fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

fostering the humanistic practice of medicine publishing personal accounts of illness and healing encouraging health care advocacy

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You Need A Pacemaker

A line of medical professionals awaited me in the ED and worked me up for a complete heart block. A day later, my cardiac surgeon walked in and said, “You need a pacemaker.”

My heart rate had gone down to 28, it turns out, compared to a usual rate of between 60 and 100 beats a minutes. I met with a myriad of professionals on my team; each one explained their role and what I should expect from my impending surgery. I woke up in my room with a pacemaker rep, discussing my pacemaker.

I had as good an experience as I could imagine—dealing with knowledgable staff, from aides to the surgeon. They were kind, they answered my questions, we laughed a lot.

The funny thing is that I am an experienced nurse and thought I knew it all.  Ha-ha. I was treated as a patient to be educated and made as well as possible. They more than succeeded.

Well done, team.

Pris Robichaud
Bedford, New Hampshire

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Comments

1 thought on “You Need A Pacemaker”

  1. So true! As a nurse I thought I was well equipped to care for my terminally ill husband at home. Thank goodness for his hospice-ar-home nurses. They bolstered me up with every blunder I managed to make!

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