Result of 10/14/25 visit with cardio surgeon. Medicare will do nothing for a heart that drops from 84 bpm to 60, every time my respiration gets above 40 cpm. Pulse should go to 120 or 132 or 144, but since ablation surgery during aerobic exercise the heart skips every other beat. But the implanted monitor caught the heart skip one beat out of 4 while I was running a chainsaw, dropping from 84 to 60. That he thinks Medicare will pay for. Running a chain saw is not real hard work and probably worthy of 96 bpm. Surgeon has also found, in addition to the Biotronik Edora pacemaker recommended above that "has closed loop modeling" (?) a pacemaker that has an accelerometer to detect exercise, then a pacemaker that detects respiriatory resistance, and when the breath speeds up, it speeds the heart up. I want one of the last kind. My respiration has hit 90 cpm sometimes when I tried to run the string trimmer or walk fast with a grocery cart. The heart monitor also recorded some A-something beats, for which he wants to prescribe metoprole ( which cuts heart ejection force) and flexipon or somethng that sounds like that. After I get the pacemaker. He says these drugs have the risk of making the heart not beat at all, so the pacemaker comes first. I'm tentatively scheduled for pacemaker installation the end of next week, if Medicare approves it. If not, I will pay cash next year, as buying the F150 for cash maxed out my RMD's this year, and any further retirement fund withdrawals incur a 100% income tax. One year my income was up $20000 due to termination & payout of 2 mutual funds. My fed income tax went from $2200 usual to $14000. SSI became 100% taxable instead of 38%, and I had to pay Alternative Minimum tax too, so my standard deduction was wiped out. Guess which promise did not get enacted in the "Big Beautiful Bill". Social Security is still taxable at the same sliding scale as before. So surgery may happen right before the weather goes to ****. At least maybe I can ride the exercycle this winter. The accelerometer equipped pacemaker would pick up nothing on the exercycle. Men exercising are supposed to play basketball, tennis, handball, or jog I suppose. My knees were too damaged by the US Army for even fast walking. .
