[Magdalen] Prayers - cardiac worries

[Sally Davies]

No, Jay - they're definitely implanting something which will apparently be
there for a year!! I think it's very extreme and am concerned, because he's
gone to a private specialist rather than the NHS specialists. I've seen the
Holter several times before in the hospital where I work, but haven't come
across this other thing.

My sis in law, a trained nurse who's worked for years now as a medical rep,
will be going with him to the hospital and staying the night thereafter
(he's in Swansea and she lives in London) -  but she won't be able to ask
the questions I'm sure she'd like to ask out of concern for upsetting Dad.

Sally

On Thursday, 13 November 2014, Jay Weigel <jay.weigel at gmail.com> wrote:

> Sounds to me like a Holter monitor (external) would be the first course of
> action to take. It's uncomfortable, kind of like having an octopus stuck to
> your chest, but it's only for a few days. Are you sure that's not what
> they're doing, and then possibly a pacemaker? "Implantable recorder" sounds
> a bit extreme, not to say improbable for a first step. That said, my dad
> got his pacemaker at 78 and felt like a new person thereafter. He had
> what's called "sick sinus syndrome" where his heart would just go off on
> tangents (fast OR slow) for no apparent reason. He lived to 93 with it and
> no further trouble.
>
> On Thu, Nov 13, 2014 at 3:51 PM, Sally Davies <sally.davies at gmail.com
> <javascript:;>>
> wrote:
>
> > Please dear friends, bear my father in law Noel in your prayers. He is
> due
> > to have an "implantable cardiac recorder" sited to help his doctor figure
> > out why he's been having dizzy spells in recent months and years.
> >
> > As he's now in the upper Eighties and living alone, he's finding it hard
> to
> > deal with this and coping with the worry is sapping his energy and
> > strength, as well as his peace of mind. We are wondering whether it's
> > counter productive, since presumably the desired outcome is better
> health,
> > not sleepless nights and raised blood pressure!! But ours not to reason
> why
> > and he's not of a generation that would even make personal demands of the
> > medical profession let alone argue with it.
> >
> > I have also wondered why a doctor would want to put an elderly person
> > through this - or maybe simply not expect him to be anxious about it.
> >
> > Sally D
> >
>