New pm and lead

About a year into my pm, a problem developed with my lead where it took 3 times the energy to work as needed. The result was that the pm ran out of juice after 3 1/2 years. A chest x-ray showed no obvious clues as to what happened.

Since there was a problem with the lead and I'm relatively young at 46, my dr and decided to remove and replace the old lead when it was time to replace my pm. Which we did this morning.

I checked into he hospital in burbank at 6:00 AM and the operation took a little less than 2 hours. All went well, but I'm stuck in the ICU until tomorrow morning.

I'm happy to answer Ny questions as lead replacement is a hot topic here.

That is all. I just wanted to relate a positive story.

7 Comments

typos

by heckboy - 2008-01-25 05:01:26

sorry for the typos... I'm posting from my iPhone and proofing is difficult

Brave heckboy!1!

by Rewiredaussiegirl - 2008-01-25 08:01:25

Hi heckboy
you are very inspiring to any of us that are worrying about having our pm replaced.you seem so relaxed about it all.What sort of PM and leads did you originally have?Are you being paced !00%?
I am asking this because my battery is running out quicker than I expected.
Is it very painful?I suppose that is a silly question as Im sure you are feeling a bit sore now as would be expected.
Take care and hope your fighting fit again soon!!
Kay

Home now

by heckboy - 2008-01-26 01:01:01

Thanks for the great comments everyone. In ICU, the official rule is no cell phone's, but the nurses had them and I was discreet, only checking email and texting.

There wasn't any more pain for me with this proceedure, but there were more tubes stuck in me, so iqas stuck in the be for the entire cy and night. With my 1st PM, I was mobile and able to use the bathroom... This time I had use a plastic bottle, "ahem."

The post-op protocol was more involved than just getting a PM. Which means more pills, more injections, etc..., but I have to say that I remember more pain around the site after my 1st operation than this one. The potasium IV burned like crazy, so I switched to pills.

Getting the big bandage off of my site probably hurt the worst of everything, believe it or not. I only required three doses of pain meds during the stay and it never got that bad. Looking forward to a nice nap in about 15 minutes.

If I left anything out, I'll catch it in my next post.

Thanks for your response!

Chris
Chris

Nothing like the real experience!

by ElectricFrank - 2008-01-26 01:01:49

Your using the iPhone in the ICU should put to rest all the concerns about interference. I noticed that last time I was in ER people were using cell phones. That used to be an absolute NO. I asked the ER doc and he said that all the new equipment was required to be OK around wireless devices. Probably the docs didn't want to be tied down to the old fashioned phones themselves.
Glad to hear the lead replacement went well. It is something any of us might have to face.
By the way, Kay, if you are just running out of batteries the leads shouldn't need replacing. They will just need to take out the old pacer and connect a new one to the leads. It depends where yours is located. Mine is right under my skin so I don't think it will amount to much.

frank

I had my leads/ PM replaced in Burbank too!!

by swilson10 - 2008-01-26 02:01:26

In May of 2007 I spent some time at St. Joseph's in Burbank so that I could have my entire PM and Leads removed and replaced. (I too feel relatively young at 30 and feel so grateful to have this site which helps normalize so many feelings I have about my health.) Anyway, although I had a serious complications, I also had an amazing surgeon and wonderful nurses in the ICU. Any chance you are at the same hospital? I hope that your recovery process is going well and I would also be happy to answer any questions or share any information I have gathered as part of this crazy journey!

Many blessings, Shanna

For Kay

by heckboy - 2008-01-26 02:01:30

Kay,

I had/have a duel lead PM, My sinus activity is normal, so my rate response is turned off. Even though I am not PM dependent, I was/am pacing most of the time, but it's my natural rhythm.

The operation and recovery wasn't more painful than my 1st PM, but it was clearly more involved. I was out longer and deeper for this operation and it took me about 45 minutes to clear the cobwebs from my head after waking up.

Ok, off for a nap where I can't be woken up by chatting nurses and or intrusive needle pokes.

Chris

Thanks Chris

by Rewiredaussiegirl - 2008-01-26 08:01:46

Thanks Chris.
Hope those pesky nurses let you have a good sleep!!

Happy recovery-Kay

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