I had an interesting 24 hours
Posted: Sun Jan 04, 2026 10:22 am
On Friday, I was sitting at my computer as usual when I felt like I was going to pass out. That lasted maybe 20 seconds. I put my pulse/ox on a finger and saw my pulse rate was just 30 BPM! I stood up, walked around, and saw that it went to 70. I figured that was an unusual blip. About an hour later, though, I had a recurrence. I used my Kardia app to take my EKG; it was normal. That's when I thought I'd better prepare for being hauled off by the EMTs. I created a "go bag" with a charging cable for my phone, the recharger for my hearing aids, and my wallet.
About half an hour later, I was hit again. I used my Amazon Alexa to call for EMTs. They arrived very quickly, took my vitals, which were again normal, loaded me up, and headed for Oro Valley Hospital. When we were about halfway there, the medic attending me told the driver to pull over and park. I asked what was going on and was told it's because my pulse rate was again 30. They stopped so I could be given an injection of atropine. That didn't do any good, so he gave me an injection of epinephrine, which didn't help either. He told the driver to go to the Northwest Medical Center. I was taken almost immediately to an ER room. I was somewhat out of it, so I don't remember the particulars, but I was hooked up with their monitors and IV lines.
Shortly, they said I needed a pacemaker. I agreed. With drugs and IV fluids, they stabilized me. They planned on implanting a pacemaker the next day (yesterday) and would have an external one overnight. They found that because I was allergic to latex, they couldn't use an external pacemaker. It took a bit, but they found a cardiologist who arrived at 5 PM and implanted the internal pacemaker. I hope he didn't get time-and-a-half.
Yesterday morning, they verified that the pacemaker was effective and did another blood test. They sent me home by an Uber on their dime.
Here's to the EMT, ER, and CICU staff. All three shifts did excellent work.
Today I've caught up on my sleep and feel back to normal except for a little pain where the incision is.
About half an hour later, I was hit again. I used my Amazon Alexa to call for EMTs. They arrived very quickly, took my vitals, which were again normal, loaded me up, and headed for Oro Valley Hospital. When we were about halfway there, the medic attending me told the driver to pull over and park. I asked what was going on and was told it's because my pulse rate was again 30. They stopped so I could be given an injection of atropine. That didn't do any good, so he gave me an injection of epinephrine, which didn't help either. He told the driver to go to the Northwest Medical Center. I was taken almost immediately to an ER room. I was somewhat out of it, so I don't remember the particulars, but I was hooked up with their monitors and IV lines.
Shortly, they said I needed a pacemaker. I agreed. With drugs and IV fluids, they stabilized me. They planned on implanting a pacemaker the next day (yesterday) and would have an external one overnight. They found that because I was allergic to latex, they couldn't use an external pacemaker. It took a bit, but they found a cardiologist who arrived at 5 PM and implanted the internal pacemaker. I hope he didn't get time-and-a-half.
Yesterday morning, they verified that the pacemaker was effective and did another blood test. They sent me home by an Uber on their dime.
Here's to the EMT, ER, and CICU staff. All three shifts did excellent work.
Today I've caught up on my sleep and feel back to normal except for a little pain where the incision is.
