Post Pacemaker Update

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Since my last post regarding my pacemaker battery change, I unfortunately have not been doing as well as I would have hoped. My hopes for higher energy levels have been dashed as I have been even more tired than usual.

On Monday night, I began feeling weird palpitations and sometimes my heart would beat so hard that I could see my chest pounding. I thought maybe my body just needed to adjust to the new battery.

The next day at work though, I noticed the same symptoms. On my afternoon break I tried to call the pacemaker clinic but of course I couldn't get through. When I got home in the evening, I tried to call again. This time, the surgeon who performed the battery change was on call, so I was able to speak with him. At first, he wanted me to come to the ER and get an electrocardiogram done but I told him it wasn't doing it all the time so then he told me to come in and get hooked up to a Holter monitor.

On Wednesday during my lunch break I got hooked up. I had to wear it for 48-hours, which I thought was a long time until I realized there were actually times when people had to wear them for up to three weeks. On Friday during my lunch break I was able to take it off. Rob and Faith came to work to pick it up so they could take it to the clinic. It was fun having them there and my new co-workers really enjoyed meeting Faith since I talk about her so much.


Faith wasn't in school that day because we are going through a slight transition with her as well. She started taking a new medication to help decrease her drooling. It is very distracting at school when her aides are constantly having to wipe her face. We think it might be attributed to that last molar coming in but there are times she also forgets to swallow which is common with kids who have CP.

Anyway, one of the side effects of this medicine is constipation. She had been up a lot on Thursday evening with an upset tummy and trying to have a bm. Needless to say she overslept on Friday and was very tired, so Rob kept her home. We have increased her Miralax intake and so far, this weekend that seems to be helping.

I still haven't heard anything about my monitor results. Hopefully on Monday I will know something. I am also scheduled to come in on the 8th to get my scar checked and make sure the pacemaker is working okay. Hopefully, they just need to adjust my pacemaker settings and that will fix it.

In the meantime, I have been receiving a lot of encouragement from family and friends and I know their prayers are making a difference. Our respite care ladies have been very helpful coming over to make sure Faith gets her bath and her hair washed and also that I can get some extra rest. Today while I took a long nap, Faith had fun with Michelle making a gingerbread house. We are truly blessed to have so many wonderful people in our lives.

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