Doctor appointment

My doctor appointment went well today.  The pacemaker rep was there and ran a bunch of tests on my pacemaker and they all came out good.  The lead wire is still in place right where it should be and everything else checked out okay.  He says I still can't drive and I have to continue using the sling to remind me not to move my left arm any more than necessary.  But things are going very well.

I made a few phone calls to try to get those two warranty refund checks reissued but no one returned my calls so that will have to wait till Monday.

Home

I went home Monday after all, but it was pretty late in the day by the time the doctor did the discharge papers.  They had a lot of emergencies on Monday and the doctor (and the nursing staff) were swamped.

So Linda and I got home Monday night and I still felt wonderful. My sister has been making sure I don't do anything strenuous and that I'm following all the recuperation instructions.

I go back to see the doctor tomorrow for my post-op checkup and I am sure it will go well.  I haven't felt this good in a long time so I feel pretty positive that he will say that it looks good.  And then I will have another five weeks of recuperation before I can get really active again.

Linda's car is still in Kansas being repaired from her "interaction" with that deer.  It might be done by Saturday and then I'm not sure when she'll be leaving ... Probably early next week.  She's got quite a few irons in the fire back in Missouri and shouldn't stay away too much longer.  I have sure appreciated her help, especially since I had to stay in the hospital much longer than anticipated.

She's been doing a lot of cooking here and fixing great meals.  And we've been watching a lot of old movies, especially Errol Flynn (my favorite actor).

Today I got two checks in the mail -- refunds from extended warranties we had on the two vehicles I traded in -- and the checks were made out to just Marshall so the banks won't let me deposit them.  So tomorrow I need to get that straightened out.

One more night

The doctor wants me to stay in hospital one more night to be sure the incision site is healing the way it should. And he wants me to have a few more antibiotic injections. So it looks like I will go home tomorrow.


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Good news

The pacemaker rep was just here to run some tests on my pacemaker and in her words, "The numbers look great." She consulted with my doctor and they reset the pacing rate from 70bpm to 60bpm.

The only troubling thing was that because the pacemaker has had issues and has been working harder than it should have been the estimated battery life is still showing only 1-1/2 years. But as good as I feel right now (and now that this surgery is becoming routine for me [ha]) I'll take it!!

As I was typing this the rep came back in and said she called her tech guys with regard to the battery life and they said it is possible that the battery will adjust itself as it adjusts to the wire being back where it is supposed to be and we may see the battery life improve over time. But I am incredibly happy that the wire is attached properly and I feel great.

I should be going home today and I have to be VERY CAREFUL for the first two weeks. My left arm is in an immobilizing sling and Linda will make sure I don't overdo it.

So I am just waiting for the doctor to discharge me.


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Third time's a charm??

I had my third pacemaker surgery this morning. The surgeon had a pacemaker rep in the operating room with us and they kept me awake enough that I could communicate and do a few maneuvers when they asked me to.

The cardiologist said that there is a "flap" leading to the heart that he thinks may have been interfering with the screw that goes into the heart muscle and causing one of the pacemaker wires to dislodge and while he had the incision re-opened he would observe it. (At least this is my interpretation of what he said....)

When I got back to my hospital room I was awake and felt better than I have felt in weeks and I don't feel any erratic heartbeats so I am assuming that that means the surgery was a success.

Tomorrow I think the pacemaker rep will come and run a few tests that will determine where we stand. And I assume (hope) I will be discharged tomorrow.

Stay tuned....


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What else can go wrong

They just ran some tests.

Pacemaker lead has come loose again and I am staying in the hospital and have more surgery scheduled for tomorrow. I am beginning to think I am jinxed.

My doctor seems to think I may be doing something to loosen the lead but I can't imagine what that would be.

I will be here a few more days.


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Surgery is over

Got to hospital at 6:00AM. Surgery at 7:30. It went well. My doctor has a great sense of humor and so do all the hospital personnel. So there was a lot of giggling during the prep. For me, humor always calms me down so I went into la-la-land laughing.

Then I was taken to a room to recuperate and spend the night for observation. For six or seven hours my blood pressure was really low (83 over 50) and I got a lot of attention. But it is now normal again and except for a sore chest I am feeling pretty good.

My poor sister didn't make it to my house till about 9:30 last night so she was pretty tired but she got up at 4:30 to bring me here.

My left arm is in an immobilizing sling (the last time I got a very flimsy one) so along with that and my sister's eagle eye I should manage to not cause any problems with the pacemaker while everything is healing up.

That's it for now. Thanks for all the lovely messages.


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