Nervous

Next August it will mark 30 Years since I got my 1st PM. I am on my 4th one and it is expiring...went into ERI mode last Friday. This coming Wednesday morning I will be getting my 5th PM. I been through these surgeries before and I know what to expect. I have NEVER been awake through the whole thing. That is what they are doing this time. It is an out patient surgery as well. I have always spent 1 night then went home the very next day. I have idea what to expect with this at all. They will be giving me a sedative for the surgery. I will spend 4 hours afterwards then my husband can take me home to recuperate at home. Any advice will be appreciative at this time.

Becky

10 Comments

Hi Beckes

by IAN MC - 2013-11-22 02:11:03

I find it fascinating that you are nervous about having a local anaesthetic for a very minor procedure and then being collected by your husband rather than staying overnight,

Do you think you will feel pain ?.. because you won't !

Is hospital food better than the meal you'll get at home ? … I bet it isn't !

Interestingly I once asked a group of Dr friends " Is there any medical procedure which you feel nervous about ? " . They were unanimous in their answer .it was " having a general anaesthetic "

I believe it is very unusual to have a general anaesthetic for a PM replacement and even more unusual to have an overnight stay. Many people even have the initial PM installation , leads and all, fitted while awake and then go home the same day . I did.

n comparison having a replacement box is a piece of cake.

If you are nervous, then I guess you will remain nervous no matter what anyone says but there really is no need !

Best of luck and let us know how you get on.

Ian

awake

by Tracey_E - 2013-11-22 05:11:25

Congrats on so many years pacing! I'm on my 4th, and my last replacement was the first time they wanted me awake. I'll admit I'm a baby and fussed when they insisted that's how they wanted to do it. I told them fine, keep me awake if you have to, but I better not remember any of it! I don't know what they gave me (versed?) but I was conscious but have no memory of anything beyond chatting with the nurse who had a cool tie dye hat while we were waiting for the surgeon. Recovery was MUCH easier than after general. I was instantly awake and alert when they were done, no nausea, no grogginess the next day or so like the previous times, no sore throat from the breathing tube. It's by far the easier way to go.

I stayed overnight the first time and this last time because I got a new lead. The others were done outpatient. I was home making my own lunch, no big deal. I'd rather be in my own bed than the hospital. If they don't need to watch a new lead, there's no reason to stay.

Sparrow...

by Tattoo Man - 2013-11-22 06:11:14

....as in Tracey ..Apols..

TM

Come on Tattoo Man

by IAN MC - 2013-11-22 06:11:24

There is no pain ! I hate pain as much as anyone else !!
But THERE. IS NO PAIN !

If there is no pain why is there stress ?

You lie there,you chat to another human being , you don't feel a thing and then you go home,awake and alert ,without a hangover , ready for lunch.

I had a flu jab today ; if anything it was worse than when I had a PM fitted ; for whatever reason it hurt and I don't like things that hurt !

I'm sorry , but having nervousness , anxiety , and stress for a minor surgical procedure just does not make sense to me; I just don't get it.

How's about when you are lying there waiting for your PM, try thinking about the millions of people in the Philippines who are homeless, hungry , injured, ill, in pain without medicines and maybe alone ? Doesn't it put into perspective the obsession with self that so many of us enjoy in our comfortable Western world ?

Cheers

Ian





Come on, IAN..............

by Tattoo Man - 2013-11-22 06:11:43


...........................now I am the first to commend those who take the 'only a scratch' line when it comes to PM surgery.

I also commend the 'Electric Frank' philosophy of .." A slug of JD and give me a Bowie Knife ..and I'll do it myself"

Good for you types...

Me....sh*t scared of all the stress and , may I say , pain.

The guy with the pocket thing counting out the 19 blood soaked swabs was NOT the kind of experience that I was looking forward to when I was refused any more sedation.

This is when you enter the Bad Zone.

IAN and others ,..I am happy for your relaxed experiences.

For those about to enter the world of PM,..please dp not see my experience as normal...

Just maybe..

Beckes..this is about YOU.

SPARROW would always advise getting Knowledge..and as ever..absolutely right on the subject.

You will , ultimately, weigh things up..

