Local Anesthesia

Yes

by Grateful Heart - 2017-05-03 23:35:33

About 7 years ago I had a lead revision and suddenly I could feel the needle going through my skin.  I said "I felt that" to let the doctor know.  The next thing I knew, he came in for another stitch and it hurt so I raised my knee up by my body.....someone pushed it down.  Then he came in for a 3rd stitch and I raised my knee up again and groaned.  Again, someone pushed it down. 

I had a drape over my face so I couldn't see anything and that was also disturbing.  When they wheeled me into recovery the nurse asked what happened.  I started to tell her and the EP chimed in while he was signing me over.  He told her like it was no big deal.  The nurse felt bad.  

This EP was a fill in for my original EP.  I've had surgeries before and after that.....and it has never happened to me except for that one time.  I will never let that EP touch me again. 

Glad you're doing well now.

Grateful Heart 

I felt them.

by DampDog - 2017-05-04 05:46:29

A little over a year ago for mine,  I had a very similar experience. I had a CRT-D and placing the left lead was a little tricky which meant the procedure took around 2:10 hours to complete. For the most part it was pain free but the last 10 mins or so it was pretty uncomfortable. Likewise I could feel the sutures going in, together with what felt like the curvature of the needle as they completed the procedure. I commented to the registrar that “I can feel those going in!!!” he said he was almost finished and didn’t really want to top up the analgesia unless it became too much for me. They gave me a couple of paracetamol once I was in the recovery room.  Same truck that hit you must have hit me to..  It was more like 10 days of being very sore, especially my shoulder. It must have been over month or so for all  the bruising to subside. The first week or so I was black and blue.

Anesthesia

by TBrous&Chip - 2017-05-04 07:10:57

Robin I 

It is the individuals experience and empathy (bedside manner) that come into play.  They have to assess your particular situation, your needs and your safety, during and after the procedure. A CRNA in conjunction with a supervising Anesthesiologist is the best decision for me because two experienced people are conferring on my current procedure and my ongoing heart issues to determine how to handle my sleep. Either person is well qualified to administer the drugs after determining the type and amount. Anesthesia scares me more than most surgical procedures.

Hi SHARONL........

by Tattoo Man1 - 2017-05-04 10:48:19

.......my first implant went a lot like yours...I was pretty much completely awake after FOUR hours...and was told that they could not give me any more sedative.

I have had two more PM Ops since then and have elected to have general anaesthetics.

Watching nursing staff hold up a plastic sheet with pockets in with the 19 blood soaked swabs in them was not the best bit of my experience..

Lets remind ourselves..the vast majority of PM proceedures go just fine and the patient has a comfortable experience.

This Forum is about Honesty and Accuracy..not about Apologies.

Tattoo Man

no two

by dwelch - 2017-05-10 01:23:14

no two of us are exactly the same it is a judgement call on how much sedative to give us based on weight and whatever else, and unfortunately makes sense so long as you dont fight them to try to ride it out.  to give you more than you need (put you in danger) or stop the procedure and wait, etc... 

Sorry you had to deal with this, sounds like you are not the only one.  when you go in for the next one though remember this and tell them to give you something different or how they are going to make this not hapen again. ask them about your options.  If before the procedure they start to make excuses or not care, dont go through with it, find a different doc.  Note dont do this just the day of the procedure but the visit or two leading up to it the visit where they tell you "its time"...and as many calls between then and the procedure as it takes.

All of our recoveries are also a little different but also the same in some respects.  I just got pacer number five two weeks ago, and two days later was ready to drive and go back to work but waited another couple of days more, was sleeping on that side within a few days, now feel like normal. like before, basically no real pain this time, no meds other than what they gave me in the IV.   But my first one/few were not as easy, at least one I did the frozen shoulder thing, that was a mistake. So feeling like you got hit by a truck, yep, sure...last two have been same practice and town/hospital, etc.  so dont know if last two were same surgeon or not, but both were very easy recoveries, I assume some of that is 30 years with pacers, a well worn pocket.