Replacement Surgery

Hi all...I am 31 years old and have had my pacemaker since I was 23. I am scheduling my first replacement and had some questions. Because I was so young when I first got the pacemaker, they placed it on the side under my chest wall where it was more cosmetic. I also have a faulty lead that they want to replace (the lower chamber). How bad is this surgery going to be in relation to the first one? It sounds like the lead replacement is tough? Is it a much bigger deal because of where the pacemaker is located? Answers and advice would be greatly appreciated:)

3 Comments

Recovery

by wolf13a - 2009-07-21 11:07:16

As well, I just had a baby two months ago and I'm wondering about how difficult it's going to be to care for him after the surgery. I'm pretty nervous about the whole thing...

LEAD

by pete - 2009-07-22 03:07:15

Hi I would not use the word tough. They can leave the old lead in place if it will not extract and put in another one. If they cannot put another lead down the same route then a new route will be chosen. Having a pacemaker removed is a lot easier than open heart surgery. Your replacement will be slightly more difficult but I expect the doctors are looking forward to a bit of variety. I am confident that you will be OK. Please put up another post detailing how you got on. Cheers Peter

not bad

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-22 05:07:12

Replacement with a new lead will be a repeat of your first surgery. I'm not familiar with placement under the chest wall so I can't comment on that. I don't have an ordinary placement either, mine is put in from the side and buried behind the breast. I've had 3 replacements now and they were just an easier repeat of the first surgery because they're going through scar tissue. I was sore for the first few days but nothing Tylenol couldn't take care of.

My girls were 1 and 2 when I had my first battery replacement. My mom kept them for the first two days so I could take it easy, I was fine on my own after that. I could have handled them myself but my mom never misses a chance to get her grandbabies! With the new lead, you may need a bit of help. You aren't going to feel that bad but lifting will be a problem. We're not supposed to raise the left arm above shoulder level or lift weight on the left side for the first 4-6 weeks after getting a new lead, so getting baby in and out of cribs and car seats becomes a bit of a challenge.

Question for your doc, can the new lead be postponed? Reason I'm asking is I have a bad lead also, started having problems with it 6 or 7 years ago. It still works, it's just killing the battery faster. They left it up to me, I chose to keep it and put off the lead replacement. More frequent battery replacements don't bother me because they're very easy. It's gotten a bit worse in the last 6 mos so I've decided to get it replaced next time. Just a thought! I figured the older my kids were, the easier it would be when I had the more involved surgery, and technology gets better every year.

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