Thanks for the input. I'm at Mayo in Phoenix. It's an incredible complex. Yesterday they covered the things you mentioned, i.e. removed my bandage (healing is going well), ran some tests and gave me some info about the battery and pacing. My battery is still in what's called an "initializion mode" so I really won't know about battery life until my 6 week check in. Since I have a 2 for 1 heart block I expected my ventricular pacing to be near 100%. So I was delighted to learn that it was 79%. Granted it's only one week of data but at least it was good news. I asked if they could increase the upper limit of 140. The RN bumped it up to 145. This gives me some extra cushion for when I exercise more vigorously. I did received a monitor and it's obviously working. She (RN) told me not to worry about traveling with it if my trips were under a month. When it comes to adjusting to having a pacemaker, psychologically I'm grateful to have it. Activity-wise I'm still learning. For example, yesterday I had to climb a flight of stairs. My heart rate shot up to 125 and I was out of breath. I hope that's a reflection of having lost most of my cardio fitness and not a pacemaker issue I have to live with. If so, I have to come up with a way to walk up stairs more efficiently. Given that you're on your third pacemaker you have a lot of experience. I appreciate you sharing some of yours with me.
Ted