Answers, Finally

Good morning all. Back to the cardio yet again yesterday. The medtronic Rep has finally compiled all of his research and it turns out that my lead needs to be replaced. I have less than 2 years of battery life left on my current Pacer, so his recommendation is to extract the old leads and then just replace the whole works all at once.
Waiting to hear from the surgeon for my consult now.
Should hopefully be all fixed up in a matter of a week it two now.
Thank you for all of your input and advice. It was appreciated more than I can tell you.
Carol

7 Comments

Me too

by Mongee - 2012-05-01 09:05:46

I had the same thing, except I had a recall on my lead. Still had 2 years on battery, but Dr. felt, as long as we are there, lets replace and start over again. I never had a problem with the insurance. Good Luck and speedy recovery

Great

by ElectricFrank - 2012-05-02 02:05:33

Let us know how it all turns out.

frank

Lead Removel

by Mary1998 - 2012-05-29 01:05:50

What method are you having for your lead removal? I just had a new unit implanted. Several days later, I began having issues - long story short, I have a bad lead. My pacer is reprogrammed to go from 2-lead to 1. Dr. doesn't want to insert new lead until he has to - too many side effects. Now I'm curious about the process of having the lead removed.

Update

by Carol M - 2012-05-29 11:05:54

Good morning all. Sorry if I have kept you in suspense...lol
Ok, still on this crazy roller coaster ride.
I went to see the surgeon whom I thought was going to do my surgery, only to have him tell me that he won't touch me. He sent me to yet another surgeon who is over 2 hours away from where I live....that's fun. I saw him on May 14th.
This surgeon will do my surgery. He said I would have a surgery date within a few days and that my surgery would be 3-4 weeks out.
Well, here we are, 2 weeks later, and I still have not heard from this surgeons office. Quite frustrated, but hopefully I will hear something soon.
Mary, as far as the lead removal goes, the only thing he told me was that because my leads have been in for so long (25 years) it was going to be a complicated surgery. He said the easiest way to explain the proceedure was that they would have to dissect the leads to remove them. I'm not looking forward to this at all, but it needs to be done. Unfortunately I am having side effects from my malfunction, so I have no option.
Best of luck to you, too. I hope everything works out!

I wish you the best, too.

by Mary1998 - 2012-05-30 08:05:00

Carol, I wish you the best on your upcoming surgery. I will keep you in my prayers.

Lead removal

by Deltamouse - 2012-06-02 04:06:04

I had medtronic implant 8/2010. Pacing 80-85% of the time. Last time i had a pm check up the dr told me my ventrical was "working under its own steam and everything is fine". The comment didnt register till i visited my regular cardiologist 4 months later and told him i was feeling v run down and occasionally short of breath. he gave me an ecg, said the ventrical lead is not working at all as it has a fibroid over the implant site, he was shocked the pm dr told me everything was fine, and said it needs immediate replacement. (dont know how he could tell all THAT from an ecg...)
??How do they get the lead out?? They told me it was like a "corkscrew" on the end. Can they twist it out, or do they rip it out of my ventrical wall??
I am really not wanting to do this unless necessary (another 7-8 years). Would this be making me feel run down and short of breath? I thought maybe i could wait till battery runs down but if it is what is making me feel lousy I guess I will do it. But it sounds SCARY ! My brother has had a pm for 21 years and still uses original leads implanted!!

Lead Removal

by Carol M - 2012-06-03 08:06:36

Hey Deltamouse
I am sorry to say that I cannot really give you answers about your lead removal.
I can say, with some certainty, that your extraction would be much easier than mine (or your brothers). The longer the leads are in, the more difficult they are to get out, because more scar tissue forms.
They do not rip it out of your ventrical wall, no :) They do go in and laser away the scar tissue that has formed in order to safely remove the lead. Preferably no ripping.
I too have been very run down and short of breath. I pace 100% of the time myself.
Best of luck to you, whichever way you and your cardio need to go with this.

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