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

 

Ok...I'm 3 weeks post op on my 1st ICD. I now have 3 dissolvable stitches coming up...which is not a big deal, but....the bottom one now is looking red. The incision was doing great, but now is starting to hurt in several places. It also has a couple of small knots under where the stitches are coming up??? I had staples on the outside and those were removed 8 days post op.

I do have to say....I CAN now sleep laying down and the pocket pain is SO much better. PRAISE the LoRD! I have actually laid all the way down for 2 nights now!!!! I also walked 1 1/2 miles today and felt almost normal afterwards.

I pray everyone is getting better! Remember to walk for your heart....wether you want to or not!!

Andr...

 

Hi all,
Tomorrow is surgery 2 I just continue to ask for your prayers. Tomorrow a pacer will be placed on my right side. Please continue to pray that I will heal well from all of this. Thanks so much.
I wish I had more energy to write more but i'm lacking on that part. I appreciate all of you and love you guys.

Love,
Tammy

 

Hi all,
Tomorrow is surgery 2 I just continue to ask for your prayers. Tomorrow a pacer will be placed on my right side. Please continue to pray that I will heal well from all of this. Thanks so much.
I wish I had more energy to write more but i'm lacking on that part. I appreciate all of you and love you guys.

Love,
Tammy

 

Hi, I just found this website and am thrilled to see that there are others here for support. I just had a pacemaker put it after finding out I had a high level AV block in my heart. I am only 41, the mother of 3 girls, and am having a hard time accepting that I now must live with this device in me. I'm 3 days post-surgery and am still feeling very, very tired. Is this normal?

 

Hi all this is me Tammy. I wanted to thank each of you so far for the thoughts and prayers. They have meant so much to me. I feel horrible but am not complaining too much. I am taking ever drug that I can but not too much to keep my heart beating for a couple days until pm 3 can be placed.
Surgery today went well my leads came out easier than planned and so did the pacer. The infection was resting on the inside stitches which really confuses me b/c they couldn't have been sanitary going in.
I am getting the new wireless addict from St. Jude I won that debate with my Dr. and it was the first time he had ever been questioned I did my research and called both companies and sat down for a hour talking to him him prior to goin...

 

i just had a cardioversion done 1 day ago and they put me on bisoprolol fumarate but i woke up feeling flushed my face was warm and neck is that just a side affect?
also can any1 tell me some side affects?
and I wanted to know about drinking Lager shandys and the occasional Cigarette? thanx

 

I went to my new EP and cardiologist today. I have been doing so much better since they implanted a dual lead pacemaker (my second in 6 months time.) I had the EP turn off the rate response as the roads here in PA have been making me sick while I am in the car either driving or riding. I will have to see how that goes. I will be heading back to work in 2 weeks, looking forward to getting back to normal life. I no longer get the migraine headaches that the atrial lead pacemaker was giving me. I was popping 3-4 Tramadol or Fiorcet pills a day trying to make them go away, but it never worked, and also taking Xanax and an anti-depressant. Now, in the past month I have not taken any migraine pills, anti-depressants, or any anxiety pills ...

 

Hi all, Thought I would let you know what my afternoon is going to be like. I will be having surgery today around one or so. They will be removing pacermaker and leads. For the next two days I will not have a a pacermaker on which is pretty insane. I will have the pads hooked up at all times incase they have to shock me. This is to help the infection to heal more and then Fri I will go back in and have pacer placed on opposite side.
So say some prayers and I will keep you posted as I can.

Tammy