Battery Replacement

Having recently undergone PM implantation, I am already worrying about the battery replacment!!

Could anyone kindly explain their experience of the batteryreplacement procedure and what it entails? Is it as stressful as the PM operation? I would be very grateful to hear from you.

Thanks and best wishes
Horseride

2 Comments

easy

by Tracey_E - 2010-05-14 08:05:24

You gotta kill this battery before you need to think about a new one! :o) I always make it a game to see how many fun things I can do to kill each battery. I learned to ski and had two babies on my first one, haven't really been able to top that! I just got my 4th in January.

Replacements are much much easier than the first surgery. Unless there's a problem, they leave the leads in place and just replaced the generator (computer/battery). They go in the same place and use the same pocket, so it's all scar tissue. It's usually done outpatient and recovery is much faster, and no weight/arm lifting restrictions.

PM Replacement

by SMITTY - 2010-05-15 10:05:47


Hello Horseride,

Belows is something I posted for someone on 3-17-10 asking a quesion about getting a replacement pacemaker.

While It may be very much like getting the first PM, since you hae been through the experience and know what to expect, it is not as stressful. At least mine wasn't.

"I had my 9 year old dual lead Methodic PM replaced in
Oct '09. I had many of the same questions you do and to my pleasant surprise it was about as near nothing as any surgery can be. I went in abut 7 AM, as told, laid down and read the paper and watched TV for a couple of hours then spent the next 3 or 4 hours being prepped, which consisted mainly of getting about a quart (at least it looked like that amount) of antibiotic through an I'VE and the surgery area cleaned and cleaned real good Once that was completed I was wheeled off to the PM lab, as they call it, and spent another 30 or 40 minutes being "dressed" for the surgery.

Sometime after I got in the PM lab I received some medication to make me relax so they said, but what it did was make take a nap in about a half-sleep mode. I vaguely remember being told they were injecting a pain killer into the area where the surgery would be performed. Between 30 and 45 minutes later I was told, "okay Mr. Smith, we are through and every thing is working fine" and then I was wheeled back into a room where I had to wait for awhile to be sure I had no adverse reactions to any of the meds I had received. About 5 PM I was told I could go home. I was no more sore this time than I was with my first one, which was almost none, and healing has been no more or less a problem than the first one."

That was my experience, but since we are all different, I hope your replacement is as easy as trouble free as mine.

Good luck,

Smitty

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