QUESTION: Implanted Pacemaker AND Implanted Defribulator(two seperate units) OR the Combination Unit

Raymond A. Miller said:

Hello, Caucasian male, age 52, non smoker, non drinker, not
overweight. Then the negatives: Dilated cardiomyopathy
(diagnosed around 1991), Sarcoidosis *Lungs involved and
possibly liver* (diagnosed in 1994). Losing strength,
easily short of breath, current ejection factor is almost
17%, The heart condition is likely a genetic issue as it
killed my sister at age 22 in 1966, killed my mother at age
70 in 1999 and nearly took our oldest sons' life at age 15
in 1995 (Thank God he had a cardiologist that I would
compare to a real life Marcus Welby, MD! And finally my
level of stress has been sky-high since January 2000 due to
circomstances beyond my control> My cardiologist has
determined that I need a pacemaker and a defribulator. He
spoke of the two individual devices, suggesting I wait
until the defribulator - pacemaker single unit is approved.
I came away a bit confused and thought I'd jump in here to
ask a question or two.
1. Am I correct that there are pacemakers and defribulators
(as indivual units) available now? I may be misinformed.

I am sure you are right. I have a pacemaker with a wire to
both the left atrium and left ventricle. To the best of my
knowledge a defibrillator deals with ventricular tachycardia
but someone will correct me if I have it wrong. They are
both available now.

Quoted message said:

2. The doctor is saying he can put in a pacemaker now and
the defribulator down a few months. He indicated that it
is more problematic to go this way and believes I should
wait. I would think that at least the pacemaker would
ease the load on my heart and limit further damage.

Did the doctor indicate how long it might be before this
dual appliance comes to the market? Diana

Quoted message said:

If anyone here has any thoughts, ideas, experiences then
I'd sure be one very grateful person.

Sincerely & God Bless Ray Miller [email hidden]

Raymond A. Miller said:

Hello, Caucasian male, age 52, non smoker, non drinker,
not overweight. Then the negatives: Dilated cardiomyopathy
(diagnosed around 1991), Sarcoidosis *Lungs involved and
possibly liver* (diagnosed in 1994). Losing strength,
easily short of breath, current ejection factor is almost
17%, The heart condition is likely a genetic issue as it
killed my sister at age 22 in 1966, killed my mother at
age 70 in 1999 and nearly took our oldest sons' life at
age 15 in 1995 (Thank God he had a cardiologist that I
would compare to a real life Marcus Welby, MD! And finally
my level of stress has been sky-high since January 2000
due to circomstances beyond my control>

Could be cardiac sarcoidosis.

Quoted message said:

My cardiologist has determined that I need a pacemaker and
a defribulator. He spoke of the two individual devices,
suggesting I wait until the defribulator - pacemaker
single unit is approved. I came away a bit confused and
thought I'd jump in here to ask a question or two.
1. Am I correct that there are pacemakers and
defribulators (as indivual units) available now? I may
be misinformed.

Current FDA-approved defibrillators (AICDs) have pacemaker
function (not the biventricular kind that your cardiologist
is probably thinking about)

Quoted message said:

2. The doctor is saying he can put in a pacemaker now and
the defribulator down a few months. He indicated that
it is more problematic to go this way and believes I
should wait. I would think that at least the pacemaker
would ease the load on my heart and limit further
damage.

The biventricular pacemaker may improve your heart function
though it is unlikely to limit further damage (especially
from sarcoidosis).

Quoted message said:

If anyone here has any thoughts, ideas, experiences then
I'd sure be one very grateful person.

Sincerely & God Bless Ray Miller [email hidden]

You are welcome.

You will be in my prayers to God in Christ's name.

Servant to the humblest person in the universe,

Andrew

--
Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD
Board-Certified Cardiologist
heartmdphd.comheartmdphd.comOpen ↗

**
Who is the humblest person in the universe?
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What is all this about?
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Is this spam?
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"Raymond A. Miller" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

If anyone here has any thoughts, ideas, experiences then
I'd sure be one very grateful person.

Sincerely & God Bless Ray Miller [email hidden]

Hi Ray, glad you're here. First of all, let me reassure you
that cardiology electrophysiology is rapidly changing daily.
We constantly work on the genetics of this disease, new drug
technology, and new assist device technology. It's similar
to buying a computer... get my point?

So, where we are at any given time can be fluid.

What area are you in? (This will help me to know for example
if you're in the UK with socialized medicine what your
options may be vs. an insured patient in the U.S. with
access to private healthcare.)

What I would do is contact medtronics or Guidant and ask
them. They have websites and hotline numbers to answer
questions for people like you. They are proud of their
devices and want to share them, so YOU contact them and
find out for yourself and bypass ANY deals your own
private cardiologist may have struck with the companies
(he may be waiting on the company that's been wining and
dining him, etc.).

Let me just share with you from personal experience...
pacemaker companies go a long mile to win the loyalties of
physicians and support staff. I personally have been the
recipient of Broadway shows, steak dinners, etc. all so a
pacer company could talk about their latest model!

YOU do the calling and YOU find out. You don't need a doctor
to do this for you.

And, when you find out what you want, TELL your doctor
what model you want, discuss it with him, and get it put
in post haste.

With an ejection fraction of 17% and the other issues you
describe you need to get something in fast. Get cracking on
this and get an assist device in in the next few weeks,
don't paly with this. (And in my opinion, I would rather
have two devices than wait one day too long and well, have a
sudden death episode. I personally know people who have two
and they do just fine) Take care and good luck to you, Sandy

"Dr. Andrew B. Chung, MD/PhD" <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

"Raymond A. Miller" wrote:

Quoted message said:

The biventricular pacemaker may improve your heart
function though it is unlikely to limit further damage
(especially from sarcoidosis).

Quoted message said:

If anyone here has any thoughts, ideas, experiences then
I'd sure be one very grateful person.

Here is a link that discusses the Guidant bi-ventricular
pacer/ICD's on the market right now
guidant.comaicd.shtmlOpen ↗ and here's one
from medtronics (a geneal FAQ sheet) medtronics.c-medtronics.c-Open ↗
om/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=Medtronic/Website/Stag-
eArticle&ConditionName=Sudden+Cardiac+Arrest&Stage=Treat-
ment&Article=tachy_art_how_defibrillation_works

Guidant is known for having innovative devices well ahead of
it's time, and Medtronics is known for being the largest
company in the world with the most financial power (it has
wanted to buy guidant for years and just may already have?
Not sure). Don't be afraid to give them both a call, there
are so many valuable patient resources found through those
two companies.

I also believe you would benefit from eating yucca root
daily because of your sarcoidosis. Just do some reading
on that South American root, avoid supplements, just
eat the food.

As well, did your doc talk about making you pacer dependent
or giving you a pacer that would only turn on when needed? I
know a patient who has cardiomyopathy that they went ahead
and made pacer dependent, it was the only way for him so
that he could function as his atria was so active it was
just creating a mess. How is your synchronization?