Dave’s pacemaker was put in late 2013. This weekend the battery died in it – on Sunday, as it turns out. He has felt terrible all weekend. His blood sugar was over 500 – not good. I wanted to take him to the ER, but he hates the ER and the hospital in general, and who can blame him? We called first thing Monday morning for an appointment with his doctor.
He saw his doc on Tuesday, and they did not know his battery was dead at the time, but they showed him an EKG where it could be seen where the pacemaker “fills in” to maintain a normal heartbeat, because his heart is too weak to do it on his own. Since we have not been able to find a cardiologist who takes Dave’s insurance, his doc recommended we go to the ER. He was concerned that if the battery was dead in his pacemaker, that he would have another heart attack from which he would not recover. Thus the emergency. The hospital would replace the batteries if they determined he needed it.
We went to the ER Wednesday morning, and were there all day. They took an EKG, blood work, chest x-rays, a reading of his pacemaker, which showed the batteries had died. The preliminary tests took all day. By about 4 pm we saw our first doc, who admitted Dave to the hospital. But it took until about 9ish to get him moved into a room, and not on the cardiac floor. The cardiac floor must already be full. There were beds out in the hallway too, in the ER. The hospital staff were very professional, but they were busy.
They are planning to do the procedure to replace his batteries, and perhaps even his pacemaker with a new model, on Friday. They cannot do it Thursday, because he is on a blood thinner to help prevent blood clots (the cause of his heart attack from a few years ago) and they have to make sure the medication is cleared from his body, so he doesn’t bleed out during the procedure.
A few good things are already coming out of this episode. His regular doc is on a mission to find him a cardiologist that will take his insurance. And they got his diabetes meds and insulin sorted, so hopefully his blood sugar will not be out of whack again like it was. Also, a new pacemaker? I will keep everyone updated.
THANK YOU FOR THE PRAYERS!
The docs came in Friday morning with a cancellation, so they moved Dave’s pacemaker surgery to that afternoon. They took out the old pacemaker and put in a new one in a better position, to better support his heart. They think once he is healed it will be possible that he will have better strength.
He came through the surgery with flying colors, and they discharged him on Saturday. He is home! Now for the recovery. ❤️
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