Hmmm...today is my day for self pity. It was 3 weeks yesterday, my energy level is a bit better but what the hell does it matter? It hurts so bad today, feels like my skin is being ripped apart. I lubed it up well with Vitamin E & emu oil, that helped with the tight feeling on the surface, but every time I move my arm it feels as if my chest is going to rip open.

I wanted to go out last night, but I am sure it is a bad idea. I hate the bar scene anyway so it is really a mind boggling thing to be pouty about. My problems are all electrical, structurally my heart is perfect...but drinking dehydrates & in turn makes the block more pertinent the next day.
It has been 3 weeks!

Also. I hate feeling the PM work. It f...

 

Hi Friends, I have a broken lead (ventricle) and a pacer change scheduled for Friday. Can anyone tell me what to expect?
Thanks

 

My PM went in on the 23rd. It will be 3 weeks on Tuesday. I am having some pretty intense pain on the inside where the leads attach to the PM. I am farely thin & you can see the bumps where they attach. It is a constant 3 on the pain scale that jumps to a 6 or a 7 when I move sometimes or when it is bumped. There is no swelling, redness, pus, or anything that would show signs of infection. It is just very tender on the inside, and only on the edge where the leads attach to the PM, the rest of it is fine. Hardly any pain at all. It has been this was for 2 or 3 days, should I be concerned or is it a normal part of the healing process? Thanks! =)
Jessi

 

Has anyone researched the average # of years patients live post surgical implant? Tried to access via the net and so far see between 3 to 8 years average for defib's.
Is there anyone out there that has a defib who has survived past 10 years? thanks M

 

So I just had my PM implanted 2 days ago, and I am feeling a variety of things, excited that I may finaly havea normal life again, overwhelmed, I have 2 lil ones that are not cooperating and hubby works a lot and i am in pain, I have lots of questions, no answers, scared, uhmm lots of things. I was diagnosed with bradycardia back in June, but my card. seems to think I have had this probelm for a few yrs. I would drop down to the low 40's even 30's at times, pass out in strange places, very lathargic, it was hard to breath all the time, and ohh all sorts of things... the thing that bothered me the most was the light headedness...when my BP dropped. I dont know what to think at this point, excpet this could have save my life, and QUESTION...

 

My pacemaker was implanted October, 2009. Where the pacemaker was implanted, the skin/tissue is now raised along
that wound. It still itches a lot and often. Is there anything that will calm the itching? Otherwise, I am fine. Also, In April, I go in for my 6 months checkup. I am going in because when I had my 2 weeks check-up, the PM was fine. The clinician said she would send me out an instrument for monitoring so I would send my report in, via the instrument, in six months. She showed me how to operate it in the office in November, 2009, I have not received it, and I am not sure that I will remember the steps for operating the machine. It's probably simple. I think I would rather go to the office for checkups, checkups v...

 

Ok...surgery was Feb 8th and I have been doing so much better. I notice last night that the bottom of my incision is red again...and now this morning it looks like its abcessed???? I also still have a dissolvable (NOT) stitch sticking out at the top, but its not red????

Andrea

 

Hi, I have a new pacemaker; installed two weeks ago and went for my first checkup this week. The bandage is off, and now that it is, the incision site hurts. It hurts a lot. Anything touching the incision is too much! The area was not raised when the bandage came off, but it is now, right along the "seam." I'm still getting twinges in my heart and back, same as before the surgery. And I am still short of breath. I thought this was suppose to make me feel better? I'm wondering, How Long? The pacemaker is dual lead, Boston Scientific.

 

Hi out there. Just came home from my 3rd PM surgery since 12-28-09. I've posted on here since then regarding pain that I was experiencing. After having pain since the original surgery, second to reattach leads, and having consulted with my cardiologist we decided it best to go back in to see what was up. The only thing he could think of before this was that the stitches where attatched to the muscles and/or nerve tissue were pulling and thus causing the pain. He took out the PM repositioned the leads (not into the heart though) and then put everything back together again. The procedure took two hours --longer than the two previous implants. I am hoping that this will solve my pain problems.

Wish me luck. Thanks for al...

 

Watchya pacers!

Slightly sore chippy here, other than that feeling good. Wish you could all have the consultant that i've had....lovely guy. Brand spanking new guidant dual pm is now my new best friend....feel lucky to of come through the proceedure so much better than last time.Love to all ...never forgetting to thankyou....a chippier chippy signing outxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
And no i'm not on the loopy juice tonight. ....Had fun whilst having pm inserted though (in between the ows and the 'that hurts') was nicely medicated up with medazalam.....aparently i asked to run off with cardiologist and anaethetist!!!
All in all surreal experience.....all i needed was flares and a peace medalion.....lol
Hey ho back to...

 

So it is now a little past one month from having my implant for 2nd degree AV block and bradycardia. So far, so good.

