Know anyone with a pacemaker??

[alibaba]

...or a difibulator?? If so how long has he/she had it? Has it ever gone off?

Let me give you some info as to why I'm asking. Bare with me if this gets long but I need to talk to someone so to speak.

My dad had triple bypass surgery 11 years ago (age 45). He doctors say he only survived because he was in the hospital while he had the heart attack, thank god! The heart is pretty damaged but he's been living life like nothing every happened except for eating alot healthier. He continues to be very active, referree's and plays hockey.

Fast forward to March of this year. My dad went for his 6 month check up and the doctor told my dad that he should get a pacemaker. Apparently he's been on him to get it for the past few years. Statistically patients show better results having the pacemaker then not with his kind of heart damage. Finally my dad gave in and had it put in this past May. Surgery was 1-2-3. He still felt great.

Now fast forward to yesterday. My dad had been working under the sink all day. Ate a HUGE lunch. And went to play hockey with DH last night. I find out that their team is gonna be short handed so I tell my dad before he's leaving to be careful and not push himself, mind you I don't really like the fact that he's still playing but anyway. I stay home and relax and read my book. 10:30pm rolls around and they come in saying 'Alex we're going to the hospital my difibulator went off'. Apparently he pushed himself too hard like I told him not too and got exhausted to the point where he fell down and had to catch his breath. So he gets off the ice and sits on the bench. No more then 5 minutes later he loses his breath again and starts to feel like he's gonna pass out. All of a sudden my DH said my dad yelled out in pain and grabbed his chest. It shocked him. My dad said it felt like someone was punching him in the chest. :( DH gets him off the bench after a few minutes. They come home tell me everything and we hurry to the hospital.

My dad thought he was gonna go in for some meds and leave. Well now its a day later and his still there. The doctor read the pacemaker through this device. He said it did what it was supposed to do. Apparently his heart rate had dropped so low that it kicked in and shocked him. They gave him new heart meds today for his arrhythmia. They want to monitor him to be sure he doesn't react badly to it. If he doesnt he will hopefully be able to come home tonight.

Last night while in the ER the nurse said he had a 'life threatening event', not to scare a person or anything. I can't even begin to let myself start thinking of what might have happened if he didn't have the pacemaker. I am not ready to lose my last parent. All I can say is thank god he had it put in a few months ago and that my mom must be watching him.

Anyone have any similiar experiences with someone they know?

[Brandles]

My Grandma got one put in in January 2004. It hasn't stopped. But...what started it all was that she was having dizzy spells (and had been for MONTHS--but didn't tell anyone). She had one put in and she kept having little dizzy spells, though not a frequently. They finally checked her pacemaker and a wire wasn't connected properly! :eek: They easily fixed it and she's been fine ever since.

[MLA]

My mom's had one since I was about 7 yrs old (I'm 30 now). Like brandles' grandmother, she started with dizzy spells -- when she finally went in to the doctor's office, she was in such bad shape that her heart actually stopped beating while she was there. Thank god she was there and not at home!

She's had it replaced twice in the time she's had it -- the last time she had it replaced (a few months ago), they didn't put her under. Instead they did local anasthesia, and she could feel the surgery. :( That was awful, so if your dad ever has to have his replaced (which is likely), make sure they put him under completely.

She's never had an event like your dad did, but she's never been very active, so hasn't had the opportunity to do something like that.

Hopefully this incident will knock some sense into your dad and he'll start to take things a little easier.

I feel for you. It's very difficult knowing that our parents are fragile. I worry about my mom a lot. I can't imagine what it must be like to have only one parent left and to be dealing with this.

{{{HUGS}}}

[tlew12778]

A pacemaker and a defibrillator are two separate devices. My dad had a pacemaker put in in 1999, but he does not have a defibrillator. They were actually discussing putting in a defibrillator last year but he has yet to get one.

