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RE: How Many Members Have Heart Disease?
I’m a Heart Transplant Patient, Transplant May 2004. Before this I have had several Heart Caths. Had Pace Maker/Defibrillator, yes my Defibrillator went off, I lost count how many times that it went off. Since Transplant been doing fine. I did need a Pace Maker after Transplant, May 2004. Still have Pace Maker. It’s been a little over four since my pace maker was installed, what’s the battery life for my Pace Maker? I’m at work know, so I don’t know (remember) what Brand it is. Don’t want to ask Doctor, I’m scared that he might think that I’m worrying about it to much and want to replace with a new Pace Maker.
Never had a Heart Attack, everybody still think you have to have a Heart Attack before you have a Transplant. Not so. BTW I’m 59 years young this year, and still working almost full time.
Have many of you have Pace makers?
Battery life in a pacemaker depends on how much it is used and at what power it is set. Not every person with a pacemaker is being paced 100% of the time. Some pacemakers are dual chamber-with leads in both the atria (the smaller top chambers) and the ventricles (the larger bottom chambers). This would require more juice from the pacer. Some are Biventricular-pacing both lower chambers.
I hope you are following up with a pacemaker clinic of some sort. Regular checks that can be performed over the phone can check battery life. Usually you transmit to the clinic with a device you press against your chest while holding the telephone over the device. The first "strip" they record is your heart's rhythm at that moment, then they would have you place a magnet over the pacemaker and transmit the strip. The "magnet rate" for your pacer should match the manufacturers stated rate. A decrease in your magnet rate indicates your battery is approaching end of life. Finally another strip is recorded to assure the pacer returned to your original rhythm for that day. Thses checks are usually scheduled for every 30 to 90 days, just depends on how old your device and/or battery is, and what your magnet rate showed last check.
You should also have to visit the clinic once or twice each year. A more thorough check of pacer function is performed at this visit. Your pacer can be adjusted to maximize battery life and assure the "power" is adequate to pace your heart appropriately. This visit may involve a specialist from the manufacturer or just clinic staff.
All of these checks should be reviewed by a cardiologist.
Good to see you are doing so well after your transplant.
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Chuck & Lori
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08/07/08 07:28pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Walking for health
www.railtrails.org or google rails to trails for links to many local rail trail organizations. You may also find mapmyhike.com, mapmywalk.com or mapmyrun.com helpful. You can create your own route or access route info posted by others. Registration is required (only once as all 3 are related) but is free. I believe with some hand help GPS devices you can download maps from the mapmy sites so you have it with you. Printing them is also an option.
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Chuck & Lori
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08/05/08 07:44pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: CPAP and "rainout"
You could try an additional length of tubing and a water trap. The condensate would simply drain to the trap from either side. Wouldn't help if you are getting rain out in the mask itself.
Can you use the new humidifier without the heat, making it a passover? That might work as well.
Your home care supplier may be able to get you a natheon (spelling may be incorrect) circuit. Natheon is similar to Gore Tex, that is it "breathes", allowing water vapor to escape but the circuit does not leak air. The problem with this product is that it is in very short supply. Fisher & Paykel cannot keep up with demand. It is also used to make ventilator circuits. Ours have been on back order for more than 18 months now.
We use alot more humidity in a vent circuit, but with these tubes on the exhalation side only, we get NO rain out. These circuits also include a heated wire within to keep the temp close to the same the entire length of the circuit. Your heater may not work with that.
Good luck.
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Chuck & Lori
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08/02/08 07:40pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: How Many Members Have Heart Disease?
Finally said "For those of you who have had Stress Tests, do any of you recall your Cardiologist giving you a Protein Test?
(I am definitely going to ask my Cardiologist about it) I just wondered if Cardiologist routinely do a Protein Test? Does anybody know?"
I did a little digging today. I assume you are referring to the C Reactive Protein (CRP) blood test. This is not a test for plaque in the arteries, but it is a test that MAY indicate that "vunerable" plaque has ruptured. It is a marker for inflammation. It can also be elevated by arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, or several other non cardiac issues.
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Chuck & Lori
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06/17/08 06:51pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: How Many Members Have Heart Disease?
Finally- What is the "Protein Test" you refer to?