My very best wishes

Tattoo Man

I too am a baby!!

by Sharron - 2013-11-22 07:11:42

I must say I can see both sides of the discussion. Slower Physical recovery from general anaesthetic (also the risk that go with a GA) or speedy physical recovery from local anaesthetic. On the flip side from my experience (so not speeking for everyone) a slower emotional recovery from local (as you can hear everything, smell everything and feel the tugging, no pain, just uncomfortable).

Me personally if I had choice would opt for GA as I am too a baby and scared every time i have to go through this procedure. my stress, anxiety levels increase and memories of previous box changes come flooding back. I live in the UK and where I have my procedure a GA or sedation has never been offered.

When my pm has been change I was only given the local anaesthetic no sedative, possibly why my anxiety has grown each time. I have had this done 3 times now and hate it.

Sorry my experiences of a box changes have not been good. Hopefully your experience will be more like Traceys, with no memory of the procedure.

If you get the option between a GA or local then do what's right for you and makes you feel more relaxed, weigh up pros and cons. As the stress can slow down the healing process as you deal with the emotional side of things.

Hope thing go well
Best wishes
Sharron

Dormecum will make you forget!

by JerryG - 2013-11-23 03:11:27

Dormecum is commonly used here in South Africa as an 'anaesthetic'. It isn't a true anaesthetic but rather a sedative which makes you forget everything that happened while you were sedated. They use it when doing a gastroscopy or a TEE (trans-esophogeal echo-cardiogram). I have had both those procedures with and without dormecum and please, use the dormecum doctor!

I was given a general with my PM implant and spent the night in ICU afterwards. I hate general anaesthetics at the best of times and ICU probably even more so I would love the option of local anaesthesia with sedation and home afterwards. Maybe my cardio knew something when he did my PM implant as the procedure took over 3 hours as he found my cephalic vein had a hairpin bend in it and the guide wire would go around the bend hence the long battle. It certainly isn't normal for the procedure to be so long.

I am sure you will be fine with the local anaesthetic and sedation with dormecum or similar.

JerryG

sedation helps

by erik - 2013-11-23 08:11:11

I had my first PM put in yesterday as you'll see above. Local + sedative, discharged the same day, and it was simpler and smoother than I thought it'd be. Some tugging and pushing but no pain. The sedation relaxes you. They'll ask you how you're doing and you can ask for more sedation if you want. It really is nicer to go back home to your own food and your own bed than to stay overnight in the hospital.

IAN MC...............

by Tattoo Man - 2013-11-24 04:11:59


...............Mrs TM and I are just back from a wonderful w/end in Halifax, UK, where we enjoyed Doctor Who Global 3D................marvellous !


IAN MC..., ever my ' Old Mate'in PMC..................

Let no person see that electing to have a General Anaesthetic be seen as , somehow ...weak...weedy..needy....feeble, and generally not part of the Big PMC Tough Guy Gang.......

Me.....just your ordinary ..63 year old , daily cross country runner.

Yup....6 miles through S**T

That's what marks me out as a weakling


................................Spool back

............................Routine blood samples, taken, but yards from my Prof of Cardiology..

after..about 30 seconds , I am yawning..and the sweat soaks the sheets as I pass out out.

CRASH come in

Pre Box Rip out...."Like a drink of water ?"...


Seconds later..."I am going"

All of the Glenfield Crash Team were with me....

There am I,..soaked with the cup of water that I threw over myself..bizarrely feeling ok.

Crash Team go back to their jobs..

IAN

Do I really make this stuff up..?

To wake up, seconds later, soaked in much more than the paper cup of water is, believe me,..not a place that a , so called sportsperson wishes to be seen in

IAN

I am glad that you have good PM experiences..

For me..I only see dread and resignation..

Tat Man...ever your pal




High tolerance for pain

by Beckes76 - 2013-11-25 07:11:11

I have high tolerance for pain...but I still don't like being in pain. The reason why I am nervous about this one...is that I don't like not knowing what it is going to be like. I know I will be fine a lot of people have wondered why I will be at home and not at the hospital that night. Which is kind of cool to think about. I do live about an hour away from the hospital that will be doing to procedure. I do have a hospital right down the street from me. Don't trust that hospital at all. I will keep everybody up dated when I get home and feel better.

Becky

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