Every few years or so, the battery in the pacemaker needs to be changed. This is basically local surgery as far as I understand. They open up the "pocket" they created in the chest when they put in the pacemaker and change the battery. They don't need to rewire the pacemaker though (so no need to general anesthesia). My dad's needs to be changed sometime soon. They check the battery levels each month. When it gets to 25%, then will change it. It's been hovering over 25% for more than 6 months now... apparently it has not had to kick in for a long while now.

As for the defibrillator, that will shock your heart into starting again (or getting back into the correct rhythm if you have angina I think) if the pacemaker can't do it. It's very stressful on the body I think, which is why drs carefully weigh the risk/benefits of putting one it.

I know how you feel about worrying about your dad. I live in Italy and my parents live in NY and I am always saying we should move back to NY so I can be closer to my dad. It's really depressing but it's also the truth, you know? I like knowing I am not a days worth of travel away if I need to get home fast.

[alibaba]

Thanks for all your replies ladies.

My dad came home Friday night. As we were leaving the hospital my father felt a little light headed again. But we think its because he had just bent down to give my niece a kiss good bye and also he had just started new meds earlier in the day. He hasn't felt that way since. I'm just paranoid something is gonna happen again.

Brandles - your grandmother sounds an awful lot like my grandmother. that's something she would do, go months without telling anyone how she felt. that sucks that a wire wasn't hooked up properly, but glad to hear she's fine now. :)

MLA - wow, your mom has had hers for a long time now! that's awful that they didn't put her under completely. i can't even imagine how that would feel...ugh. i too am hoping this will knock some sense into him. he says that he is done with hockey for the season but i'm hoping he's done for good! thanks for your kinds words and thoughts. they mean alot. it is definitely hard to swallow knowing our parents being fragile. i find myself holding on too tight with my dad because i'm so afraid to lose him. but i guess that's normal.

tlew12778 - my dad told me that the pacemaker/defibrillator was one device. well they have two separate functions but it was one piece? he said the pacemaker wasn't hooked up in him but the defibrillator was? that's what he told me anyway. i dunno. yeah i heard they last about 10-15 years and they will have to be changed. your in italy huh? i LOVE italy! but i can't even imagine living that far away from my dad. it must be really hard. i give you alot of credit.

[skyblu]

How scary! I don't know anyone who has one, but I wanted to advice that if your Dad ever has even a hint of chest pain or shortness of breath again, PLEASE don't drive him to the hospital, call an ambulance! ALS (Advanced Life Support) ambulances (and most BLS-Basic Life Support) are equipped with defibrillators (true, they wouldn't use it on your Dad because he has an impanted one) but also emergency meds (ALS only) that could literally save your Dad's life en route to the hospital!

Research shows that heart attack victims are FAR more likely to survive an "event" if they are treated within 10 minutes of it happenind. In medicine, it's called "the platinum 10 minutes", and it can literally mean the difference between life and death.

I hope he is well and that this scare is well behind all of you!

[Robertsgirl]

My Dad has ICD too, which is a pacemaker and defibralator in one. He got his in 99 for the same reason as your Dad, severe heart damage. The left side of his heart doesn't even work anymore. He was shocked twice within two months two years ago. After testing, they found a lead had come loose in his heart. They did day surgery to replace that lead and it has been fine ever since. They left the old lead in which is kind of crazy to think about.

On the pacemaker side, your Dad may be like mine and his heart is strong enough on its own to pace itself most of the time. So it isn't that it isn't working per se, it is just not needed. It's functioning but not needed, does that make sense?

Anyway, I hope everything works fine from here on out for your Dad. My Dad pushes himself way too far all the time too and he's not given up good eating habits and started drinking again. I guess he has a short memory.

