Year 2000 compatability

Homegoing Instructions

You may be discharged from the hospital the day after the pacemaker surgery. During the first few weeks, tissue is growing around the tip of the leads located inside the heart. To prevent movement or accidental dislodgment of the leads and to promote healing:

• Do not lift more than five pounds.
• Avoid raising your arm (closest to the pacemaker) above your shoulder.
• Do not do vigorous, repetitive arm movement such as sweeping, lifting or arm exercises.

Inspect your incision every day in the first few weeks. Call your doctor immediately if you experience: redness, swelling, drainage or new discoloration at the incision site, extreme tenderness, pain or heat at the incision site, chills or fever.

Upon the advice of your doctor and as you begin to feel better, you should return to your normal activities within a few weeks.

Symptoms you should report to your doctor or the Pacemaker Clinic include:

• shortness of breath
• dizziness
• fainting spells
• swelling of feet or legs
• chest pain
• prolonged hiccups (longer than 15 minutes)
• skin breakdown around the pacemaker site
• unusual heart rate increases or palpations

For emergency calls after Pacemaker Clinic hours, on weekends or holidays, call (02) 93391111. If you call the Pacemaker Clinic during an emergency, have your transmitter available to transmit your heart rhythm over the phone. The person taking the call will notify a doctor of your symptoms, along with your heart rhythm, and give you further instruction as necessary.

Keep all follow-up appointments with your doctor. Pacemaker follow-up is important to ensure that your pacemaker continues to function correctly, interact with your heart properly and give information regarding battery status. Your monitoring schedule is determined by your doctor and may become more frequent as your pacemaker nears replacement time.

Your pacemaker may be monitored during office or Pacemaker Clinic visits, over the telephone or through a combination of the two. You will be given detailed information regarding monitoring, maintaining and replacing your pacemaker.

Special Precautions

Travel

If you are going on an extended vacation, always obtain names and addresses of doctors at your destination prior to travel. This information is vital in case of emergency. You can continue to routinely check your pacemaker over the phone with the Pacemaker Clinic, even while living in another area or state for a few months.

Medication

Before you are discharged, your doctor will tell you what medication to take. Do not discontinue any medications without the advice of your doctor. If you have any questions, please ask your doctor or nurse.

Electrical devices

Your pacemaker has built-in features to protect it from electrical device interference (an interruption in normal operation). However, if you suspect interference with your pacemaker (for example, if you experience dizziness or notice your heart beating faster), simply move away from or turn off the electrical device. Your pacemaker will not be permanently affected and will return to normal operation.

You can safely operate most household appliances, tools and office equipment that are properly grounded and in good repair, including: microwave ovens, garage door openers, electric blankets and home work shop equipment. Keep tools 12 inches from the pacemaker implant site.

A safe practice for operating hand-held electrical devices is to hold the device several inches from your pacemaker to reduce the chance of interference.

You can safely operate citizen-band and ham radio base stations at government-authorized power levels using remotely located antennas. The antenna should be located at least 30 feet from you and connected to the transmitter by a non-radiating transmission line.

You should ask your doctor or the Pacemaker Clinic about interference in special situations, such as working with high-current industrial equipment, welders and powerful magnets or working in restricted areas such as near transmitting towers and antennas.

If you have any questions about a situation or a piece of equipment, contact your doctor or the Pacemaker Clinic nurse.

Medical Procedures

Always tell any medical personnel that you have a pacemaker. Most non-surgical medical procedures are unlikely to interfere with your pacemaker. However, discuss this issue with your doctor if you are scheduled to have any of the following: elective surgery, electrocautery, lithotripsy, radiation therapy, TENS unit (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation unit), therapeutic ultrasound (used by physical therapists or chiropractors), electrolysis, diathermy or MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging).

If you have a Rate-Response Pacemaker with a sensor that detects changes in breathing, remind your doctor that you have this type of pacemaker before you undergo any medical or surgical procedure. It may be necessary to program the rate responsive feature to "off" before the procedure is done.

Cellular/Cordless Phones

Recent studies have shown that there may be a potential interaction between cellular phones and pacemaker operation. When using a cellular phone:

• maintain six inches or more between the hand-held cellular phone and your pacemaker
• use the phone on the ear opposite your pacemaker
• do not carry the phone in a breast pocket, on a belt or within six inches of your pacemaker while in standby or listen mode
• carry the cellular phone on the side of your body opposite your pacemaker
• for cellular phones transmitting above three watts, maintain a minimum separation of at least 12 inches between the base of the antenna and the pacemaker.

Follow-up Care

It is important to keep all follow-up appointments with your doctors.

Y2K: Year 2000 compatability

All pacemakers used by St Vincent's are year 2000-compatible; ie no problems are anticipated with these devices.