Most Recent Messages in Surgery & Recovery

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Non Healing Pacemaker Wound

Hi everyone,

I wonder if anyone ever had any experience with their pacemaker wound taking an extremely long period of time to close up and heal.
 

I had my first pacemaker implanted when I was 10 years due to frequent syncopal attack after which I diagnosed with complete heart block. I had VSD repair when I was 4 years old which the cardiologist is likely a complication following the initial open heart surgery. Fast forward, I am 30 years old now with no regular med...

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Pacemaker Club - post Pacemaker/ICD Implant Pain Survey

Dear Members,

Over recent months, several members of the Pacemaker Club have expressed a wish to know how many of us experienced pain following implant of our devices, the nature and extent of that pain and how it affected different age groups and gender.   

A survey has now been set up with the kind help of Club members and the link to the survey is given below.  The survey is confidential and will not be used for marketing.  All members irrespective of w...

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Guitars, seatbelts, and subpectoral implant

Hi All!

Still working through my diagnosis (asymptomatic, vagal-mediated AV block) with my doctor but I wanted to float a few questions. I am in the "acceptance" phase and my goal is to get through surgery and recovery as easily as possible and get back to doing the stuff I like doing.

I am 5'10 about 140 lbs, fit but thin. One doctor kind of rolled his eyes when I asked about subpectoral implantation of a dual chamber PM. He says he does them, but said it's...

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Pacemaker - now or wait!

Hello,  I hope it was OK that I joined before I had my pacemaker surgery.  I wanted to get some opinions, please.    Dr. said I could wait 5 to 8 years before having it done. Dr. asked my opinion about waiting and I mentioned that it crossed my mind maybe I should have done sooner while I am younger (65) rather than waiting til almost 75 plus it should help with my episodes of being tired by pulse is low or BP is low.  Dr. said "OK, we can schedule it for ne...

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Pacemaker Club - post Pacemaker/ICD implant Pain Survey

Dear Members,

Over recent months, several members of the Pacemaker Club have expressed a wish to know how many of us experienced pain following implant of our devices, the nature and extent of that pain and how it affected different age groups and gender.   

A survey has now been set up with the kind help of Club members and the link to the survey is given below.  The survey is confidential and will not be used for marketing.  All members irrespective of w...

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Post implant pain

Did anyone else have pain 3 weeks after PM implant?  I continue to feel pain along one side of the device and any type of clothing that even touches the area is very irritating.  I also feel like the device has slightly moved.  Am I imagining this or is it possible?  Seems like it shouldn't be painful this long after.

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St Jude’s 2 Leads

Hi,

I'm getting a PM on Thursday morning. Any words of wisdom? My heart rate isn't that low, but when I sit still for too long driving, my heart rate drops enough that I start to pass out--like 40bpm--and I can hardly stay awake.  Ugh!!!

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Getting a CRT-D Bi V end of month

Im Kris, 52, and I will be part of the club at the end of the month. I live in Atlanta and am fortunate to be getting this done at Emory. I have DCM and Lbbd and my ejection fraction is 40. I'm so tired and ready to feel better. Just introducing myself and so grateful for the support. 

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pacemaker surgery yesterday

I got a pacemaker yesterday.  My electrophysiologist said I didn't have to get one but he thought I should.  So yesterday I got a pacemaker.  I was fine last night and didn't have to spend a night in the hospital.  Today I am dizzy.  My Medtronics transmittor device shows nothing wrong but I'm having constant light dizziness today.  Any thoughts?  I have already contacted my doctor.  I experienced dizziness off and on before getting the pace...

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Back to Normal Activities?

I had my pacemaker surgery on June 16th and hit my 6 week post-implantation mark this week.  I called the pacemaker clinic nurse to ask about resuming normal activities and she gave me the all clear (OK to raise arm over head, lifting, all other regulular activities that I was doing before the procedure).

Does this 6 week recovery period fit the bill for most folks?  Should I continue to be a bit cautious for another month or so?  I'm feeling well with just a ver...

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Very concerned...

I had my Pacemaker installed last Saturday..  Last night I went tothe emergency room because my left arm andleft hand had swollen up... They done a Cat Scan, drew blood and checked forblood clots.. All checked out normal... My blood pressure and heart rate was good also.... The selling went down and they released me.... This morning I woke up and my hand was swollen again... I called the doctors office who installed the Pacemaker, it's Saturday, they are closed...  so I called t...

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Heart rate

Just wondering what most people have their heart rate set at after getting the pacemaker and why they start out at 80 and eventually go to 60.

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Getting it out

Hi, I'm not looking to start a debate or anything, but I was wondering if legally I could request my device to be removed. I don't want it anymore. Would a doctor honour that?

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Scar after ICD removal?

Hi PM/ICD'ers,

I just had my ICD removed entirely and it looks like the scar is going to be a pretty gnarly, raised hypertrophic/keloid type. It was already red and very uncomfortable for most of the past 14 months I've had it in, but it looks like it's about to be a lot worse, considering they went in directly through the old scar to remove it. 

Does anyody have any experience with this and what I can expect? And what I can do to fix it once it heals/let it...

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Doctor office appt Tues 7/12/2021 - PM surgery scheduled for August 16

Hi Everyone,

I made a list of q for appointment tomorrow (Tues July 13) with my electrophysiologist. But most of my questions are about aftercare, which the doctor may or may not be the person to discuss that with. (Maybe the Nurse Navigator?) I will post questions about that after tomorrow, if necessary. For now, I would appreciate you folks suggesting what questions specifically I should ask my doctor at tomorrow's appt.

So far I have *is this pacemaker safe for MRI?  *...

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Did Any Other Women Have This Issue?

Hi everyone! In June 2020, I had two ICD surgeries in two days. Within hours of the first surgery, I could feel the ICD in my breast, far from the incision area. I told the nurses, but they dismissed my concerns. Then it started beeping. No one could explain why, and I'm concerned it's going to deliver a shock. I insisted on a chest x-ray, which was performed the next morning. The x-ray confirmed my suspicions: the ICD lead snapped and dragged the de...

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Pain and short of breath

Hi everyone. :)

I'm new to having a pacemaker, so I'm really glad I found this forum.

I'm a 30 year old female and just got my first ever pacemaker inserted 2 weeks ago. I had to get it due to me fainting out of nowhere one day and turns out I have 3rd degree heart block. 
 

The healing process has been rough. No one told me what's normal and not normal so I've been to the ER like 3 times so far only to be told everything is okay on both my...

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Pain

Thx especially to Gemita for all ur feedback most appreciated & to all others that responded. I'm going through a rough time having to depend on others for assistance at this time . 

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Pain

Hi all, glad i found this site ! Great to get advice from others who have been through some of the same issues. First where on the site can I go to read the concerns of others past & present & member quotes. I had my pm implanted in Feb 2021 all went well for the first 2 months felt fine ,u could barely see it ,  then 3rd month pm started to migrate to axilla area ,very uncomfortable & causing pain in my shoulder & side of neck. MD said he only sutured it with 1 row of su...

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pool water

I've had my stiches removed a week ago... how soon can I get the incision wet by dunking in a pool? I have showered already.

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Microwave ovens make you spark.

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I swim, scuba, garden, hike, climb, workout, play with the kids, play tennis, baseball, basket ball and rollerblade with mine with no problem.