[alibaba]

skyblu - thanks for the advice and kind words. i will keep them in mind. :)

Robertsgirl - ICD, that's it! i was hoping i wasn't going crazy! hahaa. you make complete sense. my dad was telling me the pacemaker part he didn't need. his heart is strong enough it just skips a beat every so often.
so one of your dad's leads was loose huh? that's pretty scary. i'm glad they were able to fix it with no problems. i guess it must be a macho thing with guys. i dont understand how they can forget what put them in this position in the first place but then again i don't know what it's like to be in their shoes. i'm sure it's not easy. i hope your dad relaxes a bit and doesn't push too hard. thanks for sharing with me, it helped hearing from someone else in the same situation. :)

[SoCoWife]

My dad has one, he just had it put in a few months ago. While he has not had any incidents, He had barely recovered from surgery to find out that Guidant Corporation recalled his defibrillator. He has been under so much stress and his doctors are trying to figure out if it is too risky to replace the whole unit he has now. This corporation is a bunch of a**holes if you ask me. They just released a new and improved version but what about the 80,000 plus people walking around wondering if something should happen is their device going to work? Its all very scary. He is planning on suing them although he doesn't need the money, just based on principal, seeing as they knew about the problem and tried to cover it up due to Johnson & Johnson buying them out. Make sure everyone in your families that may have one checks to see if their model has been recalled.
Gina

[MLA]

My dad has one, he just had it put in a few months ago. While he has not had any incidents, He had barely recovered from surgery to find out that Guidant Corporation recalled his defibrillator. He has been under so much stress and his doctors are trying to figure out if it is too risky to replace the whole unit he has now. This corporation is a bunch of a**holes if you ask me. They just released a new and improved version but what about the 80,000 plus people walking around wondering if something should happen is their device going to work? Its all very scary. He is planning on suing them although he doesn't need the money, just based on principal, seeing as they knew about the problem and tried to cover it up due to Johnson & Johnson buying them out. Make sure everyone in your families that may have one checks to see if their model has been recalled.
Gina


Wow. How awful! That's the epitome of corporate greed. I hope they have to pay heavily for doing this.

[tlew12778]

tlew12778 - my dad told me that the pacemaker/defibrillator was one device. well they have two separate functions but it was one piece? he said the pacemaker wasn't hooked up in him but the defibrillator was? that's what he told me anyway. i dunno. yeah i heard they last about 10-15 years and they will have to be changed. your in italy huh? i LOVE italy! but i can't even imagine living that far away from my dad. it must be really hard. i give you alot of credit. Yeah it's tough. Whenever he has a heart attack, I find myself frantically looking for airline tickets while my mother tries to convince me not to come home bc otherwise my dad will think he's doomed or something.

I just asked my FH about the combined pacemaker/ICD. He's a vascular surgeon. Robertsgirl was correct in her explanation about the pacemaker not needing to work all the time. This is why my dad has his battery checked every month. If he hasn't needed to use it, then the battery level stays the same. If he uses it a lot, the battery will start dieing and they will replace it. I am sure that your dad has the combined one for the same reason; the pacemaker is there in case he has rhythm problems, while the ICD is there in case he needs a shock to get the heart started again. This (http://www.emedicine.com/emerg/topic805.htm) article pretty much explains it all.

[Mindy3094]

DH's Grandma has the pacemaker/defibrillator combination. She used to just have a pacemaker but a couple years ago, she went into the hospital and they had to shock her heart twice to get it going again. So they replaced the regular pacemaker with the defibrillator kind. Hers has not gone off but her dr. told her if it does, call an ambulance asap.

Our good friend has had a pacemaker, gosh, I'm not sure how long, but for most of his life. He was born with a heart defect and has had 3 open heart surgeries in his life. He's only 29, but honestly, it's a miracle he is alive. The reason he has the pacemaker (among other problems) is because his atrium beats so quickly that he has to take medication to slow it down, but the amount of medication he takes pretty much stops the rest of his heart from beating, so he has the pacemaker to keep it going. He said if we took one dose of the medication he takes, our hearts would almost instantly stop beating. At this point, there is not much more that dr's can do for him so we are pretty much waiting for him to get on a transplant list.

Heart problems are so scary but it gives me a lot of peace knowing that they both have pacemakers of some sort.