Tim has new electronic toy-a pacemaker

[Marsha/CA]

Well, the last several days have not been fun and even a little scary. 

On Tuesday Tim (hubby) went to the dentist for teeth cleaning.  At that time his pulse was low (30) and the dentist didn't think any thing about it because his blood pressure was good.  By chance on Wednesday we had scheduled our annual physical exams and our doctor caught the fact that his pulse was still low and sent him to the emergency room hospital.  We ended up at Heart Hospital in Bakersfield where within 20 minutes they determined that his heart was beginning to fail, scheduled a few tests and to put in a pacemaker the following morning.  There was no damage to the heart and he does not have any blockage or clogged arteries.  They are not sure what was causing the problem, but the upper chamber was pumping regularly; while the lower chamber was not keeping up.  This condition is one they see in people 15 years older than he is at 63; but this is what we are dealing with. 

He was released yesterday and is now home with the new pacemaker clicking away.  He's tired, has a bronchial cough from before the implant, but we are very thankful.  The coincidences that happened that prevented him from having a full blown heart attack are remarkable.  He was actually on the roof of the house on Thursday and keep complaining of how tired he was and that he couldn't get his breath.  We both attributed his symptoms to a cold he's been fighting.

Take care of each other out there.

Marsha~  (very tired)

 

[Tom]

Thanks for the update Marsha. We're so glad that things worked out OK. Definitely a scary time for you both.

 

[Jim Godward]

Marsha,

Best wishes to Tim for a lucky catch.  Seems to be a lot of this stuff going around here lately.

 

[hpykmpr]

Pacemakers are not bad ,much better than the alternative. I have had mine now for 19 years and I am only 62 now.Heck the way I figure it is like insurance, mine started with a fast pulse and Atrial Fiberulation and they gave me meds to slow my pulse and then it ended up too slow and my heart was stopping for 4to5 seconds at a time.The pacemaker came very shortly after that.The best of luck to Tim and hope he feels better soon. Take care, Alan

 

[Jeff]

Marsha:

We are sharing your relief and hope everything is fine down the road.

Tell Tim that's what he get's for working on houses. ;D

 

[Just Lou]

Pacemakers are not bad ,much better than the alternative. I have had mine now for 19 years and I am only 62 now.Heck the way I figure it is like insurance, mine started with a fast pulse and Atrial Fiberulation and they gave me meds to slow my pulse and then it ended up too slow and my heart was stopping for 4to5 seconds at a time.The pacemaker came very shortly after that.The best of luck to Tim and hope he feels better soon. Take care, Alan

Alan, evidently I am one stage behind you.  My atrial fibrillation just became constant this past winter.  It used to come and go for weeks at a time.  I've had the heart shocked back into rhythm a couple of times, but even that's dangerous after my two past quadruple by-passes. ('92 and '00). 

I'm at the stage now where the meds to slow down the heart beat, and hopefully prevent stroke, are causing the tireds.

Next step will be a pacemaker.  I just hope I can get it before Obama says to throw me on the scrap heap.

Marsha, keep us informed of Tim's progress.  God Bless and stay healthy

 

[Tom and Margi]

Marsha and Tim:

How scary!  We're so glad they were able to diagnose Tim's problem and install the pacemaker.  Take it easy and get better, Tim.

Margi and Tom

 

[Wendy]

Oh, wow ! How scary ! Aren't ya glad this didn't happen on your long trip last year? Just goes to show ya, eh? Too bad he and Jayne couldn't split the difference as her heart rate was very, very high ! Is Charlie taking care of him as a therapy dog?

Take good care of Mr Tim and find some time for yourself, too.

Hugs to both and skritches to Charlie
Wendy

 

[Betty Brewer]

Hey Marsha and Tim,

Whew, that was a close call.  Glad it turned out.

Inquiring minds want to  know, how was it that a dentist caught the pulse rate?  I have never had a dentist nor hygienist take my pulse or blood pressure.
God catch on their part.

On another note Terry's mom had a pacemaker implanted at age 85+.  She walked home from the hospital after the procedure before we could get there. No kidding.  Usually they won't let you....we don't  know how she managed the  Permission if indeed she had it.  It is a 2 mile walk. She is turning 90 on Thanksgiving this year.

Way to go Tim....

Betty

 

[ruthandken CDN]

Marsha, so glad to hear that this problem was caught in time.  Hope all is well and that Tim feels his old self real soon.

