Newly implanted

Hello,
I have only had a pacemaker/defibullator for a month. It has been complication after complication for me. The first night after implanting I awoke with horrible chest pain. Atrial lead had come loose. Back to surgery to reattach it. Then I was having just hard heartbeats, jogging my entire chest, hard enough to shake our whole bed and scare the heck out of my husband. The left side lead was charging my frenetic nerve as well as my heart causing diaphram spasms. Last Friday they had to shut off that lead. On the 11th I will have epicardial placement of that 3rd lead. I am frightened. Dr. said, "It is a painful procedure." What does that mean? Does anyone know? Is it it more painful that having a chunk of your tongue the size of the dr.'s thumb removed? (Had tongue cancer.)
I taken completely by surprise to find out 2 mos. ago I had a heart problem. Seems like things went so fast. I don't think I've had a chance to process it all yet. Thanks for giving me an opportunity to yak about it all a little. Susan N.

2 Comments

Epicardial leads

by golden_snitch - 2010-02-04 12:02:26

Hey Susan,

I have had two epicardial leads placed, one on the left ventricle and one on the left atrium. It's done under general anaesthesia but is minimal-invasive which means they won't open your sternum. They will use a so-called mini-thoracotomy most likely below your left breast between two ribs. My incision is about four centimetres. The leads are tunneled under my left breast up to the pacer pocket. So, of course, they will have to open your pacer pocket again to attach the newly placed lead to the pacer unit. Yes, it can hurt bad afterwards because for these mini-thoracotomies they need to cut through the muscle, and that always hurts more. But you should be fine with painkillers.

Hope this helps a bit. There is a picture (x-ray) in the member gallery if you would like to see how my epicardial leads are placed.

Best wishes
Inga

Epicardial leads

by 19SRN52 - 2010-02-08 01:02:22

Thank you Inga. I looked at your x-ray. Looks like your pacemaker is lower in your body than mine. Mine is right up by my collarbone on the left side. Susan

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Life does not stop with a pacemaker, even though it caught me off guard.