Replacement soon

Hi all.

This is my first time here. I had a dual chamber, rate responsive pacemaker implanted in 1997 (at age 19) and it is time to have it replaced. But, as far as I can tell (I'll know more next month) my leads do not need to be replaced.

I was told at the time that most people go back to work within a few days after having their pacemaker implanted. However, my first surgery kept me in quite a bit of pain for 2 months and I had a very hard time moving my left arm afterwards. It wasn't a great experience for me and my body healed very slowly.

I'm wondering if those of you that had similar issues after the first surgery also felt the same after the replacement. I'm trying to figure out what to expect and how much time off work I might need.

Thanks!

3 Comments

much easier

by Tracey_E - 2010-03-22 04:03:27

You won't have new leads to worry about dislodging, and they will go in the same place and use the same pocket, which means it's mostly scar tissue. You shouldn't have any issues with your left arm this time and the soreness should go away a lot more quickly. If my first one was a 10, replacement was a 5 for the first day or two, then a 3. Good luck!

should be fine

by Hot Heart - 2010-03-22 05:03:03

most of the pain and probs would have been to do with the leads so as Tracey says it should be sore for a day or so where the pm is replaced but hopefully there should be no more probs

Had mine replaced 2/23

by MSPACER - 2010-03-22 09:03:59

Hi

I had my first replacement on 2/23. I had much less pain than the first implant, but I still had a lot of pain the first two days, especially when sleeping. I went back to work on day three which was a Thursday, but I felt bad, and ended up staying home on Friday. By Monday I was feeling a lot better. So it took about a week to feel better.

I was really surprised at how quickly the replacement surgery was. The most pain that I had was when the nurse injected the antibiotic into the IV line. My veins were burning, but that was the worst part. I felt a few pin pricks with the local anesthetic, and then I was in a light sleep, so I did not feel anything, although I heard everyone talking.

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