Pacemaker change worries?

Iam gettin my Pacemaker changed very soon and iam a little worried dunno what happens This will be my First packer change i wanna know?

R u asleep ?

How long does it take?

Is it sore afterwards?

How long u in hospital?

And if ur not asleep Does it not feel weird when they r putting it in?

5 Comments

Pacemaker Replacement

by SMITTY - 2009-12-31 11:12:37

had my 9 year old dual lead Methodic PM replaced 10-22-09. I had many of the same questions you do and to my pleasant surprise it was about as near nothing as any surgery can be. I went in abut 7 AM, as told, laid down and read the paper and watched TV for a couple of hours then spent the next 3 or 4 hours being prepped, which consisted mainly of getting about a quart (at least it looked like that amount) of antibiotic through an I.V. and the surgery area cleaned and cleaned real good Once that was completed I was wheeled off to the PM lab, as they call it, and spent another 30 or 40 minutes being "dressed" for the surgery. Sometime after I got in the PM lab I received some medication to make me relax so they said, but what it did was make take a nap in about a half-sleep mode. I vaguely remember being told they were injecting a pain killer into the area where the surgery would be performed. Between 30 and 45 minutes later I was told, "okay Mr. Smith, we are through and every thing is working fine" and then I was wheeled back into a room where I had to wait for awhile to be sure I had no adverse reactions to any of the meds I had received. About 5 PM I was told I could go home. I was no more sore this time than I was with my first one, which was almost none, and healing has been no more or less a problem than the first one.

Now, that was my experience, but since we are all different, I hope your replacement is as easy as trouble free as mine.

Of course they checkout the leads and if one or both are found to be deficient, it will be replaced, but mine were good to go for a few more years.

Good luck to you,

Smitty

Replacement

by ElectricFrank - 2010-01-01 02:01:39

I'm coming up on a replacement so talked to the cardiologist about it at my last checkup. He said he does it at the outpatient surgical facility at the hospital and that the actual surgery usually ran less than an hour.

My original implant was done with only a local anesthetic and wasn't difficult at all. The main thing I felt was pressure when they were making the pocket. The replacement is much simpler. Just open the pocket, remove the old pacer, change the leads over to the new one, put it in the pocket, and close it up. Without any relaxing or amnesia drugs I should be able to leave pretty quickly.

I suggest talking it over with the doc before you find yourself in the O.R. It it pretty much your choice as to what you want in the way of anesthesia. I would doubt they would want to put you completely out for something as simple as a replacement, but I'm sure they will want to make you comfortable.

By the way I'm assuming that yours is implanted on your chest wall right under the skin. If it was implanted deeper for cosmetic reasons it would change what you want to have.

frank

I was awake!

by tcrabtree85 - 2010-01-01 12:01:16

I was awake with my pm change and lead change. I would feel it sometimes and just ask the lovely medicine lady as I called her to give me more of those drugs. I remember everything of my surgery but I have been awake for every surgery that I have had. Now the drugs they give are local but most people do fall asleep with them. I stayed over night and b/c I was traveling a long distance and still was not feel great from the drugs they gave me I stayed 2 nights but usually it is one night.

It did feel a little weird but I kinda liked knowing what was going on. I would repeat my questions and then say sorry for doing so. That those lovely drugs though.

I wish you luck and don't worry i'm sure it won't be that big of a deal and much easier than the first for the recovery I would guess.

Blessings,
Tammy

8 Pacers so far...

by FirstDuely - 2010-01-01 12:01:20

It might be 9 but I am rapidly losing track of just how many. As long as the leads are good and nothing needs to be done with them, everything else is pretty routine. For me the lousiest part of the whole experience is the IVs that go into a vein in my arm...but then the fine people who do this for a living generally are really nice and do an outstanding job. It is just my aversion to needles that gets me....just look away at a pretty nurse or something else to keep your mind off this.
As Smitty so eloquently put it, mostly I, too, just take a nap during the procedure although for the replacements I got early on I can say I was a bit nervous. No one likes being in the hospital but the people there are the best and should be classified as true heroes. Trust that they will do the best for you, talk to them while they are there with you about every little thing that either upsets you or makes you nervous. They will explain if you ask. Sore afterward? A little bit because of the stitches so you need to be careful not to twist things by moving the area too much. Don't go out and play football / soccer the next day, okay?? Like Smitty said before, this might just take one day to do if they start prepping early in the day. Remember this: most doctors figure if they can get you out of their early they can still have time to get out on the (how do say this?) golflinks by early afternoon and at least get 9 holes played. And you go home and sleep in your own bed and your spouse treats you like a very special person....at least for a day or so. My wife had me up and washing dishes and her car pretty much the next day....no sympathy here after so many replacements. She knows I was whining too much early on. lol
The pacer is meant to improve your quality of life. Enjoy every day. Wake up and be happy!!!
Good luck. You'll be just fine.

nothing to worry about

by dwelch - 2010-01-21 04:01:31


I am on the tail end of number three. Each replacement was a little different. I was awake for all three, the first I could see the doc sitting there looking down at me, just enough drugs to remember it and feel it but I wasnt able to get the words forming in my head to make it to my mouth. First replacement, same doc, this time they made a tent over my face out of that blue paper, probably a good idea to keep the germs from my breathing, etc under control, maybe to keep stuff from hitting me in the face. there was an opening above my head and the nurse would peek in from time to time to ask me how i was doing. This time there was extra tugging, and after all said and done scratches on the pacer case, apparently it had been stitched in and the stitch was still holding it in. this is the one where the doc at one point said "Ooops" and I said "what do you mean oops". Basically the lead had broken, so I have three leads now and only use two. I am a pretty tall/big guy so I was told by next doc that three leads are okay but if they have to add another some day they will want to remove the others not being used. At that time at that facility she said they had a doc that was good at removing them. Third pacer, I imagine my face was covered in some way, this time around I was like a drunk person, I pretty much asked or said the same things over and over again all through the surgery. You know how it is if you are the designated driver and your buddies are getting a little sloshed, they dont remember they just told you the same thing 17 times in the last hour. As I was coming out of it later I asked the question one more time then said, "did I ask that a bunch of times already", answer, yes you did.

The tugging is not unlike the first pacer. The worst experience of all three was the first one had a metal iv in the back of my hand, I had to spend the night so I had that thing in there for a day and a half or so, nothing else hurt except that iv. The second and third the iv's didnt hurt as bad, the second pacer with the new lead I think I spent the night again at the hospital.

On the last one I did notice that my heart was stuck at 65bpm which is what the pacer does (for a few months I am told) when it is time to be replaced, saves the last bit of the battery. I did not notice that before, perhaps because I am older and out of shape.

The recovery should be easier, a couple-four weeks, you have been through the tough one already. The new pacer should be smaller unless you are going from single to dual or something, and the newer one is going to have a bunch of cool new features if you sit down and talk to the doc or they let you have or look at the full printout.

if you can just relax and sleep through the procedure a couple hours later you will be on your way home, a bottle full of good drugs, and a week or so of napping in the recliner catching up on movies on TV. A nice little vacation from life.

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