Just got back from hospital

Well, I'm officially bionic! I had my (dual lead) pacemaker put in yesterday, with a bit of a complication. The cardiologist took the Sleuth device out, which was well and truly stuck in the scar tissue and took a lot of yanking! Then she inserted the pacemaker itself and all went OK until she tested the lead in the atrium, which apparently isn't routine as nothing really goes wrong there, but she tests it anyway. I was aware of my right side of my tummy spasming, like hiccups but it wasn't. They said it was because the nerve was extra sensitive, and was stimulating my diaphragm. The technician kept raising and lowering the voltage until the spasms stopped and I was stitched up before going back to the ward. The whole procedure took 2 hours and 15 minutes. When I was taken back to the ward, the spasming started again so the nurses got the technician to adjust the voltage again until it stopped. None of the nurses had seen it before, and the cardiologist said that it was very, very, very rare for that to happen! Has it ever happened to you?

Other than that, everything went OK. I've now got 3 scars on my chest, and I've only had problems since last July! How many will I have if I live to be 90?! lol. My chest is hurting a lot, and I keep forgetting that I can't use my left arm until pain shoots down my chest so that will take a lot of getting used to over the next few days. No clubbing for me next weekend...

5 Comments

diaphragm spasms

by Smart Redd - 2009-03-01 01:03:05

Yup! It's not as unusual as the nurses suggest. Mine didn't start right away, however. In the hospital I stayed mostly on my back. Mine mostly happened when I tried sleeping on my side (either one) and the jumping kept both of us awake.

Went to DRs office with that complaint and actually wasn't believed until abt. 1/2 hour later one of the nurses saw/felt the movement. Next day, the technician switched the settings and eliminated most of the problem.

Still get that jump when bending over to pull weeds or straining a bit.

Hope you'll be feeling back to your better self quickly.

Red

welcome to the club

by Tracey_E - 2009-03-01 03:03:30

You're officially a Pacer Chick now! I'm sorry to hear you had complications. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

If you find yourself doing too much with your left arm, you might want to try a sling.

Phew!

by petrolhead - 2009-03-01 03:03:50

OK, I'm glad it's not that rare! Although I'm used to being pretty unusual. I was born with a cleft lip and palate (which affects 1 in 800 babies) and now I also have a pacemaker I'm wondering how many other 21 year olds are in my position...? My cardiologist said I'm her star patient, the youngest she's ever treated. On the ward I was the youngest by 61 years, according to the nurses.

Hopefully the pain will start to subside soon, I'm currently taking the codeine and paracetamol I usually take for migraines, which works OK but I know when it's wearing off!!

Voltage-wise the technician said he'd set it at 7, is that strong/weak?

Also, I've noticed that my heart seems to be beating more irregularly than it did before the pacemaker was put in, is this likely to settle down or does it need adjusting at the clinic?

Thanks in advance, apologies for the questions...

settings

by Tracey_E - 2009-03-01 08:03:41

Odds are excellent that your settings will need fine tuned. The settings they send us home with are factory standards for the most part- not meant for someone young and healthy. It takes some time to get it tweaked to meet your specific needs and get you feeling great again.

It's probably actually not more irregular, it's just that you're more aware of it now.

Great News

by Lotti - 2009-03-01 09:03:51

Emma

Glad to hear you've successfully turned bionic.

Catch up later

Lotti

You know you're wired when...

You can finally prove that you have a heart.

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Good luck with your surgery. It will improve life amazingly.