I discovered a month ago that my pacemaker malfunctioned and died in 2014! I couldn't believe it. The news totally shocked me!
I have extensive heart issues, have had 10 open heart surgeries, 12 catheterizations, and 3 pacemaker implants. My last pacemaker was implanted in May 2010. The reason I have it is my heart was going down into the 20's and 30's at night, which is near a coma.. and the docs were afraid I would die so they put in my first pacemaker when I was 11 in 1992 to keep my heart rate at around 60bpm when I am resting. They've been actively replacing this every 7-10 yrs.
So a month ago I went in for a check up to have my pacer checked. I am supposed to call into the Mayo Clinic every 3 months to have it scanned.. I hadn't done this in 5 yrs.. LOL!
When I went into the doc's office.. the attendant nearly passed out.. he told me that I should be dead because my pacer malfunctioned and died back in 2014. Below is a screen shot of that info.. it says EOL which means (End of Life) of the pacemaker.. I was terrified.
I then was sent to the ER and was hospitalized overnight and the docs realized that .. I didn't actually need a pacemaker anymore. They said that it looked like my heart had healed itself.. strange, eh? Needless to say, I didn't want any boneheads operating on me who didn't know me and my crazy health history. The head heart doc at this hospital... which is the best heart hospital in my state, said that he had never seen anyone with as many heart problems as I have and doing so well! That was a compliment!
So What's next?
I am leaving in a week for Rochester MN, to visit the Mayo Clinic and have my heart evaluated. It is there that they will decide if I need another pacemaker. Today I received a Holter Monitor from Mayo, so I can record my heart rate for the next two weeks to give them data.
I feel so blessed.. knowing that this darn thing died in my chest and yet I am still kicking!
Life is a Gift and it's full of wonders and miracles!
