Need Advice...Should I move it to under muscle?

Hi, I had my pacemaker implanted under the skin on July 20th this year. I have been doing very well with it until the last 10 days or so. Now, I find it very irritating to my skin and pain around the area where the pacemaker is located. Since my surgery, I've lost between 25-30 pounds, so my body has changed signifcantly. I had gastric bypass last year and I've lost 115 pounds in the last 11 months and am now a normal weight-maybe even a tad underweight. I'm also having some back problems and have just started chiropractic care for that. How does the surgery for under the muscle placement compare to under the skin? Will the recovery be longer? I'm a teacher and really don't want to be away from my job for more than a week. The soreness though, is affecting my quality of life. If you were in my situation what would you do? Thanks for advice!

2 Comments

move it

by Tracey_E - 2012-11-01 07:11:18

If it is causing you daily discomfort, it's affecting your life, and the circumstances are permanent (pretty sure you're not planning to put the weight back on!) then I would make it comfortable. Why suffer 8-10 years until the battery needs replaced? Recovery is not that big a deal for most of us. Mine is buried also. We all are different in our pain tolerance, so I can only tell you about my experience. I am sore for a few weeks after every replacement (on #4 now) but it's nothing Tylenol can't take care of.

Unless you do a lot of lifting in your job, I would think that if you did it on a Thurs or Fri, you should be good to go back to work on Monday. You'll likely be sore and stiff, but mobile. It takes me about 4 weeks to be fully comfortable doing anything I want but it's more of a nuisance than true pain. You will hear from some that have a tougher time of it,but imo it still won't keep you out of work long and it would be well worth it for years ahead of comfort.

device decision

by Hope - 2012-11-01 10:11:14

Hi! Retired 2011 from teaching young children with an ICD (under skin)from 2004. You seem to be experiencing enough discomfort that the cause needs to be accurately diagnosed before making any decision about moving your device. Either way of placement, the device does take time to settle in and the surrounding tissue to recover. Hope teaching is a joy for you again soon. Hopeful Heart

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