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im new here and am having a icd surgery soon
i am wondering what to expect? I asked the doctors to make sure im asleep completely , as I have high anxiety and fear needles or any kind of medical procedure, I was promised by the doctor I would be asleep how ever I got the call from the surgery nurse to go over surgery in 2 weeks and she says she never heard of being put to sleep under anthestic for this procedure I must of been making things up or misunderstood .. so im asking anyone who just recently had a icd in and what to expect, is it painful? while getting it done is music playing? I personaly am going to try and fight for a sleep mode athetstic , I don't want to be aware .. of ANYTHING .. I have to have a icd this appointment was made 2 weeks ago as a asap icd ... thanks all
10 Comments
The Pacemaker
by racerjon - 2016-02-21 03:02:11
I think I was the most nervous person on this site before I had mine done. I've had 31 heart caths and it was no worse than having one of them. You will probably be given Versed. You will be awake the entire time but will not remember anything. There was nothing to it. You will be completely relaxed by the time they're ready to do the procedure. The next thing you will remember will be waking up and someone telling you your fine.
My experience - similar
by oldearthworm - 2016-02-21 07:02:40
It was very similar ..Our health care system is good - in some aspect .. corrupt in other areas..
Pain ? zero , they are very good at this , but all the paperwork was painful .. as it is so very silly/stupid.
RacerJon so very true ..what you wrote Its amazing what medical science can do ..Now, if only they could rid themselves of dollars(thousands) and profit(greed unabated) . We must have socialized medicine , similar to the world's advanced nations .
Lurch's excellent letter
by oldearthworm - 2016-02-21 07:02:41
My last July experience was most similar down to the repetitive questions and tons of paperwork .. and absolutely zero pain , other than all the poking, probing, and paperwork.
anesthesia
by Tracey_E - 2016-02-21 12:02:48
I had versed, which is conscious sedation. I was awake but don't remember a thing. They don't like to do a general anesthesia for something minor because it requires a breathing tube. If we are awake, we can breath on our own. Ask for something to relax you for the night before and again when you get to the hospital.
..
by Sarbear - 2016-02-22 06:02:48
I had mine done about 3 weeks ago. I was terrified going into it to be "awake" as I typically have such bad anxiety over medical procedures that I pass out when they do something as simple as draw blood or place an IV. Honestly the hardest part was getting the IV put in. Once the sedatives were flowing, I remember very little-basically just the doctor asking what music I wanted to hear, waking up briefly in the middle with 0 cares in the world and being wheeled out of the room when it was all over. Even the parts when I was "awake" and had a vague idea of what was going on, were totally peaceful. I know it seems terrifying and it will be built up in your head, but I promise it will not be nearly as bad as you are imagining! Good luck with everything!
Sarbear
by Tracey_E - 2016-02-23 12:02:05
Next time you need an iv, ask for lidocaine first. A tiny little injection to numb it, then you don't feel the iv going in which means no tensing up, which makes it easier to get it quickly first try. Huge difference! I will forever love the nurse who first did that with me. My veins are difficult and it's not uncommon to take 3 or 4 tries to get an iv in. With this, first try, every time.
Tell them Conscious Sedation doesn't work on you.
by lightgraphs - 2016-02-25 05:02:33
This is something you have to insist on, even fight for. I get violently ill with versed. I'm also mildly awake and it's terrifying. And your unconscious still experiences the trauma. I only had it once with eye surgery and I sat up in the middle of the procedure. Very disruptive. So now it's on my record.
This is what you do. You have to insist on an using an anesthesiologist. They don't like that b/c it adds to the expense. But tell them CS doesn't work on you. I have my allergy on record. But you have to insist.
Try asking them to use Propofol. It's standard for replacements and it's what I use. The only reason they may not be able to is b/c the first implant may take too long. Yes, it's the Michael Jackson drug and it's really fine. And yes, ask for the lidocaine first.
But do what you can. Be assertive and demand full sedation.
BTW, the same thing happened to me. Doc said yes to Propofol and nurse said she'd never heard of such a thing. I threw a fit and got it.
Let us know how it goes. The CS may work just fine for you. It's really an easy procedure so don't worry at all.
Relax - the paperwork is the worst part!
by AussieBarry - 2016-03-02 01:03:41
I had my first ICD (an Autogen) fitted 17th Feb. Was nervous but the IV stuff worked, during the procedure I was bored stiff, was aware but not really awake for the whole thing except when I had a failure while they were trying to place the third lead. I heard the monitor go mad and they quickly tried a few things to restore my heart rhythm before knocking me out. In what appeared to me to be seconds later they announced they finished and we talked as I was wheeled out. Had a day in in hospital while they confirmed everything including my new medication was OK, left with a total bill of A$18.60 (for the prescription meds) .
