Angry incision

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by Persephone - 2022-09-25 12:41:30

Hi D - I'm not clear on your timeline, but I believe you need to be seen again and soon, like tomorrow at the latest.

infection

by AgentX86 - 2022-09-25 13:28:55

Unless you were seen in last day or two, you need to be seen again very soon. Infections are nothing to play around with.  They are extremely serious!

Your doctor should have taken a culture of the infection to make sure the antibiotics are appropriate for that bacteria.

This is critically important.

Re: Persephone response

by DPeralta - 2022-09-25 13:29:24

Thank you for your comment, I just saw the doctor on the 23rd, 2 days ago, he put me on another round of antibiotics and I have to see him again in 2 weeks. If it continues to get worse I will definitely call him sooner. I have been doing a lot of things around my house and moving my arm a lot, scraping and staining my front porch so I'm thinking it's just aggravated because of the rubbing and excessive movement. 

Re: agentx86

by DPeralta - 2022-09-25 13:32:27

There was just a very small amount that I squeezed out the morning of seeing him so there wasn't anything to culture. I wouldn't have known about it if I didn't pick a little at it. 

Infection

by AgentX86 - 2022-09-25 16:34:41

After four weeks it's still "angry and red" something isn't right. I assume by "doctor" you mean your cardiologist/EP. Anyone off the street may not understand just how serious an infection to the pacemaker pocket really is. 

After four weeks there shouldn't even be a "small amount" and don't pick at it (it should have been completely healed over by this time).

Pus Pocket

by Stache - 2022-09-26 00:33:30

Pus coming out of your pacemaker pocket is a serious matter.  I had that happen to me 4-weeks after my pacemaker was inserted.  I was ordered to the hospital when I called in with pus coming out.  I was immediately sent to the ER and on both arms with IVs pumping me full of antibiotics.  Surgery was scheduled for the next morning.  I had several blood tests to isolate the infection to target.

My pacer was removed and I was placed on a temporary pacer while my pocket area was cleaned and dead tissue removed.  As a last resort, I would have a new pacer installed in my right chest.  However, the team was able to remove all the dead and bad tissue so my pacer was cleaned and reinserted.

I have a nasty scar but better than having two scars one on each side.  I was lucky the hospital was all over my pus pocket as it could have killed me.

The bottom line is to go to the ER and have this taken care of now, waiting is the wrong thing to do.

don't mess around

by Tracey_E - 2022-09-26 12:18:10

 If your doctor handed you antibiotics without cultures and thinks 2 weeks is soon enough to see you again, you need another doctor. Cultures can be done with blood work and the purpose is to ensure you are on the correct antibiotic, not waste time on the wrong one while the infection spreads. If the infection gets on the leads, they go straight to your heart. This is why they will sometimes remove the hardware until the infection clears. The longer you wait, the higher the chance of this happening. I don't mean to scare you, and I'm not a doctor, but infection needs to be taken very seriously and treated very aggressively. If your doctor is not responsive, find another one or go to the ER. 

Seeing the doctor tomorrow

by DPeralta - 2022-09-27 14:23:44

I'm going to see MY heart doctor tomorrow regarding the infection. Thank you all for your suggestions, I am concerned and I'm not waiting another week to SEE if it clears up. 
(my heart doc was out of town when I had the procedure done by another doctor in the group and apologized profusely) I completely trust him.