pacemaker

My pacemaker placement was April 2019. Surgeon was behind schedule, I woke up during surgery and Fentanyl does not work on me. Lots of pain because one of the leads was not attacked properly so I know how it feels to be tazed from the inside. Second surgery the following day to attach lead in correct place. 

I can not walk fast anymore without becoming light headed. I was told by PA that is my life now. Adjust. I am being mildly shocked on a daily basis which I was also told to live with it. 

The original reason for the pacemaker was a left branch bundle block. All my other tests came back normal. No obstructions, valves and chambers normal. Now I have Afib, which I did not have before surgery. Two new meds to add to my growing list.  Will be changing, for a third time, to new cardiologist. 

More than anything I am disappointed that my life is less than it was. Anyone feel that way?

4 Comments

That's just wrong

by AgentX86 - 2020-02-10 22:49:54

On so many levels. I was cardioverted once when I wasn't under.  They thought I was out but I remember placing curses on their ancestors.  One of the nurses said that they didn't think I would remember it the next day.  Wrong.  So I hear ya'.

Anyway, nothing should have changed that much for the worse.  There is no excuse for "this is your life now".  You're too young.

The Afib may be temporary (or not).  Your heart has been through a lot and may be just registering its objection.  It wouldn't be the first time.

You should be seeing an electophysiologist (EP), rather than a cardiologist.  You have electrical problems - your plumbing seems fine.

Dissapointed?  Hell no. I was one of those who felt better pretty much instantly.   Unless there is a lot of information you've left out, you shouldn't have to put up with being dissmissed so quckly either. There are things they can do and doesn't sound like they've done any.

Shocked

by Good Dog - 2020-02-11 09:21:22

I am the same age as you and have been through everything you described. When I was getting my third generator change the doc started the incision before they gave me any anesthesia. I said it hurts and he didn't stop. When I started screaming "stop" he finally realized he needed to stop. Yeah, I was also shocked on the table by accident and had a lead re-positioned a day after my initial surgery.

I have to tell you that aside from the initial stress of it all, none of this had any lasting negative impact. So I do think that some of what you are experiencing is physcological. If your leads are properly positioned now, there is no reason you should be feeling any mild shock.

So I think you did the right thing changing Doc's, because you must have confidence in the Doc. Here is the thing; your PM was implanted to give you a more normal life.Unless there is an underlying condition causing other problems, you should be feeling more normal after the PM than you did before it. So start asking questions when you see the new doc and the PM Tech. Don't stop asking until you get the answers you need. Then, if your PM and leads are functioning normally, give yourself some time to de-stress. Stress and/or anxeity can do lots of bad things to our bodies and make us feel terrible. So you have to deal with it. Then get out there and start to live your life and try to completely forget that you have a PM. You should be able to walk fast without being lightheaded. Being light-headed is a symptom of anxiety.

Just don't give-up or give-in. I wish you the very best!

Sincerely,

David

pacemaker

by Kay48 - 2020-02-11 21:39:26

I have an aunt who is 101 years old and has had a pacemaker since she was 60. She outlived her first pacemaker and had it replaced at 80. The battery in her current pacemaker was replaced in 2018. I did not go into having pacemaker surgery with any qualms which I can see was very naive of me. I had no idea so much could go wrong. My aunt has had no problems over the years apart from not believing the remote checks of her pacemaker are accurate. 

I will have to look into an electrophysiologist because I have no idea what they do.  Thanks for the idea. 

electrophysiologist

by Good Dog - 2020-02-11 23:35:42

An electrophysiologist is a heart doctor that specializes in treating heart rhythm disorders. People with pacemakers (electrical problems) should be seeing an EP for the best care. 

I read a study sometime last year that was conducted in Germany many years ago. It was a follow-on study where they explanted pacemakers of deceased patients and compared their settings to the patients file. What they found was disturbing. I don't remember the exact number, but somewhere in the 70% range of the generators had out-of-the-box settings. They were never programmed for the specific patient. I don't remember enough specifics to repeat them here in detail, but the point was that they found the quality of care when it came to pacemakers was extremely lacking. The PM kept the patients heart beating, but only a small percentage of them were optimized for the patient.

Now, I think we are doing better than that here in the U.S., but that is why a good EP is so important.

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