TRACEY....PM surgery site?

My EP plans to put it in under my breast...he did mention going in from the side or the top.....I thought the side might hurt more and get in the way of an underwire......he said it was up to me.

ANY thoughts as to which might be better? The EP doesn't seem to care which I chose.

Is your in your abdomen? Hmmm....not sure which would be best.

Thank you, Holly

4 Comments

PM Surgery Site

by chillks - 2008-07-23 04:07:32

They put mine in right under my collarbone and above the breast...the only problem is straps hurt but I am just
4 weeks from surgery. Underwires would irritate I am afraid, but so do the straps. I bought the comfortHer but so far just wearing strapless in bras and swimsuit tops. Good luck to you and yell if you have any questions or concerns.

buried!

by Tracey_E - 2008-07-23 05:07:56

There are advantages and disadvantages to any location. If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it exactly the same way! I have no regrets whatsoever. Mine is literally under the breast tissue, the bottom of it is an inch or so above the nipple. I can barely feel the edges if I poke around looking for it. Even my doctor looks at me and can't find it, lol, I have to remind him where it is. (I have a cardiac surgeon, he didn't do the implants himself) I can carry a heavy backpack, lift weights, wear a strapless dress, it's nowhere close to the seatbelt and I breastfed two babies.

I have an itty bitty scar you can barely see from the leads, in the same place as a traditional subclavical insertion.

The one for the pacer itself is kinda big, probably 3" long, maybe a bit more, but I don't wear string bikinis or skimpy halters so it never shows.

The downside is I have a lot of scar tissue in my breast. They had to tunnel through from the pocket they made for the pulse generator to the place where they inserted the leads. That's why I had a general instead of a local. They talked about doing it with a local anyway but I'm really squeamish so they didn't argue when I asked to sleep through it.

All that burying means a longer recovery time, but it's not bad at all. It took 6-8 weeks before I could do a regular workout with weights (I started walking by day 2 or 3). I wore shirts that button up the front for the first week or so because it pulled to put my arms high enough to pull a shirt over my head, then I switched to those tank tops with the built in shelf bra. I could wear a soft bra after a month or so, it was probably two months before I was wearing an underwire again.

Everything healed faster with battery replacements, they go in the same spot so it's more or less numb. Piece of cake! And they don't usually need to redo the leads, with a little luck one will last you forever.

Wear a loose blouse when you go for the surgery, not anything you'd have to pull over your head. Regardless where they put it, you aren't going to want to move your left arm much for the first day.

What about mammograms?

by mtibben - 2008-07-24 04:07:33

If they place the pm under the breast, would it cause problems when you need to go have a mammo done?

That would be my only concern. I had my pm placed on the left side just about the breast. Since I am very skinny it does show a little, but I am proud to wear it because in the long run I will live longer with it. Mine was implanted on 6/4/08.

Good luck.

mammo's are fine

by Tracey_E - 2008-07-24 08:07:07

I've had two mammograms since I got it, no problems whatsoever. The first time I went, they did a quick scan first so they knew where the wires are before they did the full squish. The technician was more worried about hurting me than dislodging wires but it's not sensitive at all and my wires survived. I go back to the same place so they have my records in front of them.

It glows in the dark, I get a kick out of seeing it on the xray, lol.

You know you're wired when...

You forecast electrical storms better than the weather network.

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