Most Recent Messages in Surgery & Recovery

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Recovery

I had a dual chamber PM put in 3 days ago, I had sick sinus syndrome and have had 2 ablations that didnt work. Am feeling better already but am concerned about how much movement is safe. Would it take quite a bit to dislodge a lead? is it normal to be a bit worried?

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What a breeze

I had a medtronics pace maker put in on Tuesday 10/4/2011.This was a event free and painless operation. I was awake and talking during the whole procedure.Afterwards only took 3 pain pills and feel like a new person Jerry

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10-3-2011 Surgery

I just had surgery a few days ago. I went into the ER 4 days prior to surgery w/ chest pains, dizziness, slurring my words, confusion, & headache. At the time I was leaning towards me having a stroke. All tests ruled that out (thankfully). I am 47 years old. There was a wonderful cardio doctor on call that night and almost right away he knew what I was going to need done. My heart rate was 38 and it didn’t go up much more than that. Even during the stress test the highest it reached wa...

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new placement?

Hi I am new to this website and forum. I had a pacemaker implanted in 2004 my freshman year of high school. I hated it then and I hate it now. I have my pacemaker implanted just under my skin in the I guess "normal" area. I was looking at other forums and what not and noticed some people having it under their chest muscle? Just looking for more info on recovery time, how more serious is the surgery and what not. I am 21 and have not let this pacemaker change my life what so ever. I still train b...

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Showers

I got my pacemaker September 26, 2011. How long for recovery, showers, able to do things again. I'm a 74 (almost 75) year old female and have always been in excellent health. This incident really frightened me and now with the pacemaker, I'm told I'll be able to dance again. Will I? When I think about dancing again I get nervous and don't think I'll ever get on the dance floor again. Two faints and both times I was dancing. How do you cope with something like this and how long before I'll...

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Recovery

I'm a fit 56 year old male and had my PM implant 7 days ago after diagnosis of slow heart rate that didn't respond to exercise. How long before I can lift my elbow above my shoulder? How long before I can get back to running, I've run several marathons before including the 90k Comrades 4 times?

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Thankfully I'm Improving.......

Hi all
Just to say what a difference a few more days makes! It's 16 days post-PM today.I started off feeling great as soon as the PM went in. By the beginning of this week I was feeling terrible (exhausted/chest soreness). Then mid-week I went into some sort of emotional meltdown over the PM, failed ablation, damaged sinus node etc. Thankfully the arrythmia nurse who looks after me gave me his words of advice & wisdom, when I contacted him for help in the week, & today I'm happy to say th...

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7 weeks on and still lots of pain

Hey all!
i got my medtronic mri compatible pacer on the 12th august this year and im a 20 year old medical student. its been nearly 7 weeks since the operation and i still have really bad pain in the area as though there is damaged tissue. everybody iv spoken to was fine after about a week. i had my incision below the arm area because i am young and the op took longer than expected so i presume there was some kind of difficulty especially because im quite thin and it was hard to place.

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Epicardial ablation

Can anyone tell me about their experience? I can find nothing but bad stuff about this procedure. I am 23 and I have been suffering from tachy-Brady for 3 years now. In July I was in junction rhythm for days so we agreed to kill my sinus node and pace me. That didn't go as planned, was in surgery for 7 hours and my heart rate wouldn't go below 100 so they put a monitor inside of me. Over that pasttwo months it showed the my resting rate was 140 and alot higher when I was up and moving. Went in T...

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Getting new one tomorrow! ;)

Having my pacemaker replaced tomorrow, after having it for the past 13 years... feeling sad because this one has been so good to me!! Hoping the new one will be just as good! :)

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Advice please

It's been about 10 months since my 3rd pacemaker was put in, i haven't had any problems, but i noticed lately that the area they put the device in, the scar has healed up but even at the slightest touch, it burns and stings. I don't know what this is, i've never experienced it before. I could really use some input, as of i don't know what to do.

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How long

I'm brand new to this board and I'm just wondering what otherss experience has been regarding recovery from the surgery. I'm 5 days out from duel chamber PM surgery and am still very fatigued.

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Post op Shocks?

Hi, I'm 21 and got my first pacemaker 10 days ago due to the discovery that my heart stops during episodes of syncope. The whole thing has been a pretty big ordeal given I've been passing out since I was 9 and in the space of 3 months this year went from being told I'll grow out of it and I need to increase my 20hrs of sport a week to your having a pacemaker fitted now as an emergency! Anyway surgery wasn't exactly straightforward but I got through it. Since about day 4 however I've been experie...

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Paced.....& feeling great!

Hi all
On Wednesday I had a Medtronic MRI Compatible Dual Chamber PM inserted! This was for sick sinus syndrome causing chronotropic incompetence....caused by my 2nd ablation for atrial tachycardia damaging my sinus node, back in June. For 3 months I've had severe bradycardia symptoms. On Monday I was admitted to hospital as my symptoms took a turn for the worse last week. Saw EP Tuesday. PM in on Wednesday.

Well.....I feel GREAT! Whereas my HR was dropping to 32, the PM st...

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burning pain

One week past implant and 3 days ago started burning pain at site. Also had some oozing. Had site checked and was given an antibiotic as a precaution. They said nerves at site are probably actin up.

Anybody have this? How long did it last?

Maryalice

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Second Ablation

Finally some good news coming my way - I'm going to have my second ablation done on September 26th. I was originally scheduled for September 21st but ended up getting bumped further down. They're setting aside 4-5 hours for my procedure which is a lot more than they usually set aside (its usually between 1-4 hours) but they want to make sure they leave themselves enough time to find it and get rid of it.

My anxiety and panic attacks have been very bad over the past 5 weeks. I was supp...

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potassium problem

I have had my colon removed, and I do not absorb potassium. I take 120kgs per day by mouth. I am ofter in atrial fibrilation due to the imbalance of potassium. I have had 2 ablations. The first one worked for 2 years, and the second, not at all. My doctor is recommending a pacemaker. I know I need potassium whenever I go into a-fib. Their isn't a home test for potassium. I am very nervous about getting the pm, but I hardly leave my house in fear of going into a-fib. The doctor suggest tha...

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Wound site

Hi, I had my pacemaker fitted in May this year and although the scar has healed well I still experience quite a lot of discomfort first thing in the morning. It usually disappears as i get more active during day -but not always. can anyone advise if this is normal?

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MRI Compatible

hi all!
emailed cardiologist yesterday as i was still having a lot of pain and thought i was still very swollen he rang me early this morning and called me in and explained that a lot of the swelling i thought was there was actually the size of my pacemaker at 12cm! its large!
my other concern had been i have been getting electric shock type symptoms but he said it was nothing really to worry about and just something to do with the battery; a way to stop it would be to put a smaller b...

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Pacemaker Amnesia

The doctor said that he always prescribes Versed so that I won’t remember the surgery. Versed causes amnesia. I told him I want to be awake. The doctor argued, “Why would you want to remember the surgery?”

The nurse told me they don’t prescribe anesthesia, because with Versed you won’t remember anything.

Is it better to stay awake during surgery with localized anesthesia, and not suffer from amnesia, to recover more quickly post-op?

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Member Quotes

I am not planning on letting any of this shorten my life. I am planning on living a long happy battery operated life. You never know maybe it will keep me alive longer. I sure know one thing I would have been dead before starting school without it.