Ruth & Ken

 

[29er]

Sitting here in disbelief.
Beth and I are praying for Tim's continued "recovery". We both rubbed my St. Christopher medal while thinking of you and Timbo.
Try not to wear yourself out (easy said, eh).

Kerry & Beth

 

[Hfx_Cdn]

    Marsha, that's scary.  It so easily could have happened when you were far from medical help.  I'm thinking of maybe up on the Ridge Road, with the flat tire, or maybe last year along the Gaspe, where you couldn't have found anyone who spoke English.  I guess old Lady Luck was with Tim.  Do you need help with anything, we're headed to California in the morning and cold swing up if you need us.
    Give Tim our love
Donna and Ed

 

[Marsha/CA]

Thanks everyone for all your good thoughts and wishes.  He's doing very well except for being a bit tired and body sore.  Plus I forgot to mention the morning we went to the doctors for the check up, he woke up with shingles.  Geesh!  I should have known he would do things all at once.  He told me when he was a kid that he had mumps, measles and chicken pox all during the same period of time.

Donna and Ed, no need to come up.  We are actually hunkered down and being watched over by 'The big Guy" and all the little old ladies at church.

Betty, our dentist has a cuff that reads your blood pressure and pulse.  I don't know if that's a California things or what!

Betty and Kerry, I can just picture you guys!

The thing I keep thinking about is trusting the pacemaker and just how often if he takes a wrong step or looks funny that I'm going to react.  We have entered a new era.

Thanks again for all your thoughts and well wishes.

Marsha~

 

[Lorna]

Ned and I are so glad that it turned out ok for Tim.  Good catch by both the dentist and the doctor.  Take good care of him and yourself, too.

 

[workingtorv]

Marsha,

That is terrible news but I am sure glad for Tim that they found this problem out and were able to deal with it immediately.  I think that was remarkable at how quick he was able to get a pacemaker.  I am not so sure that it would have been that quick up here in Canada.

Please take care of yourselves.

 

[jerryarlyne]

Marsha,

Some times things just seem to work out somehow. I just had my granddaughter send me an email that said, "if you trip and fall on your knees at least you are in the right position to pray"  Of course she was referring to my situation but I think that would fit Tim's also.

Hang in there and try to get some rest yourself.

Jerry & Arlyne Ray

 

[rsalhus]

Marsha,

Glad to hear Tim's all right and doing fine with the pacemaker.  I was wondering, has his pulse rate always been relatively low?  I don't think I have ever known anyone that had a pulse rate of 30, that seems awfully low to me.  I thought my pulse rate was low at around 54 or so and has been that way for as many years as I can recall, and I'm 65.  I can't help but wonder what it must feel like to have such a low pulse rate.  I don't know if I could get out of bed in the morning with a pulse rate that low!

 

[hpykmpr]

Alan, evidently I am one stage behind you.  My atrial fibrillation just became constant this past winter.  It used to come and go for weeks at a time.  I've had the heart shocked back into rhythm a couple of times, but even that's dangerous after my two past quadruple by-passes. ('92 and '00). 

I'm at the stage now where the meds to slow down the heart beat, and hopefully prevent stroke, are causing the tireds.

Next step will be a pacemaker.  I just hope I can get it before Obama says to throw me on the scrap heap.

Marsha, keep us informed of Tim's progress.  God Bless and stay healthy

Went through the cardioversion( Paddles) thing several times in 91 but to no avail ,on rat poison ever since and will always be I guess.I know what you are saying when it comes to Obamacare, really scarry. Lived in Canada until I was 39 so I know what socialized medicine is like and there is no doubt in my mind that is where his health care is going to lead the US unless something is done to stop it.

 

[geodrake]

We are glad things are working out for you.  Sounds like the whole thing was pretty uneventful, thankfully.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Marsha (& Tim too)
Glad to hear it was caught before something really serious happened.  But tell us: does this mean you can turn Tim up a notch if you need him to move a little faster on some Honey-do project?

And shingles to boot! Tim has my deepest sympathy on that - I just went through that myself in January and am still dealing with residual effects of nerve damage. A bad case of shingles is one of the nastier things that can happen that is not actually life threatening.  For those of you  over 60 who have had chicken pox as a child and haven't yet had shingles, I heartily recommend getting the vaccination. It  is not 100% effective as a preventative, but any possibility of avoiding shingles is well worth it, in my opinion.
http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vpd-vac/shingles/vac-faqs.htm