Help... ASAP Revision, Newbie

I’m 46 with several issues that I refuse to let hold me back. I did however have to get a pacer May 25, 2018. The tech that came in told me the voltage was too high in the lower chamber however “no will come in over the holiday weekend to fix it”. Which turned out to be correct because when I was unable to walk and passed out at home several hours later and went to the hospital by ambulance the colleague of my doctor advised the ER doc to do just that send me home and to call their office on Tuesday. Which I did, after several attempts with leaving messages with his nurse, I finally told the person who answered the phone I would not be transferred or I would come to the office in person. She was lovely, actually got me to the people in the Cathlab who set it up for the following Thursday, where as long as my INR was below 3 we were good to go. Wednesday evening comes I’m sitting on the sofa and my chest starts heaving, as if I’m jumping. It doesn’t really hurt. My Husband says maybe we should try to go to bed. By this time it’s shaking the entire bed. So, back to the ER I go. So we go back I don’t get the revision on Thursday because my INR is too high and I have a PE. So I get it the next day on Friday June 1, 2018, due to lead dislodgment. 

Also, both times I’ve been told the voltage is too high in the lower chamber. On my follow up visit with my electrophysiologist/cardiologist he stated the voltage should be “.7-.8, mine was 2, more than twice what it should be. However, sometimes a body needs time to adjust. Maybe we should x-ray just to be on the safe side.” Really??? 

Sorry, I know this is really long! Thank you so much if you made it this far! 

Sheila

As a side note, my pacer is on my right side, as I have a port on my left. This did seem to cause some confusion the first time around, however that also wasn’t the doctor’s normal team for this procedure. 

2 Comments

wow

by dwelch - 2018-06-20 09:19:46

Hate to say it sounds like they arent being very responsive and/or responsible.  Keep beating on them I guess to get some answers and results, or perhaps see if you can transition to someone else in short order, switching docs for me is typically a few months thing.

Im disturbed that the E.R. didnt wasnt able to support you and/or keep you.

if the device is not doing its job or not installed (for lack of a better term) correctly, they need to own that responsibility, and sounds like they are not doing that so far, you just need to keep beating on them to do their job.

voltage

by Tracey_E - 2018-06-20 09:20:31

Voltage always starts out high until the heart gets used to being paced, then they turn it down 4-6 weeks later. If the lead wasn't in a good position, they may have turned it up more, trying to get it to pace without repositioning. The xray will show them the position. 

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