Musings of PM Change

• by failed ablation
• 2009-01-13 09:01:27
• General Posting
• 901 views
• 0 comments

Greetings to all of you electrifying folks! Sorry, that was really bad! Last Thursday I had my first PM change. This is what I learned:
1. I'm glad my device quit in January as it is easier to forgo my usual grooming activities, ie showering.
2. I cried like a baby during the procedure. I was all sedated and comfortable when ZAP - I feel something totally painful at my incision site. "Doctor, she's crying" "Raise the amount of ..." whatever it was. It's always shocking to me to experience pain in the hospital whilst in the care of a team of people working on you!!
3. The Dr. gave me a slightly bigger PM that may last 13 years, as he doesn't like to have "the young people come back sooner than necessary"!! haha!! That alone was worth the price of admission. (I'm 54)
4. The echo test they did prior to surgery shows "the estimated LV ejection fraction is 40%". Apparently, whatever this is, is supposed to be 50-60%. This indicates a weaker heart muscle due to becoming lazy as the PM is doing part of the work. Dr. mentioned a 3rd lead to close the gap of pacing may be something they do in the future after more testing.
5. Keep all pertinent discharge instructions together so I don't write an unnecessary message to the Pacemaker Club - though I have enjoyed reading and appreciate all the input of you good folks.
6. I will miss my husband treating me like an invalid.
Thanks for listening!