in need of reassurance....

hi everyone! so my battery was low and i had my 1st replacement surgery 5 days ago. i'm doing good and the pain isn't too bad anymore, it's more of a tight feeling with the muscles now especially when i stand or walk around.

a week before my surgery i caught a cold and i still sneeze every now and then and i have an annoying lingering cough, it's not a bad cough but i'm nervous that it's going to do something to my incision or it's gonna make my device or leads dislodge, move or become loose. also on top of that, about 2 days after the surgery i was laying in bed eating some pasta and the fork was gonna fall so my natural reaction was to stop it and i bent my left arm out kinda fast and it hurt so i'm still all worried about that. now i'm just extra paranoid about everything which leads to anxiety which gives me a tight feeling in my chest. am i overreacting? should i be worried? help please!!

3 Comments

Hi,

by Gellia2 - 2010-04-17 09:04:41

If this was just a replacement, you don't need to worry about the leads. They wouldn't have been changed and are as fixed as they were they day before you had the battery replaced. They would be VERY hard to dislodge at this point.

It's really hard to hurt yourself, too. I know. I tried very hard by falling off of horses all the time. I was TRYING to ride, but they always thought better and off I'd go!! Never hurt my PM once but boy did the rest of me hurt! LOL

Try to rest easy. Your leads are fine and the PM is in a special pocket that they stitch it into so dislodgement would be rare.
The pain and pressure are most likely caused by the fact that replacement is like being shot with a bullet. Only difference is they take the "bullet" out,...and they they put it back! Give yourself a chance to heal.

I've had a total of 7 replacements over a period of 35 years now, and it does take time for the pain to stop.

Hope this helps.
My very best to you,
Gellia

thank you

by mnm61275 - 2010-04-17 11:04:18

thank you Gelia and Renee, you both made me feel better and more at ease.

Ditto

by ElectricFrank - 2010-04-18 01:04:21

The replacement is a minor surgery and nothing like the original implant. All they did was cut open the pocket, remove the old pacer, move the lead wires to the new one, put it in the pocket and sew you up again.

My suggestion is to keep using the arm and even stretching it a bit. This will head off having shoulder problems that happen from lack of use. I just had mine changed in January and went back to full activity the next day. It was a bit sore for a few days, but was to be expected after the cutting and sewing. I stayed off sleeping on that side was about it.

frank

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