Mishawaka couple do things together — including getting pacemakers

MISHAWAKA — Arthur and Lois Pawlowski have done a lot of things together during their 62 years of marriage. So it was not surprising Lois would want to be with her husband when he went to Saint Joseph Regional Medical Center in Mishawaka this week to receive a pacemaker. Little did Lois, 80, know she would require a pacemaker as well. “My daughter came over and we were going to be with him until he went in for surgery,” Lois said of the events earlier this week. “I was sitting in a chair when I started to feel warm.” Arthur, 83, noticed that something appeared to be wrong with his wife. “Art said to me, ‘Did you get any sleep last night,’ ” Lois said. Arthur, and the couple’s daughter, Pam Pawlowski, saw something was wrong when Lois tried to answer. “I garbled something back to him, but I wasn’t making sense,” Lois said. Pam went to get help for her mother, who momentarily lost consciousness. The hospital’s medical staff rushed to help Lois, who had regained consciousness shortly after blacking out. Pam said when she returned, her mother was trying to tell the medical staff what happened. However, the physicians who helped Lois decided she needed a pacemaker as well. Pam said neither one of her parents have had major medical issues, though Lois did admit she had been feeling lightheaded recently. Arthur and Lois Pawlowski received the pacemakers and both were discharged from the hospital earlier this week. Lois said plenty of people made note of the coincidence she and her husband got the pacemakers at the same. “The staff kind of kidded them about the doctors having a two for one sale on pacemakers,” Pam said. Lois said the fact the dual operations took place a few days before St. Valentine’s Day is a coincidence. Still, Pam said the timing makes her realize what her parents mean to her — and what they mean to each other.