Most Recent Messages in Surgery & Recovery

sudden cardiac death and medications

i now am considered pacemaker dependent after having what was a third degree block incident while I was in the hospital for a C-diff stomach infection caused by taking ciprofloxacn 500 mg for a kidney infection. thank God I was in the hospital because if I had been any where else I would have died forever instead of temporarily.My heart just stopped. I was paced externally for 4.5 hours waiting for an operating room as I had v/tech during that time and they could only keep me alive by doing tha...

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Why am I not feeling better!

It has been 2 months since my implant and other than the actual fainting part, I have seen no change in my condition. I still have episodes almost weekly and sometimes several times a day where I get dizzy and feel like I am going to pass out. My doctor is telling me that he thinks it is just post tramatic stress from almost dying and having to have emergency surgery to install the pacemaker. I think it is BUNK! This is the same man who told me that the several similar episodes before havin...

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Feeling great.

Hello to my new friends,

This is Daniel.

It has been 15 days since I had my defibrillator put in and I feel great. Thank you so much for your encouragement, without it I would still be at risk of dropping dead at any time! I had some pain for the first week, but that has mostly gone away. I was able to sleep on my side after 5 or 6 days. This was a big worry for me as I hate sleeping on my back!. I can hardly feel the ICD anymore. I know that it will take time to recover,...

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Feeling great.

Hello to my new friends,

This is Daniel.

It has been 15 days since I had my defibrillator put in and I feel great. Thank you so much for your encouragement, without it I would still be at risk of dropping dead at any time! I had some pain for the first week, but that has mostly gone away. I was able to sleep on my side after 5 or 6 days. This was a big worry for me as I hate sleeping on my back!. I can hardly feel the ICD anymore. I know that it will take time to recover,...

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Arrhythmias after pacemaker implanted

My mother had a pacemaker put in 5 days ago. She's still in hospital and while I was visiting she became a bit weak with high BP but then everything settled down. A nurse told me that last night she had 2 arrhythmias which shouldn't happen after pacemaker surgery.

This morning a doctor asked if she felt strange during the night last night and Mom said she didn't feel anything because she was sleeping. The doctor said she might need an adjustment on her pacemaker.

Is it norm...

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new pacemaker

I had my pacemaker installed 2 weeks ago i am doing good BP and heart rate is up thats a good thing it is hard to sleep on my side but i will learn to deal with it the DR sead i can go back to work in 4 weeks i hope so

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3 months later

I had gotten my pacemaker 3 months ago & I still feel like crap for the most part.  I have new symptoms I never had prior to pacemaker like a heaviness in my upper chest & I get lightheaded & weak feeling.  I still have yet to get my life back to the way it was, at least to a extent I miss being able to go here & there without worrying if I am going to get lightheaded & dizzy, any help would be greatly appreciated ty fred

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Pacemaker Placement

Im Matt,18 years old and expecting a pacemaker soon. I have been diagnosed with Complete Heart Block since the age of two, but I have never slowed down with sports. I have been playing baseball, football, basketball, hockey and most importantly rugby. But I am aware that getting a pacemaker may have me stop playing contact sports because I may damage it. I read an article a few months ago about a European rugby player having to get a pacemaker, and getting it put under his chest muscle so it...

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8 weeks since implant - NMH

Hey I'm Sarah! I am 16, from Australia and I have NMH (neurally mediated hypotension) After being mistreated for a few years, we eventually saw a smart cardiologist who gave me the pacemaker. My scar got a golden staf infection, twice, and the sutures pushed themselves out, I can now sleep comfortably, and my pacemaker is awesome! The settings aren't right yet, but they will be fixed soon, just have to wait a bit longer : ) My scar is looking nice, healed up nicely after the sutures are now gone...

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Doing Well

Hello to my new friends,

This is Daniel. After all of your help and encouragement, I had my defibrillator put in on 4/20. Everything went well. I did have a hard time sleeping for about 5 days, but now have no problem sleeping on my side or stomach. Oh happy days!! Still careful though, don't want to pull out the lead. See my Doctor on 5/13. I do have a question. About how long will it take to get used to the tightness where the ICD was put in? I'm assuming that it will mostly go away...

