Thursday, September 14, 2006
Well, I have my new ICD/pacemaker, as of Monday, and as expected, they did NOT get the 3rd lead in this time either. The new device is on my right side, since the left side now has too much scar tissue; this means that the leads had to be placed across the chest, behind the sternum.
Things they don't tell you about placing leads across the chest: it winds up irritating and inflaming the tissue in there, especially the pericardium, which in turn means it HURTS every time you inhale more than the shallowest amount. It took about 2 days for it to stop being quite so painful, although I still had a short flare-up today for a while. And it is definitely still painful to sneeze, cough, or yawn. In hindsight, I'd say that one should avoid having this surgery during hay fever season when sneezing and coughing are likely...
Other side effects of doing the cross-chest lead placement: longer time period for restricting the range of motion and the amount of weight you can lift with the right arm and hand, since it's easier to dislodge the leads. So even though the visible bruising is already fading and the incision is starting to heal, I can't go back to normal activity completely as soon as the incision is healed, the way I did with the first pacemaker; instead I have to wait 6 full weeks before doing anything that involves lifting my arm above shoulder level or behind the plane of my body (putting it behind my back), or lifting more than 10 pounds with that arm. Annoying limitations.
On the good side, since I knew in advance this time that hospital food sucks, even at the great Johns Hopkins, I brought my own lunch and dinner in insulated bags, and ignored their food. I had low-fat yogurt, fresh fruit, low-fat pudding, reduced-sodium cheese, low-sodium crackers, and fresh-brewed iced tea, and completely ignored the stuff they brought on trays. Staff thought this was funny. My roommate thought I was wonderful, since she also was having a tough time with the bland hospital food; I gave her a nectarine and some of the cheese, and she was quite appreciative. Let's hear it for end-of-season nectarines and peaches!
Things they don't tell you about placing leads across the chest: it winds up irritating and inflaming the tissue in there, especially the pericardium, which in turn means it HURTS every time you inhale more than the shallowest amount. It took about 2 days for it to stop being quite so painful, although I still had a short flare-up today for a while. And it is definitely still painful to sneeze, cough, or yawn. In hindsight, I'd say that one should avoid having this surgery during hay fever season when sneezing and coughing are likely...
Other side effects of doing the cross-chest lead placement: longer time period for restricting the range of motion and the amount of weight you can lift with the right arm and hand, since it's easier to dislodge the leads. So even though the visible bruising is already fading and the incision is starting to heal, I can't go back to normal activity completely as soon as the incision is healed, the way I did with the first pacemaker; instead I have to wait 6 full weeks before doing anything that involves lifting my arm above shoulder level or behind the plane of my body (putting it behind my back), or lifting more than 10 pounds with that arm. Annoying limitations.
On the good side, since I knew in advance this time that hospital food sucks, even at the great Johns Hopkins, I brought my own lunch and dinner in insulated bags, and ignored their food. I had low-fat yogurt, fresh fruit, low-fat pudding, reduced-sodium cheese, low-sodium crackers, and fresh-brewed iced tea, and completely ignored the stuff they brought on trays. Staff thought this was funny. My roommate thought I was wonderful, since she also was having a tough time with the bland hospital food; I gave her a nectarine and some of the cheese, and she was quite appreciative. Let's hear it for end-of-season nectarines and peaches!
