Pacemaker Replacement A Breeze

• by RapidHeart
• 2012-02-23 12:02:32
• Surgery & Recovery
• 2247 views
• 3 comments

Hi, I just wanted to reassure anyone who is having pacemaker replacement surgery. I'm a 64-year old woman. I've had a pacemaker since 1991. It was implanted because I have a rapid heartbeat, and the medication I take to slow my heart down could possibly slow it down too much. So the pacemaker was implanted in Sept. 1991. The first surgery wasn't bad, pacemaker & leads, overnight in hospital. Replacement in Jan. 2004 was a snap, outpatient surgery, was in hospital a few hours. Just had another replacement surgery on 2/21/12, also outpatient, it was a breeze. One glitch was that the surgery was delayed by 2 hours. It went well, took about 20 minutes. I had Vancomycin (antibiotic) and Versed (anesthesia) put in IV before the procedure. The only other glitch was that they also shot in morphine. I was "spacey" but not asleep when my surgeon numbed the area with lidocaine. I don't like needles, but it wasn't too bad, every other time I've had this surgery I've been sleeping. It was interesting because I felt him take out the old pacemaker and put in the new one. I was "floaty" but then I fell asleep. My nurse called the Versed happy juice! Unfortunately, the other glitch was that when I awoke, the morphine made me sick. Since I hadn't eaten since 10 pm the night before, I didn't bring up anything except clear fluid (I guess, I didn't look at it) but I was better in a few minutes as the morphine wore off. This was the only time I had morphine. I had a different experience with each surgery and a different surgeon for each. First time I was completely asleep, I believe I received Valium IV. After staying overnight in hospital, I did arm exercises at home, there was some pain, of course. Second time I went right back to work a couple of days later and felt no pain, the surgeon used surgical glue to close the incision. I was working as an administrative assistant. This time I also went home within a few hours. I live alone, divorced many years & daughter lives 2,000 away. I no longer work, I am on Social Security Disability Income because of heart problems -- was born with serious undetected heart defects not diagnosed until I was 34, had 2 surgeries to correct them 10 years apart; atrial fibrillation, for which I take warfarin which I stopped taking a few days before the surgery; and bipolar disorder. Luckily I am quite stable right now so I went into this surgery with a positive attitude. Spent the first day home resting, I am going to wash up without getting the wound wet, not a full shower, partial shower with water set on low blast and partial sponge bath. You are not supposed to get the incision wet at all until your surgeon gives you the OK. This time my surgeon closed with steri-strips, put on gauze and held that in place with clear tape. He also prescribed an antibiotic capsule, Clindamycin, which is the first time I've had to take that, to prevent infection. I'll be on that for a week. I plan to resume my normal activities while being cautious and wearing a few layers of clothing to protect the wound. I am going to drive with a towel under the shoulder harness. Seeing the surgeon in a few days and don't expect any problems. I usually heal fast. To promote healing, I suggest taking 500 mg. of vitamin C, I've taken it for years, rarely get sick and heal quite nicely. This surgery is nothing to be afraid of, but I understand being nervous, everyone is. I was pretty calm. I'm normally a very nervous person, but two open-heart surgeries were a lot scarier than having pacemakers put in. Good luck, if anyone has questions feel free to message me. I have some pain which is tolerable and for which I can take Tylenol. Doing really well, sleeping a lot and have a good appetite.