12 days in and it was all going so well... until it wasn't

12 days ofter PM implementation, and I woke up in a cold sweat in the night with significant pain in my shoulder, armpit and arm -- the kind of pain you get from pinched nerves.  And the 'geography' of my chest had altered...

My pacemaker (placed under the muscle) seems to have shifted spontaneously -- whereas before it wasn't in the least visible and I couldn't even feel it though the skin/muscle, it is now sitting above the scar at the junction between the shoulder and the armpit, pretty well on top of the collar bone. 

Not an emergency (I presume). It isn't activated yet -- or rather it is but it's pacing VVI at 40 bpm -- so not kicking in at all while my 'natural' heartbeat hovers around 100. And I think I've read enough to have understand that there's a fair bit of slack in the (single) lead so with luck it hasn't dislodged. But it is uncomfortable -- there's swelling all along the path it must have taken; the nerves haven't settle down, and my bra strap is now rubbing on the scar and the pacemaker for the first time.

I'm waiting for a call back from the hospital to understand what if anything they want to do -- and of course it has to happen while I'm on my own, 2 hours drive from the hospital and without anyone to take me there until Thursday.  If they just want to inspect it, I can probably get there under my own steam, but I will have to wait for a responsible adult to accompany me if they want to reposition it surgically.

Update: They want to see it, and we've agreed Friday first thing.

Sigh.

 

2 Comments

oh ugh

by Tracey_E - 2018-09-17 10:00:18

Do you have a home monitor yet? If you do, you can initiate a download so they can tell right away if it's still pacing. If you do that, call and tell them so they know to look for it. It probably is, you are correct that there is plenty of slack and the two pieces are screwed together so it's unlikely it came apart so this is a cosmetic problem, not functional. I'm no doctor but my guess would be they'll keep an eye on it and see if it settles back in. If not, and if it bugs you, they can reposition it but unless it's extreme they probably won't be in any hurry to do it. 

Thanks for responding

by atiras - 2018-09-17 10:27:10

@Robin1 -- oddly enough, no bruising -- and there wasn't any when they implanted it either (which surprised me). It was implanted at the Bristol Heart Institute by a 'surgeon' who's a member of the specialied Arrhythmia team -- I don't know if he was an EP or not, but he does PM/ICD implantations day-in and day-out.

@TraceyE, no home monitor yet as the PM isn't expected to be doing anything useful yet (not until after my AV node ablation). The reason it was put in under the muscle was that there wasn't enough room to put it comfortably/safely just below the skin (or so they said).  My appointment on Friday is with a 'Clinical Nurse Specialist' but she intends to call in a consultant to see me when I arrive -- it's quicker to do it that way than wait for a consultant's appointment.

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