Third Day into it

When the clock says 3:30 pm, I will be into my third day of living with my new Boston Scientific/Guidant model k173 Pacer. The actual procedure took all of about a half an hour. My incision site is surprisingly pain free. My shoulder and neck muscles on the other hand are really sore. I am wear ing an arm sling which I use on and off throughout the day and definitely when I sleep.
The pacer rep. set my lowest pulse at 60 bpm. The reason for my implant was that I passed out 2 times in a month. Having had my mitral valve replaced (14 years ago) I've been anticipating a pacer since I had been experiencing some on and off light headedness and a lower than normal pulse and blood pressure.
My valve surgery was done back east with a minimally invasive "Port Access" procedure instead of cracking my ribs. Total disaster !! Caught staph in the hospital and spent 32 days there , then did iv antibiotics for another month at my parents house in Long Island.........That being said, to be on the safe side I was put on a 5 day course of the antibiotic Doxycycl after my pacer procedure 3 days ago.
The only other out of the ordinary sensation I've since right after the procedure is the muscle twitching of my upper diaphragm. It directly coincides with the pacer firing. You can visibly see the lower part of my chest ,upper part of my abdomen physically twitching.
It has diminished considerably and would occur most noticeably upon inhaling and on a full stomach. Both scenarios seem to have in common, the upper part of my diaphragm being pushed closer up to my heart. I also noticed it would practically go away completely if I laid on my right side which probably distanced my diaphragm from my heart muscle.
Hope this is helpful to someone out there and thanks for listening.
The Beat goes on, Eric

2 Comments

Boston Scientific PM User ~

by Carolyn65 - 2012-09-03 10:09:37

On 11/09 I had an ablation/PM implant of the Boston Scientific, now good 'til 2017 according to the Dr. I asked to be put asleep, even tho the heart Dr. said he could do the implant either way. The surgery took about 1 1/2 hours and I was allowed to spend the night at the Heart Hospital. Some patients go home the same day to recuperate. I live too many miles from the hospital.

My heart Dr. told me when I came into my hospital room I may have my left arm in a 'sling' to prohibit movement. The Dr. had told me he did NOT want me to wear the 'sling' due to it causing the joints/muscles to 'freeze' up and that would cause a whole new set of problems for me to include lots of therapy. I took the arm sling off the minute I woke and saw it on me.

I also had developed several things I had not had before my PM implant. I had some involuntary twitching once in awhile in my hands/arms/legs, had some 'faintness' I had never experienced before and was 'short winded' as I was not before the implant. This took along time to to get over these. Now, my 'energizer bunny' is so much like a body part to me, I really forget I have the PM ~ I see my heart Dr. once per year, have a 'telephone check' from my home w/a nurse every four months and go in once a year for a nurse check of the PM rate, etc.

Of course, you have a whole different set of problems here in your 'post', but these are just a few things I experienced. Everyone heals at a different pace, but the main thing, is always look/think/do on a positive side/note ~ never let yourself become depressed and/or 'down' ~ Always ask your Dr., but we do have Great, experienced, educated, long time members on this PM site who can help you out tremendously, if you ask and/or share concerns w/post & comments ~

Be thinking of you,
Carolyn G. in TEXAS ~ Rain Dancing in TEXAS ~

Ask to be reprogrammed

by PacerRep - 2012-09-06 01:09:16

Since its a new implant your voltage outputs are going to be set extremely high, ask them to turn it down to a 3:1 safety margin for now in the ventricular lead....do some crunches or the movements you know makes your diagphram jump. If this does not solve the problem tell them to program you "Unipolar" and see if that helps. Basically we are trying to lower the signal or just change the electrical vector to get around this. In some instances the doctor will go in and surgically reposition the lead.

Hope this helps

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