My Wife Marilyn Had A Pacemaker Installed Yesterday…….All is good

[jackieschmidt]

I made a post several months back that my Wife of almost 51 years had to have a stent put in one artery. Her heart is in great shape after except her heart beat was always hovering around 48 beats, and regardless how hard she exercised it would never get much past 68.

WAY TO SLOW.

So after she completed her rehab after they put the stent in, they decided to go with a pacemaker.
They put in in yesterday morning, we were at the hospital all day, but she came home last night. She will have to rest that left arm for a couple of weeks, and that’s that.

She swears she feels better already. Her Doctor explained that this type of pacemaker would keep her heart rate at a normal beat, and induce it to speed up at the proper rate when she is more active.

 

[Ol Thumper]

Glad it all went as planned, hopefully she continues feeling better with zero complications!!

 

[expiper]

great news ---i hope she recovers quickly---roger --i spilled coffee in my keyboard and some of the keys dont work haha

 

[LCazador]

Jackie all great to hear it'll benefit both of you! Happy wife, happy life! Cheers!

 

[AlNyhus]

Glad to hear it, Jackie.

I've been bradycardic (slow rate) my entire adult life so I know the situation.

For me, a rate in the low 40's (38-44) is normal. Where I'm lucky is that it responds to exertion and the profussion is excellent. In 2013, 3 weeks after having a low back surgery, I ended up with a fluke blood clot in the hearts left anterior decending artery...the main arterial blood supply to the left side of the heart. Stenting it would have been problematic as it was fairly tortuous so we decided to go with an artery-to-artery bypass to permanently address the problem.

Post bypass, a med that keeps your rate down as the artery heals drove my already low rate into the high 20's/low 30's. Believe me...that will get your attention!

Working in the MRI environment, the prospect of having a pacer placed brought a whole slew of issues. Even though there are pacers that are MRI 'conditional' (none are actually 'safe', despite common misconception), our pacer patients need continual cardiac monitoring during their scan. Being in and out of the magnetic flux field as a non-patient, especially in our high field strength-short bore 3T scanners, just isn't something that Medronics or Boston Scientific recommended, to say nothing of Risk Management's take on the whole scenario.

At this point, I'm still pacer-less though at some point that will need to be addressed. The Cardiologist I see is pretty common sense and tells me I'll know when it's time by how I feel.

The good news is that 6 weeks post-bypass, Randy Robinett, 'Humble' Henry Rivers and myself were out whackin' 'dogs, exploring a dinosaur dig and generally having a ball. I consider myself very lucky and fortunate...every day is a good one!

Lt-Randy, Center-'Humble', Rt-some guy that just had his chest cracked open

"Take those caps off, Henry...you're going to be turnin' those knobs a bit!"

"See those 'dogs waaay out there?"

Randy with the big money and win at 'Whack-A-Palooza'. Death Valley in the background.

Triceratops bones...there was three of them.

 

[tsyarnall]

Very happy to hear all went well.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Glad to hear it, Jackie.

I've been bradycardic (slow rate) my entire adult life so I know the situation.

For me, a rate in the low 40's (38-44) is normal. Where I'm lucky is that it responds to exertion and the profussion is excellent. In 2013, 3 weeks after having a low back surgery, I ended up with a fluke blood clot in the hearts left anterior decending artery...the main arterial blood supply to the left side of the heart. Stenting it would have been problematic as it was fairly tortuous so we decided to go with an artery-to-artery bypass to permanently address the problem.

Post bypass, a med that keeps your rate down as the artery heals drove my already low rate into the high 20's/low 30's. Believe me...that will get your attention!

Working in the MRI environment, the prospect of having a pacer placed brought a whole slew of issues. Even though there are pacers that are MRI 'conditional' (none are actually 'safe', despite common misconception), our pacer patients need continual cardiac monitoring during their scan. Being in and out of the magnetic flux field as a non-patient, especially in our high field strength-short bore 3T scanners, just isn't something that Medronics or Boston Scientific recommended, to say nothing of Risk Management's take on the whole scenario.

At this point, I'm still pacer-less though at some point that will need to be addressed. The Cardiologist I see is pretty common sense and tells me I'll know when it's time by how I feel.

The good news is that 6 weeks post-bypass, Randy Robinett, 'Humble' Henry Rivers and myself were out whackin' 'dogs, exploring a dinosaur dig and generally having a ball. I consider myself very lucky and fortunate...every day is a good one!

Lt-Randy, Center-'Humble', Rt-some guy that just had his chest cracked open

"Take those caps off, Henry...you're going to be turnin' those knobs a bit!"

"See those 'dogs waaay out there?"

Randy with the big money and win at 'Whack-A-Palooza'. Death Valley in the background.

Triceratops bones...there was three of them.

Glad to hear it, Jackie.

I've been bradycardic (slow rate) my entire adult life so I know the situation.

For me, a rate in the low 40's (38-44) is normal. Where I'm lucky is that it responds to exertion and the profussion is excellent. In 2013, 3 weeks after having a low back surgery, I ended up with a fluke blood clot in the hearts left anterior decending artery...the main arterial blood supply to the left side of the heart. Stenting it would have been problematic as it was fairly tortuous so we decided to go with an artery-to-artery bypass to permanently address the problem.

Post bypass, a med that keeps your rate down as the artery heals drove my already low rate into the high 20's/low 30's. Believe me...that will get your attention!

