Dual Lead PMs

Greetings:

Well, I am finally getting my PM on October 24th. I've had 2 more fainting episodes since my last post. One, I was 8 weeks pregnant. I had a seizure during that episode and was out for about a minute.

I'm worried about surgery. How long does the whole process take? I would like to be completely asleep... is this the process?

Any advise is helpful. Thanks guys!
Sarah

6 Comments

don't be scared

by jessie - 2008-09-22 10:09:00

it takes about an hour and i was sedated i know that becasue i dozed in and out and wasn't scared. slept all the way home in the ambulance to my small town hospital. so not so bad. so it will be okay. they give you instructions not to raise your arms above your shoulders for 6 weaks so the leads do not come out. they will tell you all this. good luck and please tell them how nervous you are. the medical people i mean jess

short!

by Tracey_E - 2008-09-22 10:09:04

The surgery doesn't take long at all, I want to say under an hour but I'm not positive (it's been 15 yrs since I got my first one). They usually keep you awake for it. I have been asleep for all of mine because I have a submammary rather than a subclavicle implant, it's a lot deeper. Are you pregnant now? You might have trouble talking them into a general anesthesia if you are and they can do it while you're awake.

It's over before you know it!

by Gonnie - 2008-09-22 10:09:43

My implant lasted about 45 minutes & I think I was awake but I don't remember anything. The doc told me that's how it would be & it was. I woke up before we were out of the operating room & remember the trip to recovery. Was back in my room real soon too & ate lunch soon after. I think you'l be glad that that you don't have a general anesth. because it's harder to wake up from, at least in my experience. This is a good place to express your fears & anxieties so keep posting. You'll find alot of experience here! Good luck!

Nerw Pacemajer

by SMITTY - 2008-09-22 10:09:49

Hell Sarah,

The following may give you some deatails on why and how we get a pacemaker.

PACEMAKER IMPLANTATION: A pacemaker is a treatment for dangerously slow heart beats. Without treatment, a slow heart beat can lead to weakness, confusion, dizziness, fainting, shortness of breath and death.

Slow heart beats can be the result of metabolic abnormalities or occur as a result of blocked arteries to the heart's conduction system. These conditions can often be treated and a normal heart beat will resume. Slow heart beats can also be a side effect of certain medications in which case discontinuation of the medicine or a reduction in dose may correct the problem.

But sometimes, the conduction system of the heart becomes irreversibly damaged for any one of a number of reasons. And some people require medications that cause slow heart beats as a side effect in order to prevent other serious problems. Since there is no medication that one can take on chronic basis to speed up the heart rate, a pacemaker is the only solution.

Fortunately, having a pacemaker implanted is only a minor surgical procedure. This is not open heart surgery. After a pacemaker is implanted, most people resume their previous lifestyle with little or no limitations.

The procedure is performed with mild sedation and a local anesthetic. Patients are not put to sleep. An 2 inch incision is made parallel to and just below a collar bone. Pacer wires are then inserted into a vein that lies just under the collarbone and advanced through that vein under fluoroscopic guidance into the heart. The other end of the pacer wires are connected to a "generator" that is implanted under the skin beneath the collar bone. This generator is about half an inch deep and one and a half inches wide. The skin is then sutured closed and the patient leaves the hospital later than same day or the following day. Incisional pain is mild and transient and usually responds to Tylenol. It is possible to feel the pacer generator under the skin and a slight deformaty of the skin can be visually noticed.

Patients may not shower for a week after the procedure to keep the incision dry and should avoid excessively exerting the arm on the side the pacer was placed for that week.

After a week, the patient may resume their prior lifestyle without limitation. Household appliances do not interfere with modern day pacemakers. Patients with pacemakers should avoid powerful electromagnetic fields (this is something we seldom run into ) which may reprogram the pacemaker. MRI (magnetic resonance imaging) scans cannot be performed on patients with pacemakers for that reason.

The pacemaker generator is, essentially, a little computer. The generator can communicate with an external device placed on the skin overlying the pacemaker. Through this device, a physician can change the programming of the pacemaker to best suit the individual patient's needs and investigate the status of the pacemaker. Some pacemakers also report on the performance of the patient's heart.

Pacemakers can also be checked over the telephone. The patient places a device and a magnet over the pacemaker and the pacemaker transmits a signal over phone line that is analyzed in the physicians office.

The newer pacemaker batteries give off warning signals when they are running low on power many months before they actually fail. This can be detected either by a telephone check or by a formal interrogation by the external device mentioned above. Pacemakers are generally checked at least every 3 months to allow plenty of time to change the generator when it is running low on power. Changing the generator simply means remaking the same incision, removing the old generator, and plugging the existing wires into the new generator. The patient goes home the same day. Most batteries last at least 5 to 8 years, minimum.

The following paragraph is very important as most of us that get a pacemaker leave the hospital that it will completely take over the function of making our heart beat. As you will see, that is not true. Unless you are pacemaker dependant, which most of us are not, it only helps out as necessary.

Pacemakers sense every heart beat the patient has and only pace the heart when the patient's heart rate falls below a predetermined limit. Patients are usually completely unaware of when the pacer is pacing their heart. In some patients, the pacemaker only needs to fire very rarely because the slow heart beat only occurs intermittently. In other patients, the heart beat is always too slow and the pacemaker has to pace the heart all of the time. Such patients are said to be pacemaker dependent. Another use of pacemakers is for a disease called hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy. This is a disease where overgrown heart muscle blocks the egress of blood out of the heart. By altering the electrical activation pattern of the heart's muscle, pacemakers can help alleviate this problem.

Good luck,

Smitty

Bad Spelling

by SMITTY - 2008-09-22 11:09:37

Sarah,

Let me try that salutation again. Of course that was supposed to be Hello, but one of my finger went to sleep early tonight. I'm sorry.
Smitty

Re:

by chip - 2008-09-23 03:09:48

I too had a pacer installed for fainting and the seizures that sometimes go along with it.

It is a quick and painless procedure and you'll be so glad you did it!

Hey having the pacemaker beats the heck out of fainting - it sure took care of mine!

Relax, keep cool, and if heavy sedation is what you want tell your EP but really it's an easy process.

Best of Luck & Enjoy the New Life the Pacer will Give You!

God Bless

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