Upgrade to CRT seamless

I've mentioned lately that I had surgery scheduled last Friday to upgrade my PM (St. Jude 2240) to a 3-lead for CRT. Also St. Jude but we are still getting acquainted. The surgery was reported as a dream surgery with super easy placement of the third lead. Yeah, yeah, I was semi awake but in no pain for the most part and I heard three "Dammits!" so I doubt it was as easy as they told me. There were also several shoves right over the PM which I felt, but in my mind I'm saying that the new pacer was a wee bit bigger than the old pocket because that is an explanation I can believe. 

It doesn't matter. Here is what matters: My O²Sat is back to 98-100%, something I haven't seen for years. I am not constantly fatigued. I have not needed so much as an OTC Tylenol since I came home. Yes, it's painful if I move my arm too far or put weight on it, but that's no surprise. Yes, I am babying both my arm and myself in general for a few days. But I'm a happy, happy, happy camper.

With the first PM it took awhile to notice that it was helping, since my sole symptom was occasional passing out. After a while I noticed I hadn't passed out since the surgery. This surgery had IMMEDIATE results. I am so happy!

3 Comments

Upgrade to CRT went well then ?

by Gemita - 2021-12-05 05:35:10

Griddlebone,

Love to hear good news.  Well done you and your team.  To have little discomfort at this stage and an excellent immediate result is more than you could have hoped for and just what your heart needed.

Continue to do well with your upgrade.  It has been an early Christmas present for you and so well deserved.

Gemita xx

I am in the itching phase...

by Griddlebone - 2021-12-14 05:04:13

I am in the itching phase and it's not a problem, but I want to complain about it. I have a dermatologic condition that doesn't affect my upper torso, but where I do have lesions that itches like mad, you just want to take a stiff brush and wail on those. This post surgery itching is NOTHING compared to that. When I feel I have to scratch, I scratch the point of my shoulder, which is far away from my incision, and somehow that works, temporarily. I know that itching = healing, but as I said, I want to complain, so there.

Two things I did not expect this time: 1) I did not expect the aftermath to be almost painless. 2) I did not expect to start thinking about mortality. Yay for the first, and... wasn't I supposed to experience and overcome the mortality worries the first time around? At least this time when I started fretting that the 3rd lead hadn't set in well, or the older leads were breaking, or the new PM was going to somehow jump out of its pocket, I could tell myself to stop being silly. I have a PM Clinic check coming up and an appointment with my EP/Cardio in early April.

Did I mention that the site was itchy? :-)

Itching

by Gemita - 2021-12-14 07:37:52

I think this would make a good "new post" Griddlebone to keep everyone on their toes!

Itching is something I find hard to tolerate also and keeps me awake at night far more than mild pain ever would.  Have you become allergic to your device I wonder ?

No you weren't meant to think about the mortality issues first time round.  You had more than enough to think about with the pain symptoms and being a first time pacemaker recipient.  Now with minimum pain and knowing what to expect, you are getting onto other issues.  

An upgrade to a CRT was necessary for a reason and perhaps the reason - a falling ejection fraction - is the reason for your sudden thoughts about mortality, wondering perhaps whether your heart failure symptoms can be reversed?  Post a new message and we can allow others to give you feedback.    

I will try to make sure that your Survey results include "itchiness" as a symptom if you have identified yourself by giving an email address (which was optional)

You know you're wired when...

You make store alarms beep.

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I live an extremely normal life now and my device does NOT hinder me in any way.