On the local (Pittsburgh) NBC news tonight they interviewed a cardiologist with AGH about Mr. Russert's heart attack (MI). He said he probably had "vulnerable" plaque. That is plaque on the arterial walls that may be widespread, but not very thick in any one place. It causes an MI by rupturing and creating a spot where a clot will quickly form and block the blood flow. He indicated there were not yet any blood tests to detect this plaque, but promising studies were ongoing. As this plaque is not thick, Mr. Russert was able to pass his stress test without symptoms.
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Chuck & Lori
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06/16/08 06:34pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: A Question For Experts On Trachs.
Before I replied to this, I checked with a speech/language pathologist friend. She confirmed what I thought. The trach itself should NOT be an insurmountable hurdle. Neither of your posts indicate why Sara has a trach, but assuming it is there simply because she was born prematurely, it is likely it will someday be removed. Even before that happens she may be able to use a speaking valve with her trach. Kids trachs usually do not have a cuff (the "balloon" that seals the trach in the airway) so air can pass around the trach up to the voicebox. Or a trach with a hole on the top of the curved part to allow even more air up to the voicebox may be used.
That said she may have other issues that will delay/prevent any of this from occuring. Premature kids often have other issues that delay development in some areas, but the science keeps getting better. I knopw a young man who is enrolled in respiratory therapy school who had a trach for several years when he was born prematurely. His voice is a little hoarse, but otherwise he does as well as anyone! I was one of the respiratory therapists involved with his care after he first came home from the hospital. It's so cool to see what he is doing now!!
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Chuck & Lori
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06/06/08 07:45pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Lubricating Stabilizer Jacks
Bike shops sell a liquid parafin based lube that dries so it attracts no dirt. A similar aerosol product is available at off road motorcycle shops. I have had good luck with the bike chain lube.
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Chuck & Lori
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04/05/08 07:33pm |
Travel Trailers
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RE: Anyone buying their own oxygen?
"This info is from an article I read about oxygen ...
Oxygen gas is produced from the boiling off of liquid oxygen."
This is wrong. Oxygen is in its liquid state only if it is colder than about minus 300 degrees F. It becomes a gas as it warms above that. Have you ever tried to transfer LOX from your large tank to your portable on a warm humid day? Have trouble with the tanks sticking together when the condensation at the connection freezes?
Unless the "boiling point" for oxygen is -300??:?
"The bottom line about the different types of oxygen is in the insurance liability of the oxygen supplier. The gas is the same but the insurance liability is different."
This makes a lot of sense!!
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Chuck & Lori
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03/30/08 01:13pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Anyone buying their own oxygen?
I just found 6 E bottles and 2 regulators for $100. The lady, who sounds like she is .. uh .. mature says they are full of oxygen and the tanks are "current". From her language she may work in the medical field.
That price sounds too good to be true, but I will buy them in the morning.
I will clean the regulators and outside of the tanks, but how can a person tell if it is oxygen or just plain air in the tanks?
Any help appreciated.
That is a very good price. Did she say why she has all these tanks and regulators? I would be more concerned about the function of the regulators than the contents of the tanks. The regulators are easy to damage, but as someone else noted if the tanks are green they are likely oxygen. Somewhere on one of the gauge faces it should say "oxygen".
Since oxygen is NOT flammable but does support a flame, you could point a low flow from the tank at a match and see if the flame gets larger. Air would not make it any larger. If there is any chance there is a flammable gas in the tanks don't try this! If you still have a homecare provider/DME maybe they would let you use an oxygen analyzer. Just put the analyzer cell and the nipple or the end of a piece of tubing connected to the nipple in a baggie. The analyzer should read 96-100% very quickly. Or any one who refills tanks could also analyze for you. The tanks will have a date stamped into the metal near the top which indicates when they were last pressure tested. I don't remember the required time interval anymore, but it is years (10?maybe?).
I heard another respiratory therapist say the the oxygen you buy from a welding supply company may be MORE pure than medical grade as some welding operations cannot tolerate any impurities. He worked for a DME and was doing a presentation to our pulmonary rehab class. I do not know if that is accurate or not.