No pain at anytime but I go into the hospital tomorrow and when the dressing comes off I am expecting an ouch moment.
Lurch's letter proves that the paperwork and those stupid bloody gowns are international!!
crt-d variety
by harmbeat - 2016-04-04 12:04:28
I had a device implanted end of january so this is week 9 and i am beginning to forget. It was a full anasethetic because it takes time to place the third lead.
I won't forget wetting the bed in recovery ward though..... and I am still annoyed about that. I warned the anasethetics dr not to give me too much fluid.
People with heart failure generally know their fluid status.
You know you're wired when...
You always run anti-virus software.
Member Quotes
Good luck with your surgery. It will improve life amazingly.
The Day of...
by Lurch - 2016-02-21 01:02:09
This is a piece I copied from an entry quite some time ago about what to expect the day of implantation. Hopefully, it will give you some idea of what to expect.
Some of the other inmates here have talked about what to expect following the procedure so I will tell you what to expect the day of the procedure.
Typically, you will report to the hospital at an ungodly hour (for me it was 5:30am). You will sign enough papers to drown in, then you will be taken to your room.
At our hospital you use one room for the entire stay (probably saves on cleaning costs). My wife and I were escorted into the room and I was given a very fashionable hospital grown to change into. Of course, the first one was made for a small child and didn't come close to fitting me, so they got me a jumbo version.
Once I modeled my new attire for the wife a nurse came in and started an IV. Shortly later the Anesthesiologist came in and asked me the same questions I had answered on the mountain of papers I filled out before.
He told me that they would put me out, do the procedure, wake me up then bring me back to the room.
He left and few minutes later another Anesthesiologist came in. Apparently they had an emergency and bumped me back about 45 minutes so the other Anesthesiologist must have met his quota with the emergency patient; that or he didn't like me..... Right after that they put something in my IV that started relaxing me.
Shortly before 9 am the Surgical Tech came to the room, checked to make sure I was who I said I was (as if someone would sneak in for a procedure like this), and wheeled me down the hall.
We went into the procedure room where there were a bunch of folks standing around waiting for little ole me! They had me move from the hospital bed to the procedure table, which was an adventure in that lovely grown they had given me. The Anesthesiologist asked me again who I was and what procedure I was having (I had really hoped that they knew what I was getting....) then gave me some really good stuff through the IV.
The next thing I remember they were moving me back over to my hospital bed and telling me that everything had gone fine.
They rolled me back to my room where my wife had been waiting. Fortunately, she had gone downstairs and got me a big cup of coffee! I have to have my coffee in the morning, but I couldn't before the procedure. Bless that woman!!!
About 45 minutes later the Biotronik representative came in and did my very first "interrogation" of my unit. They place a little disk over your PM/ICD that allows them to make adjustments and read all the settings. He gave me my temporary ID card (apparently they check to make sure the credit card payment cleared before you get a real ID) and a booklet about my device and what I should and shouldn't do.
About an hour after that the Doctor came in. By this time, I was fully wake and had been walking around the room and the hallway. He saw that I was wearing the sling the nurse had given me, took it off and threw it across the room! He told me to wear it only at night for the first couple of weeks or if I was doing something where I needed to be reminded not to lift my arm over my shoulder or pick up anything heavy. He is not a fan of slings as they can create problems for your shoulder later. I noticed through this group that each doctor is apparently a little different regarding the use of a sling.
The hospital I was in has "room service" where you order your meal from a menu and they bring it whenever you want, supposedly.... We ordered lunch and waited, and waited, and waited. A nurse finally checked on it for us and found that they had no record of my order! Wife ran out and got us some lunch from a restaurant down the street. Learned our lesson and she did the same thing for dinner.
Rest of the day was boring; sat around, watched TV, surfed the net and watched people come and go.
Next morning they took me to X-Ray to make sure the wires were still where they had left them then kicked me out!
The Doctor gave me a prescription for pain medication. I took two the first two days, but it really wasn't all that painful. Stiff and little muscle soreness, but nothing like what I had expected.
Had mine implanted the first week of May, five or six weeks later I was body surfing with my Grandson.
The procedure is done about 200,000 annually in the US, so they apparently have got it down pretty good!
Keep us posted on how you are doing, and, please, if you have any questions, ask!
Good luck.