Detached wire

A brief history of my illness had heart attack 2006 (luckily in Drs surgery!) went through all the usual stages of medication then had to have a by=pass eventually AF so bad put down for a pacemaker Was given a dual lead but within 3 days one lead had come detached, doctors wouldnt reconnect said in case of infection. For those 3 days felt quite a lot better, but since have gone steadily downhill finding life very much of a strain. I admit I feel peeved that the lead wasn't replaced and friends say if I didn't need the dual PM why was it put in in the first place I'm 83 so can't help wondering if age is a factor.


1 Comments

get another opinion

by Tracey_E - 2014-09-11 08:09:26

Generally if the lead becomes detached, they put it right back unless they're reasonably sure you won't use that lead. Most of us have two but many of us mostly or exclusively use one. They give us a second lead because 1) it provides additional information 2) it's just as easy to do both as one while they're in there and 3) just because they don't think we need the second one doesn't mean it won't come in handy and be needed at some point. If you felt better before, then it might make sense to revisit fixing the detached lead.

There is always a slight risk of infection for any surgery. I can't think why that would be a reason for not fixing it unless your risk is higher than normal. Maybe get another opinion? Perhaps there's something else that can be done to get you feeling better. Sometimes adjusting the settings can make a difference, or sometimes something else is going on. We always assume it's cardiac so it can be easy to overlook something else going on.

How long has it been? If you are going to fix the lead, it's much easier to do it within the first year. After that they grow into place and it's a different procedure.

You know you're wired when...

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