Update.... Pacer and leads extraction

Hi again everyone. Mermaidjan here again...
The anxious RN who was having surgery
April 29. Well a 'fluke' happened. I had been exposed
To my granddaughter (age3) several days before
Hospitalized with a severe case of 'rotavirus'
(Vomiting and diarrhea). You guessed it -
I developed severe diarrhea during the night
before my surgery so it was postponed for 2
weeks! I couldn't stop smiling! The best thing
that happened was that I spoke to an excellent
EP who explained everything to me and really
reassured me answering all my questions (unlike
my first experience at the preop session. Now
I feel so much more positive about this whole
procedure Everything happens for a reason
and I believe that's the case here the nervous
Nurse has had a change in attitude. Bring it on
May 13! Good luck tomorrow Francine!

7 Comments

How did...

by donr - 2013-04-30 09:04:58

...The EP's descriptions & counseling compare w/ ours?

Which brings up an excellent point: Most of our members who experience Roto-Rooter procedures report back that they survived the procedure & then disappear, never - or very seldom - to be heard from again. (TattooMan is the apparent exception). I know that there are at least three or four recent successful extractions & the women who experienced them are nowhere to be found for answering YOUR plea for help.

How about sticking around for a few months - or years- to help others in your anxiety boat.

Glad it all is working out well for you.

Don

Anxiety re leads extractions

by mermaidjan - 2013-04-30 11:04:15

I will Don.... Just like you. If I can help others in this situation I would really like to.
You've helped me a lot. Thanks again, Don!
The mermaid who will be so happy to have her fins on again....soon I hope!

Atrial lead extraction and more

by francine1 - 2013-05-12 09:05:10

Mermaidjan, I've been leaving messages for you. I'm glad you are more comfortable with your upcoming extraction. I had mine done at Cleveland Clinic on May 1,2013. What a difference from my initial placement which was done elsewhere. Cleveland Clinic has everything down to an art. My surgery took a little over 4 hrs.,they found that my pacemaker had not worked efficiently from the beginning,that not only was my atrial lead broken but both leads were tangled like grapevines which my new EP implicated was done by my former EP. What a mess! Everything had to be replaced, am feeling soooooo much better. Good luck to you.

Good Grief, Mermaid!!

by donr - 2013-08-04 06:08:23


I thought I had a lock on the weird & unusual.

Glad that in the end it all worked out OK. Sounds like you ran into a radiologist who thought outside the box - or perhaps more correctly, inside the heart!

As soon as I saw that you had logged in, I wondered how the procedure went.

This REALLY gets weird. On 13 May (sound like a familiar date?), I had a colonoscopy "At my leisure" according to my rectal surgeon buddy. He found a BIG, flat polyp that required taking out a big chunk of colon two days later. I'm just now starting to truly recover from that. Fortunately it was benign. Also fortunately it was the appendix side of the colon that came out - saving me from a bag.

Hope all continues to go well for you.
Don

Make a changE

by donr - 2013-08-04 06:08:42

Jan: Your update will not appear on the open site because your thread is more than 7 days old & dropped off the bottom.

Suggest you re-post it as a new post so the world can see what happened to you.

Don

Anxious RN Leads Extraction Update

by mermaidjan - 2013-08-04 06:08:54

Sorry it has taken me so long to let you know how things went. Francine I am happy for you that you are now feeling better and all went well!
I had some serious complications with mine but fortunately am doing great now. As my wires were in for 15 years, the EP had a difficult time getting my Ventricular wire out through my tricuspid valve and really damaged it. However he said that I could live without my tricuspid valve (between the right atrium and right ventricle) As a nurse, this was certainly news to me!
They sent me back to my home hospital to have my new Pacer inserted. I had gained 20 pounds of fluid in 3 days and was in congestive heart failure (CHF)!! My cardiologist realized something was not right with me and discovered a fistula in my chest created by the EP surgeon. Blood was being shunted from an artery into a vein and back to my heart causing CHF. They sent me by ambulance back to London to have it fixed. As they had never had a case like mine, they didn't know how to fix it, even consulting the Cleveland Clinic. Finally an Interventional Radiologist offered to insert stents to block the flow of the leaking artery. It worked!!! My CHF is now gone thankfully. Additionally, my cardiologist only inserted an atrial leaving my tricuspid valve alone. I really only need an atrial wire as my original problem was sinus node dysfunction. (My ventricular wire had been turned off for 10 years anyway) Well that's my story.......I had such a sense of foreboding before this surgery making me very anxious. Now I realize it was not unfounded!! I'm happy now!

May 13... Weird or what?!

by mermaidjan - 2013-08-04 10:08:33

Hi Don!

That is a strange coincidence. Anyway I'm so
glad you are ok, it wasn't cancer and you don't
have a bag.

BTW I just broke my wrist 3 days ago! And I
was just enjoying being back swimming again
So I'm in a cast for 6 weeks but it could have been
worse.

Anyway thanks for letting me know about the link
Being broken. I'm going to try to copy and paste
A new entry. Wish me luck....!

Jan

You know you're wired when...

You read consumer reports before upgrading to a new model.

Member Quotes

I'm 43 and have had my pacemaker four weeks today. I'm looking forward to living another 50 years and this marvelous device inside me will help me do that.