anyone have complications after surgery

Hi I am a new kid on the block
I got a pacemaker January 2011 (this is my first anniversary) and after the surgery I had immediate complications. After the implant I was in the hospital overnight; when I returned home I had a tough night breathing and was in the emergency room the following morning. Turns out I had fluid build up in my heart sac. That got drained and several weeks later, although I had no symptoms, a follow up exam showed that the fluid was back and in my lung as well. All in all the fluid around the heart was drained twice and the build up appeared in both my left and right lung over a period of 4-6 weeks. Since then I have been fine and am as active as I was pre-pacemaker. Which at 72 is not too shabby. The docs never gave me a straight answer as to a specific reason why I had these reactions and I was wondering if my experience was all that unique. My relationship with my docs is fine, they answer my questions and respond to my concerns; yet they have left me in the dark about my rough entry into the exclusive world of assisted heart beats. Any comments? Rich


2 Comments

Where's the water come from?

by Jackman - 2012-01-21 03:01:58

I'm almost 1 year into my second ICD and started working out more intensely 3 months ago. Despite 10mg of lasix daily, I keep getting fluid build-up--the symptoms feel like pneumonia with diff breathing. When I take an extra 20mg, I drop 1-2 lbs and feel an incease in energy level. I don't know if there's excess fluid in pericardial sac but I sure feel sluggish from the lung inefficiency. Any thoughts of reasons for fluid buildup?

Fluid build up

by jesup - 2012-01-22 03:01:38

I had a cardio catheter procedure and a pericardium effusion. In both cases the fluid was blood red but presumably not pure blood.
I have had two thoracentesis procedures - one for each lung - where the fluid seemed sort of amber in one case and reddish in the other. Since I have had kidney cancer, the concern was that there may be a sign of cancer in the fluid - and thankfully the fluid showed no indication of cancer.
As aggressive as I like to think I am as an advocate for my health, I have failed to pin down the docs as to cause and what the actual composition of the fluids were. A suspicion of mine is that the docs were concerned about blame but I was only seeking answers. At this point, because I get periodic CT scans to make sure I am still cancer free, I am also getting confirmation that the heart sac and lungs are fluid free as well. Be well, Rich

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