I am still having problems sleeping because of numbness in top of arm and side of breast. Doctor thinks it will just take some time to slowly go away. I also still have some bouts of dizziness/lightneadiness and my internist said that it may take the circulatory system a bit longer to get used to the pacemaker working. I am pacing 50% of the time, so I guess I just have to be patient.

Because I have fibromyalgia, I need to think about how I feel every day and compare it to the way I felt before pacemaker. The fibro does cause dizziness/lightheadiness and alot of pain. So when I get more pain in my sur...

 

My pm went in on the 23rd of February for a 2nd degree heart block & bradycardia. They also did an EP study, hoping for another ablation for my tachy, but weren't able to find the source. I am healing up well & recovery has been pretty good. I have 2 questions, though...

1st one~ It is still very hard to sleep...I end up on my left side or stomach multiple times a night-even with the giant pillow nest I create. Ideas? Tips? I am bruised again today, my bruise was a dime sized yellow spot & today...after sleeping on the darn thing over & over again, I am more bruised! I was thinking of sleeping on the couch tonight, but it seems lonely. Ideas would be invaluable!

2nd question~I had tachycardia prior to the pm implant,...

 

I am 35 years old. I had open heart surger for atrial septal defect repair when I was 5. I was fine until 2006. Then I passed out and found out that I had bradycardia of 20 to 30 bpm. So I got a normal pacemaker implanted. I have since had 6 ablations for tachycardia and my pacemakers leads are not working properly. All of my ablations were a failure. None of them seemed to help my atrial tachycaridas. Now I went in for another check up and my doctor wants to extract my leads, put in a biventricular pacemaker, and ablate my av node. I am wondering if anyone can help me decide if this is the right thing to do. I need so advice. Medication doesn't help and the 6 ablations I have had were unsuccessful. Please if anyone could give me their opi...

 

Hi All,
Just wanted to let you all know I just got to come home on my new IV friend. I will give you more of a update on my stay when I have a lot more of energy.

Love and Blessings,
Tammy

 

My surgery is April 1st, and I have a few questions that I'm hoping some of you can answer. My doctor tells me that it will only take me a week to a week and a half to recuperate. Is this the normal amount of time it takes to recover? She also told me I can't raise my arm on the side they do it on for 6 weeks. Is this to do everything (wash my hair, dry my hair, sleep)? I'm sure it is, but that seems really hard! I read somewhere that you are awake during surgery. Is this true? That freaks me out!!! Also, my doctor said they would put it in more on my side and under the breast muscle (I'm 27). How long is the scar? Thanks to anyone who has some answers. :)

 

I had my Medtronic PM implanted on 1-18-2010. Diagnosis was 3rd degree Heart Block. Overall things have been going pretty well although 1 week after surgery I had to make a mad dash to the clinic because my heart rate jumped to 130-140 and I was short of breath. That was resolved with a little adjustment of my PM and an addition of a beta blocker. For the past two days I have been experiencing an irregular heartbeat, that when I can feel it, causes me to cough. I have placed a call to the Dr. yesterday but have not heard back yet. I am not having any chest pai, but am feeling some weakness. I have noticed when I get up and walk around my heart rate goes up to 90-110 bpm. I have a strange sensation, maybe like heart fluttering. I can d...

 

Hope everyone had a great day!

If its raining and you cant get out and walk....go to www.exercisetv.tv then type in heart rehab in the search box...then, you can walk 1,2 or 3 miles infront of your computer. FUN??? Maybe not, but at least we are getting the heart pumping.

My Dad got me medical id's from Laurens Hope and Road ID...but a site called ResueMeIDs.com has the plaques and they are easier to read than the Laurens Hope ones...also, for the ladies, you can go to Lifeway, Cracker Barrel, or Stein Mart and get the Swap Watch Bracelet and its WAY easier to put on and the whole thing would cost ya $28....instead of $80!

My only complaint for the day...my ICD is still moving up and to the left! I pra...

 

Hello to all,

Just thought i would post to say i am having new pm next tues..with second lead....agghhh....very positive it will be fine.xxxxxxxxxxxx best of british to all Chippy22

 

Hello all...

I had my pacemaker implanted on the 23rd of February. I was diagnosed with tachycardia, bradycardia, & a 2nd degree av block. It has surely been an interesting experience. They did an EP study at the same time, they were hoping that they would be able to cause my heart to be tachycardic & ablate the cause. No such luck. =(

They were unable to sedate me, I would doze for 2 or 3 minutes, be groggy for 10 or so then be awake until they gave me more sedatives. It was crazy. The doctors & hospital staff were all amazing, there was no fear at any point. Even when things went a different direction than desired they were calm & put my mind at ease immediately!

They put in a Medtronic dual...

 

I have had my pacemaker for two months now and everything is going good with the PM itself. I did have quite a bit of pain after the surgery. Now I have pain above the site which I am presuming are the muscles healing. It also burns in that area. Also, I can feel discomfort around the complete circumference of the pacemaker. I was wondering if this is a "normal" situation which has been experienced by other members of this bionic club? Any comments??? Thanks!

Timberhitch