Here they are!! Pacers that is..

Here some of them are, at least the ones I have with me. I had given some to my Mom, uncles, etc for paperweights, they are a good conversation piece.

The biggest on in the top let hand corner was my first one, almost the size of a hockey puck and when it was inserted, the doctors had to make a pocket under my arm as I was so tiny and had no place to support it. I was 17 yrs old and I weighed 85 lbs.

This one was inserted December 7, 1967 at the Winnipeg General Hospital in Winnipeg. My body did not appreciate the pacer as much as I did as I rejected it for over a year. I had many bouts of pericarditis and many ambulance trips from Swan River to Winnipeg to drain fluid off the heart and from around the heart.

This is the pacer I have now, much smaller and it lasts alot longer than the first ones. The first few I had barely lasted a year, some didn't but the one I have now will last anywhere from 8 - 10 years. My last one lasted 8 years. I have no underlying heart rate so my pacer has to work all the time which of course uses up the battery life. This pacer speeds up and slows down like a normal heart so it has been the best by far. I have two leads inserted, one into the left atrium and one into the left ventricle.

This pacer I had for over 13 years and this is an example of the lead, although I have this type of lead now, I did not at that time. When my pacer was first inserted, the doctors knew I would need it long term so they used the transthoracic route which means they opened the chest and sewed the lead directly onto the left ventricle of the heart. Those leads lasted over 25 years, then they were capped off and left in the body and the new leads were put in transvenously which means they were threaded through the vein into the left atrium and left ventricle. It is much easy this way as I am awake for the surgery, it takes about 45 mins. The transthoracic route is major surgery therefore had a general anaesthetic and a long healing process. I was happy I had the transthoracic route to begin with because I would not have been able to have children the transvenous way. The risk of blood clots was too high. I am happy to say that I had three healthy boys: Chad - 8 lbs. 2oz 21 inches; Ryan - 8 lbs. 12 oz. 22 inches and Scott - 9 lbs 1 oz 20 1/4 inches.

The pacers gave me a rough start but after that it was clear sailing and without the pacer I would not be alive today. I was born with a complete congenital heart block and at birth my pulse was 60 beats/minute, most of my childhood it was 30-40 beats/minute and by the time I was 15 it was 20 beats/minute. I knew all about stokes/adams attacks as I woke every night with terrible cramps in my hands and feet and passed out due to lack of circulation. It was a miracle I survived.