I am glad you and she are improving. Cheers.

Shid oh dear! These are the times that try men’s souls. Glad you’re both on the mend.

 
I got some [limited] yard work done yesterday, and Alice is walking with only a barely perceptible limp. I spoke with the pacemaker manufacturer help line (Medtronic), and got a lot of questions answered about what I could and could not do. DO NOT lay an iPad on your chest (like in bed). Apparently the entire back of it is a magnet. Almost all of my corded and cordless power tools are OK, as long as I keep any 120V motor 6" or more away from the device. I did give my Millermatic 212 MIG to a neighbor (husband of the couple that really helped us out), as arc welding is a no-no.

The ride home from the hospital was a real treat, for me. I drive a 14 yr old Tacoma, but our neighbor, Christine, who ferried us home, has a brand new F-350 Lariat, crew cab dually (she has horses), with all of the latest electronics. Text messages were coming and going on the display, but it was all hands free, text->voice and voice->text. Nav system showing us the route (we knew that anyway), with estimated times. I cannot begin to imagine what that hunk of metal cost, but it was a fun (and very smooth/quiet) ride.
 
It is too early to say we are over the hump, but things are looking very bright for both of us.

I cant't top that....thank goodness. God bless you both and glad you folks are well. Cheers.

Wow! Glad that it is working out well.

I've had a pacemaker for several years and did have a MRI last September--the lab technician looked it up and did something to the pacemaker with a hand-held tool before and after the MRI procedure.

flashguy

Wow, that was certainly lucky you got in and transferred so fast. Glad you both are doing better. And very glad you took the time to find out the do’s and dont’s of having a pacemaker.

quote:

Originally posted by m1009:
Wow, that was certainly lucky you got in and transferred so fast.

Having a helicopter and crew (pilot, flight paramedic, and flight nurse) on permanent standby right outside the ER is a big plus for this community.

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
<snip>
DO NOT lay an iPad on your chest (like in bed). Apparently the entire back of it is a magnet.
<snip>

That surprises me. It clings to iron surfaces?

But so glad that you’re both doing well!

quote:

Originally posted by Pipe Smoker:

quote:

Originally posted by henryaz:
DO NOT lay an iPad on your chest (like in bed). Apparently the entire back of it is a magnet.

That surprises me. It clings to iron surfaces?

I cannot tell you, as I have never owned one. Just repeating what the Medtronic guy said.
 
He did mention that when testing for magnetism, a paper clip is the best choice. Being very light, it will respond to the slightest bit of magnetism. Rare earth magnets might pose a problem, though, getting paper clip back off the magnet.

Glad you are both doing well and on the mend. Prayer sent and glad you have some good friends and neighbors. A real blessing they are.

"interesting week" is quite an understatement. I'm glad both of you are on the mend and I'm praying for a quick recovery.

Henry--
Most things in medicine can only be treated, not fixed.
There are two things that can definitively be fixed: a broken femur and heart block.
Please don't go for the trifecta.

And for the rest of you out there: Henry's symptoms should have led to the ED right now, NOT the PCP. I know, I've done it, was reprimanded and sent (by ambulance) to the ED.
PCP's cannot deal with true medical emergencies.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Henry's symptoms should have led to the ED right now, NOT the PCP.

That was exactly the PCP's attitude, like WTF are you doing here, GO TO THE ED (across the hall). I had made the PCP appointment on an emergency "fit in" basis, unaware of the severity of my problem. 30 minutes in the ED and an EKG later, I was in the helicopter.

helluva week, glad yall made it thru and best wishes going forward,


re the pacemaker, for a few years we were buying guns and stuff from a guy we had known for a long time, he was a medical bits sales rep, and did a lot of work with pacemakers,
he had them in his house, shop, garaga etc, just randomly here and there (apparently he had samples, and did not turn them in when models changed?)

anyhoo, after looking at and making a deal on a handful of firearms one day (I'm an FFL if that matters) I picked up a small stainless steel device and asked what it was,

he told me pacemaker, showed me a few others, and we went about with business


fast forward a few years later and he had passed, his wife had us in to look at the rest of the stuff he had and he literally had pacemakers, all older models, stacked up in a closet like you or I would have cans of beans or ammo,