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Subpectoral Pacer placement / recovery

Please see my response under Gigi-c's post about this issue. There seems to be quite a few of ya'll wanting answers about this topic. I replied with a lengthy answer, but also wanted to make sure that you saw it.
I've had 4 pacer surgeries in just a year and a half, my last one just 2 months ago being moving my pacemaker under my pectoral muscle.

I'll be happy to answer any questions that I can, and hopefully lessen some of your anxieties about this approach.

Read the...

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Pocke Revision under/thru muscle

Hello,
I am so glad I found this group… My question is...

Has anyone had there PM put in under the muscle? I had a PM put in in Sept 2009 and have had a lot of pain with it. I finally got a referral to a new specialist and he wants to do a pocket revision on Monday. He said he is going to cut my muscle and place the PM in that way. He said I am to thin for it to be so close to the surface. My old pacer was put in as an emergency procedure, I went in for a Tilt Table test and my...

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Up and about.

Hello to my new friends.

I went into the hospital Tuesday and had my new "best friend" put in. They released me today, Wednesday. It feels funny under there and then naturally the pain and discomfort goes with it. But I'm happy I got it done, thanks to the encouragement of all of you. Now I can't wait for it to heal up so that I can improve my sleeping habits. Then I'll see if I get a jolt from those evil slot machines, ha! Once again thank you for all of your input, advice and prayer...

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The cost of a 3 hour stay....

Hi folks,

Today I received a rundown from the hospital where I had my pacemaker implanted. It was itemized. The grand total for my short stay in the hospital was a grand total of just over $35,000! That does not include the pacemaker, my cardiologist, the EP, or the after care. That was just for the hospital! That is $11,666 dollars per hour. Good grief, not that I'm not worth it but good heavens that is a lot of money!

PG

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Bruising

I had my PM installed last Thursday, 4/15 (tax day) and the bruising on the PM side of my chest (left side) is extensive. I am black & blue from the upper part of my left arm to the top of my stomach. I expected some bruising from what the doctor said but this seems to be excessive. The bruising and its associated pain is my main issue. Although I seem to feel better each day, seems like the bruising is slowly expanding. Is this normal?

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Sleeping and Pain

Hi there, hope this finds everyone pretty well. I just got back from my monthly internist check and questioned her about the shoulder pain and pain around the pacemaker. She did a cardiogram to make sure everything was okay and it was. Heart rate was good at 70 and everything else looked great.

She said I have a partially frozen shoulder, but physical therapy won't be good for me right now because of my fibromyalgia. She also said that she thinks that the pain I am experiencing is th...

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My 82 year old Dad - what to expect / complication

Hello, I'm new here. My 82 year old dad has a long history of heart issues. Had bypass surgery 27 years ago, and a quad bypass almost 2 years ago. He's been complaining of tiredness and short breath for the last few years. After a recent hospitalization and performing lots of tests, it was decided to do the pacemaker (dual chamber). He's being released today, but has to go back in a week to make sure "it's in place" and if not, it will have to be redone. It's not even 48 hours since the pr...

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Still No Energy

Hi all. This is my first post here and it's not for me but for my godmother who had a pacemaker fitted about a fortunight ago after several heart failures. One of the valves of her heart wasn't working (she doesn't know which one) and the pump wasn't working. I think she expected a return of energy after the surgery but she has no energy at all and says she is worse than she was before the surgery. She complains of NO other symptoms such as chest pains or dizziness but she has no strength in...

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Update and a question

Hey everyone! Surgery went well I guess on Friday. I would have to say it was probably one of the longest 2 hours of my life in surgery itself. The "happy juice" you all spoke of was not all that happy inducing and certainly wasn't enough of it...apparently my blood pressure wasn't satisfactory enough to warrant giving me more when it started to wear off...so needless to say I was extremely tense throughout the surgery. But despite not having the blood vessel that they normally insert one of the...

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in need of reassurance....

hi everyone! so my battery was low and i had my 1st replacement surgery 5 days ago. i'm doing good and the pain isn't too bad anymore, it's more of a tight feeling with the muscles now especially when i stand or walk around.

a week before my surgery i caught a cold and i still sneeze every now and then and i have an annoying lingering cough, it's not a bad cough but i'm nervous that it's going to do something to my incision or it's gonna make my device or leads dislodge, move or beco...

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You know you're wired when...

Your electric tooth brush interferes with your device.

Member Quotes

I have an ICD which is both a pacer/defib. I have no problems with mine and it has saved my life.