Battery change after 7 years

Have you had a battery change? How does it feel?

5 Comments

easy

by Tracey_E - 2011-06-28 07:06:57

I've had 4. As long as your leads are in good shape, all they do is change out the lead generator. They go in the same place so it's all scar tissue, quick and easy. We don't have any of the restrictions we did the first time, that was all to baby the leads, it's just a matter of the incision healing.

battery change

by relax221 - 2011-06-28 11:06:48

went in at 9:30 am and walked out at 4pm.had a great meal when I got home.No Pain ..the stuff they gave me was the stuff they give you for a coclonoscopy PIECE OF CAKE

Easier than original implantation

by jenny97 - 2011-06-29 12:06:24

I just had my first pm replaced a year ago and was nervous. I am a bit complicated, so surgery is always risky. I had a few problems with wound healing afterwards, but it was still a much easier (and quicker) recovery than original implantation.

No problem

by ElectricFrank - 2011-06-29 12:06:55

Quick as outpatient. In fact I chose to avoid even the sedative meds and just had it done with local injections around the site. Actually, easier than having a dental filling.

The only thing to be aware of is that you may skip a heartbeat or two as the disconnect the ventricle lead from the old pacer and plug it into the new one.

By the way if your old pacer has been working well for you ask to have the new one programmed with the same settings at implant. There is no reason to go through the uncomfortable default factory settings for several weeks until the first checkup. I had to make this very clear to them.

frank

On 2nd PM - no problem

by goshenPacer - 2011-07-18 08:07:21

My first PM lasted 11 years even though it (Medtronic Thera) was pacing 60% of the time. Battery replacement was a piece of cake. The IV sedative put me to sleep, woke up 30 mins after the 20 min surgery. Got to hospital at 7AM, was home for a late lunch.

By the way, when you go for your first checkup, make sure the PM settings are what you want. For example, my Medtronic PM default max rate is 110. Well, I do a lot of physical stuff and I had them change it to 140. Also had them set the nightime setting to 11 PM.

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