me....Pookie

Hi Everyone!!!

I am still in the United States and still a very sick puppy, but I was determined to get on that dam plane regardless ... and I did !!! Unfortunately, Harley & I were meant to meet here in Minnesota, but the morning before going I called her and we decided to cancel because of my illness. Then my sister called and convinced me NOT to cancel until the very last moment, by this time Harley had already cancelled her flight.

I was to see my family doctor and...

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Rick - private msg

Hi Rick,

You have a private msg.

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exercise

Okay so it's been six weeks this Friday since my pm implant. I started trying to exercise again this week. I can only exercise about fifteen minutes and then I give out! I feel tired and awful the rest of the day and it seems like I have a lot of pvc's and skips afterwards. I am exhausted! Do you think if I keep exercising this will go away? Am I just that out of shape?? It is depressing to be 36 and this tired!

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UGHHHHH!!!

Just had my yearly check-up interrogation today! Everything looks fine....but..... I am sooooooo upset, disappointed, bummed, depressed now, because they said I had another 6mo up to a year left on my pm. I was fuming the whole time waiting for the doc to show up.
Well anyway...this is why I am upset.....

2007 - they said I had approx 1 1/2 yrs left....oh that's great...no problem...I'll wait.

2008 - Uh...what's this???... ANOTHER 1 1/2 yrs left on my pm battery. O...

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Being a trumpet player and having a pm

I play the trumpet during my years of playing the trumpet I have had my pm replaced two times. Once when I was 12 and then again when I was 15. The problem I have is that for about the first year and a half after the replacement when I am playing in the upper register of the trumpet I'll have twinges, very sudden pinching and painful twinges at the incision site. I actually went into the office one day with my horn and played on it and recreated the problem. The reason it was happening, they...

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You know you're pacing when....

you're not a criminal and you can honestly say that you've been interrogated.

LOL.


Laughter is the greatest medicine for us "energized folk"

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PM Site Repair

I just want to update everyone on my old PM site repair & clean up. I went in Monday noon and had my protruding PM leads cut, excess scar tissue surounding the old PM pouch removed. They did give me a general anesthetic. Surprise, as many of us are not familiar with plastic surgery, I learned a lot.
My surgeon did a magic marker layout (pattern) on my left chest The layout of 2 letter V's joining at the tops over the 3 previous PM scars, neat. After turning out my lights the old area wa...

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Hiking

Does anyone have suggestions for hiking pack straps and preventing them from making the pace maker pocket hurt. My partner and I went on a great hiking trip and this is the first time I've gone with my pm. My darn PM hurt like hell after hiking into our camp site. It was very sore irritated b/c part of my strap rubbed on it all the way in. ON the way out I tried to stuff a shirt underneath the strap and between it and my chest it helped a bit but not enough. I think I remeber someone on here is...

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New to Site

Hello everyone,
This is my 1st posting...I am due for my 10 day pm check tomorrow and I am a little nervous. Do you ever get use to having this THING in your chest? I have constant "pulling" and it hasn't been very comfortable. My dr. told me he could put this in on a Friday and I could be back to work on Monday. Good thing I waited until school was over. I am a teacher and I could not have gone back that soon. Anyone else have problems with their pm hurting alot? How long did it take...

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Thank you to this group

I received my PM on 3/31/09 and have found this site to be invaluable. I have a medical background and so felt I was well prepared for the physical components but there were still so many things I didn't know. The emotional support has been wonderful;even though I haven't done a lot of posting I've read the comments frequently. That helped me when I hit an emotional bad patch, but still I know thank goodness for this technology! Also there have been physical things that I wasn't aware of and li...

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Canadian in USA. Should I get it checked?

Hi,

I got a pacemaker implemented 4 months ago because my heart was doing some long pause night time.

Last night, I woke up a bit sweaty and my both arms were a bit numbs. The hotel room was pretty hot so I open the door and then I was ok.

I am wondering if it could be a problem with my pacemaker or the fact that the room was too hot.

Should I get it checked and would it cost me any money since I am from BC Canada?

Thanks

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A follow-up to my earlier post

Hi all! Almost 2 weeks ago I posted about an episode where I almost blacked out & wondered if I had been zapped out of it by my ICD. The cardio doc looked at my interrogation & told me today that I had gone into VFib & I had been shocked out of it altho it was a milder shock than the chest kicking kind. I think it was walkered who suggested that I may have been zapped by a type of burst rather than a full out shock & that's what my doctor confirmed today. I have had several less intense episodes...

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Curious about CELIAC

Are there many people out there who have celiac disease (gluten intolerance) or family members who do? I read something about it being linked to heart defects but I don't know if there is much proof. Just curious!

Thanks!

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what a day!!!!

So we go to seminole lake with some family put the two skis in the water one boat out there nice and calm. I am so excited I get to take a spin.
I fire up ski #1 and off I go hit 35mph and loose power tinker with it but cant fix it. mean while my wife fires up ski #2 its running great and it stall and will not start. so me a ski # 1 limp out get it toed back in and I start working, while everyone else eats lunch. after about a half hour I give up and back the trailer into the water. Put the...

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You know you're wired when...

You have a little piece of high-tech in your chest.

Member Quotes

I, too, am feeling tons better since my implant.