Pnemothorax, lead displacement and left superior v

• by chanellasvegas
• 2013-03-03 01:03:52
• Complications
• 1261 views
• 1 comments

I'm 37 and I've only had my biventricular pacemaker for about 3 weeks. During surgery, the doctor discovered I had left superior vena cava, although he continued with the surgery taking about 4 hours. Unfortunately, the doctor punctured my lung causing a partial lung collapse and an additional 5 days in the hospital to recover. At my first doctor visit 2 days ago, it was discovered the one of the three leads and become seriously displaced and is not only using 5 times the voltage as when initially put in, but is also causes diaphragm spasms. The doctor has turned down the power to that lead for now, but its still causing spasms. He said surgery to fix the lead is most likely necessary. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? He also told me that due to the left superior vena cava, they would likely have to implant the lead in a different, more invasive way. Has anyone with this condition had to have a lead fixed? If so, how did they open you up to get it in? This whole experience has been horrific so far. Since so many things have happened that are so unusual, I'm very nervous about another surgery.