anesthesia and other complications during pm replacement

Has anyone experienced complications with their anesthesia during a pm replacement? I did not respond to the Fentanyl/Versed treatment during mine and I'm wondering if anyone has heard of or dealt with that. I felt and remember so much of the procedure. Including the doc and team "tucking their tails between their legs" and leaving the room after rushing through the procedure and sewing me up. I am sure they just turn and leave when a patient is asleep, but when they are awake and staring at you after screaming in pain....Not a word to me except from one tech or nurse??. Also, the pm tech was not actually a pm tech. He worked in the cath lab (not sure what that means except that he is just trained to put things through that artery in the leg into the heart) and was "filling in". He had the temp leads (which I was told I wouldn't need, then when doc entered op room said we wanted to use) on before inserting them and started pacing my leg. - my pm nurse said doc had hoped I didn't remember that. I am sure he did not want her to share that with me but we are pretty close and she knows I won't take it to court or anything.. I told her "I remember everything because, as I said, the drugs didn't work". I had the replacement back in May. I am posting this now because I am sitting here wondering just how much of their "rush job" might have to do with the pain and discomfort I am still having at the pacemaker site. I am in the process of getting a consult with a EP because my hunch is I should have been with one all along. I have not had one for 6 years with the advice from my cardiologist who said I didn't really need one because my pacemaker was already in place and functioning well. He said the pm clinic in their office (that does not have an EP) should be able to handle everything. Any feedback on any of this would be great.
I do not post often and want to add this...I appreciate the wonderful support and feeling of community that we find here. I feel privileged to be part of the club. I can feel the respect and love when reading through the posts. :)

4 Comments

Bad Treatment

by TomTurkey - 2007-09-17 06:09:25

Hi Gamy,
I don’t post messages here often either. In fact this is my first time, although I have been reading what the members have to say about their pacemakers and their pacemaker doctors for a couple of years. But I see enough similarity in your story and what happened to me that I had to ask a couple of question. What is the name of your country? If it is U.S., my next question is what is the name of your attorney.
I know you said you would not take it to court or anything and I understand that. But sometimes we need to do those things to prevent others from getting the same type, or worse, treatment.
I too was awake during about half of my pacemaker implanting and I know what you are talking about on the pain issue. I did my share of talking to the barbarians that did my surgery, but it didn’t do no good. Like yours done they finished and left and it was the next day before I saw one of the “helpers.” By then all I wanted to do was get the heck out of that butcher shop and gohome. I didn’t go to an attorney for several reasons but I wish I had now, if nothing else maybe it would have gotten somebodies attention and kept somebody else from getting an unnecessary pacemaker. For reasons I have never been able to find out, the EP that put in my pacemaker left that hospital about a year after he did mine. The kind of strange part about that was no other doctor associated with that HMO/Hospital will discuss his leaving even though the fellow had been there more than 10 years and liked to brag about having averaged more than one pacemaker surgery a day for the entire time.
As for the cath lab helper putting in your leads, where did they locate your pacemaker? I have had several caths and each time the catheter was inserted in through the femoral artery. Every time a MD did all the surgery and inserting and removing the cath. My pacemaker is located under my left collarbone and the leads go into my heart through a vein. To be honest, I can’t imagine a hospital or doctor letting anybody other than a qualified MD insert anything into somebodies’ heart. Maybe another reason for you to think about a lawyer.
Anyway, all I wanted to say is you are not alone. Now I will wait and see if anyone else has had a similar experience.
Good luck to you.
Tom

oh boy

by jessie - 2007-09-17 06:09:41

you were not treated well because you should never have been awake. he knew this meaning the doctor. what a disgrace! i slept thru mine and i think they gave me versed. you also should not have much pain now. maybe a little but not much. you are almost 5 moonths post-op. i would be raising my concerns with the medical society where you live. they have a body that looks into complaints but first get to a doctor. good luck jessie

cath lab tech

by pacingamy - 2007-09-17 07:09:43

I guess I should say the cath lab tech was the one working the temp leads from the machine. I don't think he actually inserted them. He had them turned on to early and was not paying attention. Although at the time it actually happened the sheet was up obstructing my view. I just remember the positions of the people before they started working. Thanks for the replies and info so far. I will answer more later when I can sit down and type...

Sorry to hear about your bad treatment!

by bjmcpherren - 2007-09-18 04:09:21

It's unfortunate that you were given such bad treatment during your surgery. My last pacemaker replacement (just the devise - no lead replacement) I swear they did it in a storage room. I've been in many operating rooms but never one quite like this. Fortunatley the replacement went without a hitch so no emergency equipment was needed. This was not done at my regular hospital nor did my regular surgeon perform the surgery. It was pretty scary though! Anyway, my last 3 surgeries I have been awake and 2 of those I experienced pain, 1 being when they punctured the vein. Fortunatley my surgeon and his team have always been very professional and caring which doesn't sound like the case in your situation. Anyway, I hope things get better for you.

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