Re Surgery

Hi I had my defibulator fitted six days ago under sedation and local anaesthetic I just wanted to know if anyone felt any pain we hen having this done especially females two things happened to me one was I had two lots of sedation but didn't feel that I had any and two I could feel some of the surgery when I told the cardiologist she apologized and said that the local hadn't gone far enough behind the clavical which is more common in men than women to say I was in pain was an understatement whilst she was pushing and prodding me about and then when she started to stitch me up I told her I could feel the stitches going in her answer to this was I will give you some more local then she said no no we won't because that's just another needle i'll just sew as fast as I can!!!!! I keep thinking about this and wondering whether anything like this has ever happened to anybody else. I'm hoping that my leads never come out of place because I don't think I could go through this again.

2 Comments

Not female but...

by AgentX86 - 2018-07-01 19:34:36

I had significant pain when they were making the pouch in the skin the pacemaker sits in (still do, four months later) but that's about it.  They sutured the pacemaker to <whatever it is they suture it to> but that didn't hurt much.  There was a lot of tugging as he pulled the sutures home (thought he was going to put his foot on my chest for leverage) but the pain wasn't all that great.  He closed the incision with glue and tape, so no sutures to remove (until the battery dies).

"I know it hurts every time I do this, so I'll do it faster."  Huh?

Yes

by Grateful Heart - 2018-07-02 09:14:27

I am female.  I needed a lead revision about 7 years ago.  Long story but the EP who implanted my device wasn't able to do the lead revision so one of his partners at the time, also an EP did the procedure.  It was a horrible experience.  I've written about it here in the past.

First, he threw a drape over my face while he was talking to me.  I've had many surgeries and no doctor has ever done that...at least not while I was still awake and in a conversation with him.  I woke up in the middle of him stitching me and really felt it.  I told him through the drape....that I felt it.  He paused, yelled out that I could feel it and then went in for another stitch.  I lifted my knee in reaction and someone pushed it down.  This happened three times for the last three stitches.

When I tried to talk to him about what happened at an office appointment, he denied remembering what I was talking about and the meeting did not go well.  I never went back to him. 

Grateful Heart

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I am 100% pacemaker dependant and have been all my life. I try not to think about how a little metal box keeps me alive - it would drive me crazy. So I lead a very active life.