Working in the MRI environment, the prospect of having a pacer placed brought a whole slew of issues. Even though there are pacers that are MRI 'conditional' (none are actually 'safe', despite common misconception), our pacer patients need continual cardiac monitoring during their scan. Being in and out of the magnetic flux field as a non-patient, especially in our high field strength-short bore 3T scanners, just isn't something that Medronics or Boston Scientific recommended, to say nothing of Risk Management's take on the whole scenario.

At this point, I'm still pacer-less though at some point that will need to be addressed. The Cardiologist I see is pretty common sense and tells me I'll know when it's time by how I feel.

The good news is that 6 weeks post-bypass, Randy Robinett, 'Humble' Henry Rivers and myself were out whackin' 'dogs, exploring a dinosaur dig and generally having a ball. I consider myself very lucky and fortunate...every day is a good one!

Lt-Randy, Center-'Humble', Rt-some guy that just had his chest cracked open

"Take those caps off, Henry...you're going to be turnin' those knobs a bit!"

"See those 'dogs waaay out there?"

Randy with the big money and win at 'Whack-A-Palooza'. Death Valley in the background.

Triceratops bones...there was three of them.

Wow, as nice as “dog shooting” is, I would put the paleontologist gig at the top of my bucket list.

Some Triceratops bones means your in the Cretaceous Period Strata, where there just might be a T-Rex hanging around under the rocks somewhere that had that “Trike” for dinner, or died trying.

 

[AlNyhus]

Wow, as nice as “dog shooting” is, I would put the paleontologist gig at the top of my bucket list.

Some Triceratops bones means your in the Cretaceous Period Strata, where there just might be a T-Rex hanging under the rocks somewhere that had that “Trike” for dinner.

Absolutely! It was really the coolest part of the trip. The Triceratops discovery on our hosts land was a real story with connections to the infamous T-Rex 'Sue'... which was discovered near Faith, South Dakota. T-Rex fossils are often found near Triceratops fossils as they were one of their primary food sources. The Naturalis Museum in the Netherlands provided funding and resources for the Triceratops dig.

Another cool feature was this plateau that had two stacked stone towers on it. Nobody knows for sure, but it's thought to have been a navagation aid to the original plains inhabitants that were shepards (pre-Native American horse people) dating back thousands of years when this area was an inland sea. You can still see the large fire rings that discolored the rocks as they burned for decades around the villages.

Randy has spent several decades exploring this huge piece of land and is very, very well versed in it's history.

 

[Bill K]

Great for you and her. Onward and upward.

 

[Murray Brook]

Good news Jackie all the best in the future.

 

[Dusty Stevens]

Tell her i said hey. Glad shes doing better. I bet she will feel like a million bucks once she gets back normal and actually gets some blood pumping

 

[hoz53]

I made a post several months back that my Wife of almost 51 years had to have a stent put in one artery. Her heart is in great shape after except her heart beat was always hovering around 48 beats, and regardless how hard she exercised it would never get much past 68.

WAY TO SLOW.

So after she completed her rehab after they put the stent in, they decided to go with a pacemaker.
They put in in yesterday morning, we were at the hospital all day, but she came home last night. She will have to rest that left arm for a couple of weeks, and that’s that.

She swears she feels better already. Her Doctor explained that this type of pacemaker would keep her heart rate at a normal beat, and induce it to speed up at the proper rate when she is more active.

sounds good and best wishes to both of you.

 

[338 dude]

I made a post several months back that my Wife of almost 51 years had to have a stent put in one artery. Her heart is in great shape after except her heart beat was always hovering around 48 beats, and regardless how hard she exercised it would never get much past 68.

WAY TO SLOW.

So after she completed her rehab after they put the stent in, they decided to go with a pacemaker.
They put in in yesterday morning, we were at the hospital all day, but she came home last night. She will have to rest that left arm for a couple of weeks, and that’s that.

She swears she feels better already. Her Doctor explained that this type of pacemaker would keep her heart rate at a normal beat, and induce it to speed up at the proper rate when she is more active.

I’m so glad she’s doing well keep us informed prayers incoming

 

[Kittitas George]

Isn't it amazing what they can do? My pacemaker is set for an "older gentleman", they won't crank it down to say a 40 year old, so I'm some what limited. I tried to bribe the nice man, but he wouldn't set it for a younger man. OH WELL!! Now I'm off to find the "fountain of middle age", I gave up on finding the 'fountain of youth', just glad I made it through that period of life. I've discovered it doesn't take long to live a life time. Good luck, I wish you well, fill your pockets with memories.

 

[BAT M 284]

Nice to read some positive these days may God keep blessing you.

 

[JoeDuke]

Glad to hear Marilyn is doing well. Tell her hello for us.
See you at Tomball if you make it.
Joe

 

[butchlambert]

Jackie, when Josh and Joe were over yesterday we discovered our wives had health issues. One has had a stroke, one is virtually blind, and my wife is finally motivating some with a walker after being bed ridden for almost 6 months.
We are blessed though.

 

[ARW]

I wish the all the best for your wife. My father had a pacemaker put in several years ago and he is doing really well with it. Like your wife, his heart rate was low also, average was 51 bpm at rest. Now it is in the high 60's to low 70's at rest.

Having the pacemaker put in was probably the best thing he ever did.

 

[jackieschmidt]

Glad to hear Marilyn is doing well. Tell her hello for us.
See you at Tomball if you make it.
Joe

Don’t fret, Joe. I’ll be there.
so will the wind…….LoL

 

[CJ6]

Prayers for her speedy recovery.