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Patsy: Living with a Pacemaker
Patsy: Living with a Pacemaker“It’s not like you see on television where you grab your arm and grab your chest and know it’s a heart attack. Itwas actually on the other side and around into my back, but they say women are weird when it comes to heartattacks anyway because I’ve had friends who said theirs hurt in their jaw when they had a heart attack, some intheir back. It’s just, we’re just wired differently, I guess.”“This was in June when I had the heart attack, so it was April of the following year when they put the pacemakerin, and I could immediately tell the difference.”“Once I got the pacemaker, I had more energy, I felt more alive I guess you’d say. It regulated my heart, it gaveme more energy, and it just made a complete difference in how I felt.”“It helped mentally. It gave me a little peace of mind to know that well, it’s not going to stop beating in the middleof the night and it’s going to keep me-- wake me up.”“I have a monitor beside my bed that monitors my-- the pacemaker at night. Periodically, it does a test and sendsit to the office and then once a year, I go in for them to check, physically check everything.”“There’s no pain. Sometimes she will adjust the pacemaker to see that that works. It may speed my heart up alittle bit and she’ll test that, and then turn it back to where it needs to be. But, there’s no pain, there’s no problem.The monitor that I have at home, I never know it’s there. I don’t have to call in and be checked periodically. It’sjust done automatically.”“I think they should feel lucky, feel blessed that we are in an age where we can do that, where they can put thisin, this can monitor the heart. It gives you a peace of mind to know that it’s going to keep the heart regulated,make you feel better.”“It’s just something you have to accept, that it’s a different lifestyle, a different way of life, but it’s still good. It’sstill good. And, still can have lots of good happy years and fun times.”This program is for informational purposes only. Publisher disclaims all guarantees regarding the accuracy, completeness,or suitability of this video for medical decision making. For all health related issues please contact your healthcare provider.VER60301A EN PatsyLivingWithAPacemaker.pdf© The Wellness NetworkPage 1 of 1
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