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Chuck & Lori
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03/29/08 07:26pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: breathing problems
Find a physician that specializes in allergy care or an allergy clinic at a major teaching hospital. Your description of your symptoms and their progression since you last lived in KC make speciality help seem like the best idea if you are going to stay.
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Chuck & Lori
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03/29/08 06:51pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Got Any Comments on Sequal Eclipse Oxygen Concentrators?
Sandytx said "I did not need my 02 at all during the day."
Have you checked your oxygen level at the lower elevation? How you feel is not always a good indication of O2 level.
Good luck with you move!
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Chuck & Lori
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02/14/08 05:49pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Tracheostomy
my first plastic one had a valve for talking, named after the inventor but can't remember it...Probably a Passy-Muir valve.
http://www.upmc.com/HealthManagement/ManagingYourHealth/HealthReference/PatientEducation/B/#BreathingDisorders
The above link will take you to information on trach tubes and trach care. UPMC is the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. I am a respiratory therapist at one of the UPMC hospitals. Feel free to PM me if you want.
Will your daughter be on a ventilator? Good luck, I hope this helps.
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Chuck & Lori
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01/25/08 08:43pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Insulin pump, Medicare, and travel
Why does medicare require you to see a doc every 3 months? Did he say you cannot see one more frequently that every 3 months, maybe? That sounds more like what medicare would do. What would medicare do if you went beyond 3 months? The whole thing doesn't sound right. Do you have information on how to contact your medicare carrier? Maybe they can offer some insight.
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Chuck & Lori
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01/11/08 02:29pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Which is the best electric tongue jack
I have also seen plastic jugs used. Just cut the bottom off of a milk jug, etc.
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Chuck & Lori
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01/06/08 09:40am |
Travel Trailers
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RE: I'm going to have withdrawls.
CyberCafe? Local library? Loaner? Smartphone? Kiosk at the mall?
Just some possibilities. I could not get through the day without a computer.
Good Luck!
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Chuck & Lori
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01/03/08 04:42pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: user names and passwords
I use a program called Infosafe. It works on a PC and/or PDA. You can keep account numbers, web sites, passwords, etc, etc.
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Chuck & Lori
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01/03/08 04:36pm |
Around the Campfire
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RE: renting an oxygen concentrator
A lot of people have misconcepetions about thier abilities - once you increase the flow >~4 lpm, you're actually decreasing the O2 percentage.
I'd be very surprised if that is generally true. I'd like to know more if you can cite a source.
Dave
That is the oxygen percentage delivered by the concentrator. Concentrators can only work so fast at separating the oxygen from the rest of the air. At higher flows, the percentage may decrease by 5-10 percentage points.
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Chuck & Lori
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09/13/07 04:45pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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RE: Buying a Pulse Ox Meter
I would think that it would still be at normal reading levels. The altitude does not affect 02 SATURATION, just concentration!!
This is not true. Altitude does not change the percentage of oxygen in the air (about 21%), but the total number of oxygen molecules available (the concentration) is decreased. At 5200 feet the decrease may not be enough to affect saturation, but it could.
"Now I will give this little jewel out!! Don't let the numbers fool you. CO attaches 1700 to 1 at the same rate that O2 does......CO will push 02 out of the cell."
Again not entirely accurate. CO has about 200x the affinity for hemoglobin as does oxygen. Once CO binds to hemoglobin it does not release. Hemoglobin bound by CO will prevent oxygen from attaching and traveling to the body for consumption. The amount of hemoglobin bound by CO can be measured by co-oximetry, which usually involves a blood sample being drawn from an artery (not a vein, like most blood work), and tested in a specific kind of blood gas machine. There is one company that makes an oximeter that can distinguish between oxyhemoglobin and carboxyhemoglobin. This device is pretty new and probably not available most places.
So you can be in bad trouble in a highly chrarged CO atmosphere and the "O2 Sat" still be 97-100. All that the numbers tell you is that "cell" has 97-100% of a gas in it!!
That is correct. Most oximeters cannot distinguish the gas attached to hemoglobin, only that hemoglobin is or is not "saturated".
I mean no disrespect, but I am a respiratory therapist by trade.
Chuck
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Chuck & Lori
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09/13/07 04:26pm |
RVing with Disabilities and General Health Issues
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