4 days after surgery for my pacemaker

I am a 41 yr old female. I have battled arrhythmia's for the past year. I have had 3 ablation surgeries in the right outflow tract. A few weeks ago the skippies (pvc's) were getting weird..passed out and lost my breathe a few times, a few more symptoms existed as well. They put a 30 day moniter on and in 2 days found sinus node dysfunction. Apparently I was having sinus pauses of about 10 seconds. That explains the knots on my head.
Anyways Thursday I had a dual lead pacemaker inserted. This is a little more painful than I thought. How long till the painful site and shoulder go away? I have put ice on it....not sure if I should be doing that either. Just glad this site exists...I dont feel so alone now. thanks for listening.

6 Comments

feeling better

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-13 10:07:00

If the ice feels better, go for it. But don't leave it on for more than 15-20 min. When in doubt, call and ask your dr.

Sinus pauses will definitely mess you up! You should be feeling a lot better soon. Everyone is different, but most feel substantially better by the end of the first week, completely healed by 4-6 weeks.

I know how you feel...

by anewday - 2009-07-13 11:07:21

I am a 45 yr old female, had a ICD(pm & defib) implanted, and needed a lead revision after only 2 weeks.
I am still having episodes (63 in the past 2 weeks)
Had 2 tweaks on my device, and finally got to go for a run (which is my passion) and did well.
They are now telling me I may need an ablation. i am SO sad. I was thinking I was in the clear. Not sure how I will handle this. I am sick of all of this!!!
Just curious... are the ablation surgeries hard???
I don't know if I can take much more.
Both my parents died of heart conditions. I was only 16 when my mom died.
I just had my sweet 16 year old daughter in for an echo on Fri. All is good!! Thank GOD!
I would love to hear how your ablations went...
Thanks!
Brenda

should be better soon

by ShadowWeaver - 2009-07-14 01:07:20

I am a 34 year old male and I ended the surgery with a little pain for about an hour or so and then it went away and nothing really after that unless I pushed it too hard. Just make sure to take your time to heal and the pain will go away in no time.

Day 5

by Jeanine68 - 2009-07-14 10:07:15

Thank you all for your comments! Awww laying on my stomach...how I do miss that! Rozybud today is that uncomfortable pain you spoke of. It's more of a nagging soreness and a twinge of pain every once in awhile. Much more bearable today.
Anewday asked about the ablations. The first was terrible...I was awake and in a lot of pain while the ablated. That dr was horrible and it made it even worse. I found a great dr in Philadelphia a good 2 hours from me who did the 2 and 3rd. The second I begged to be put to sleep and felt nothing. The last one I needed to be awake with no drugs what so ever. It was scarey watching wires go in your heart on screens. The pain was bearable during it. Less painfull than giving birth.lol.
It is a lot less painfull than a pacemaker. Have 100% trust in your dr and it will be fine. I searched until I found one I loved. Thanks everyone again for helping me thru this.

sleeping

by Tracey_E - 2009-07-14 11:07:36

I found that hugging a small pillow with my left arm helped me sleep. It kept me from moving the sore arm around too much and from rolling over onto my stomach.

You will feel better real soon!

by rozybud - 2009-07-14 12:07:50

I'm 42 yr old female, have always had SVT, but recently for over a year had long heart pauses, 45 seconds etc.
Had pm surgery after passing out and cracking head open by our pool! I had more uncomfortable type pain after 5 days, but within 3 weeks much better.
I can now lay on my stomach while sleeping. It takes about 6 months for the scar tissue and muscles to grow around the pm so it's not so uncomfortable. I'm surprised how I go through daily life now and forget I have it! Just got back from Disneyland and felt fine! No more heart pauses!
Good luck and you will feel better!

You know you're wired when...

You play MP3 files on your pacer.

Member Quotes

My pacemaker is the best thing that every happened to me, had I not got it I would not be here today.