horrible experience with doctor

I got my pacemaker yesterday and I'm in alot of pain. Is this normal? I could not sleep at all last night in the hospital. This morning my doctor came into my room and took off a compression bandage that was across my chest and it hurt so bad that I flinched when she started pulling and her response was that I need to suck it up and deal with it. I was so furious that she would talk to me that way I started crying. I now have a huge purple bruise across my whole chest. I had a list of questions that I wanted to ask but she wouldn't even give me the time of day. She said that any questions I have I can ask them at my follow up appointment with her assistant in a week. I don't even know what my pacer is set at. I am going to be looking for a cardiologist who has the respect to answer my questions and concerns and treat me with the respect I deserve. Sorry for complaining I'm just feeling so emotional.

8 Comments

Normal

by mamaof3 - 2012-08-08 10:08:17

I think every thing was normal in regards to the surgery. I wasn't told why I stayed the night I guess I just assumed everyone does when they get a pm. I have a feeling that I have alot of pain because they had to cut through scar tissue. I had my loop monitor removed yesterday also and the pm was placed in the same spot. I'm really hoping that I can get a good nights sleep tonight and I'll feel better emotionally tomorrow. My heart rate while I was sleeping before the pm was in the low 30s and I believe that it is set at 60 now so that may be my problem.
Thanks for your response.

You are authorized to be angry!

by donr - 2012-08-08 10:08:33

You are not complaining - you are expressing the wrath of a woman scorned!

Find a new cardio.

She should have had the common decency to at least listen to your questions & tell you that if you felt OK as far as your heart was concerned - as opposed to the way the incision felt - that they were more appropriate for her assistant who would have much more time & you would have a better feel for what you want to know. Also that you would feel better & be able to have a better, more fruitful discussion & remember the results of it better.

Is pain normal? Depends on who you are & how you reacted to the surgery.

Was your surgery "Normal"? Why did you spend the night in the hosp? That is unusual.

Other than the pain, how do you feel?

Don

Are you still in...

by donr - 2012-08-08 11:08:54

...the hosp?

Your situation is a little messier than I realized. Although,when you get a replacement PM they cut through scar tissue & it's a one day event as a rule.

Don

The real problem

by ElectricFrank - 2012-08-09 01:08:18

Time to learn from your experience. YOU are letting the doctor run all over you and she is taking advantage of it. The only way to stop this sort of thing is to deal with it in advance. It is much harder, although not impossible, to handle the situation after you have been through the surgery. I can't give you suggestions for specific situations. It is more a matter of taking charge.

You might find it easier to sleep if you lay on the side opposite the pacemaker with a pillow in front of you to support the pacerside arm. On my original implant I used that approach in the hospital. I also made it very clear that I was not to be bothered with procedures during the night while I was asleep, and asserted my patients rights to back me up. I got a very good nights sleep.

sorry you have had such a time of it,

frank

Susan

by ElectricFrank - 2012-08-09 05:08:06

That's called taking responsibility for yourself. As you pointed out, it can be scary, but it works.

frank

Doctors

by Alma Annie - 2012-08-09 07:08:44


Some years ago I had a problem with a doctor, not heart ones, but the same principal, he would not talk to me about a path lab report that was abnormal and said to talk to his receptionist as she was trained to explain. She had no medical training. I felt somewhat angry and pointed out to him that I had paid a lot of money to see him, for a few minutes only and that he was not giving me the service for which I had paid.

He actually apologised twice, and from then on treated me with respect I don't think that it had ever occurred to him that he was being paid for his time, and like anyone else in the work force should give the service for the money he received.

He changed considerably!!

Alma Annie

Know your rights!

by Shortcake - 2012-08-09 10:08:23

I agree totally that you are at a point to learn a valuable lesson. You are the patient and the one person in control of your situation. Do not let the doctor intimidate you like this. Yes, it's very difficult to stand up for yourself when you are sick, in pain and scared, but you must realize you have rights in these situations.

When I first became sick, I was being seem by a cardiologist who was okay, not great, but okay. I had a terrible episode that sent me to the ER. He was called and when he arrived he was furious with me that he was pulled out of a dinner in his honor. Well, first of all, I didn't call him, the hospital did and what nut wouldn't have someone on call to cover for him at that moment. I fired him on the spot. If I hadn't I think my husband would have punched him in the nose!

The next one I went to was better, immediately realizing my problem was electrical and sent me off to the EP. However, after several ablations and my first pacer, I reached a point I could not walk to the mailbox. I returned to him to be told it was life with a pacer and to get used to it. Another nut! I told him that Elton John had received a pacer the same time I did and he was doing a world tour, I was crawling to the mailbox! I'm sure he thought I was crazy or a big Elton John fan. I didn't care, nothing I had read said this was life with a pacer. I immediately contacted the EP and returned to him. Once I explained all this, he immediately took me on as his one and only "patient". Normally he just sees people thru their cardiologist, does his tricks and they return once a year or so to see him. I have been seeing him every two months for 16 years. He discovered thru biopsy that I had developed restrictive cardiomyopathy. Not something he normally deals with but he has for me all these years. Don't get me wrong, I have seen many others but he remains my doc. Even in the beginning with him, I has to set my boundary. I was having severe angina and he offered me 5 tylenol 3. I laughed and told him that I lived in downtown Atlanta, if I were looking for narcotics I could find far better than he had to offer on any corner. He immediately set me up for test and discovered I had arterial spasms in the heart and then we began a treatment to relieve it.

Sorry, didn't mean to go into a rant, just want you to know YOU have rights, and you don't have to take abuse! Find yourself another doc and set the standard up front. I'm not saying you have to be a jerk, you just don't have to be treated by one. Wishing you the best! Just go on to your hospitals website and read the patient's rights. Frank is totally right, I'm never bothered when I'm in the hospital, I even take all my meds and they don't even dose them out to me. That's another long story, but the point is, you are the one who is in charge of your body!

Susan

Hi

by Jax - 2012-08-09 12:08:48

I stayed overnite at the hospital with a pm. They were just monitoring my heart. I was in some discomfort but all I took was 2 tylenols and I was ok. I would fire my DR pronto -- she has no right to treat you that way. I need some tender care in those situations. She should be history. It took me about a month to feel mire like myself.

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My pacemaker was installed in 1998 and I have not felt better. The mental part is the toughest.