Heart Valve Surgery | Heart Valve Replacement Surgery – Pacemaker Complications After Open Heart Surgery!

Heart Valve Replacement Surgery – Pacemaker Complications After Open Heart Surgery!

When I had my double valve repair surgery nine weeks ago, my cardiac surgeon thought before going into the surgery that I would need a heart valve replacement surgery on at least one of the valves, but since my heart problems had been caused by a lead extraction error while implanting a new pacemaker and leads, all the parts to the valves were still there; they just needed to be sewn back together and reinforced.

It is always better to repair instead of replace where possible for obvious reasons, not the least of which is your body just goes on about it’s business and doesn’t have to adjust to something foreign.

Also, if you get an artificial valve, you will probably be on Coumadin for the rest of your life.  However, if you need heart valve replacement, thank God that it is a perfectly viable option.

To get back to my pacemaker complication problem, one of my pacemaker leads had fractured (picture an electrical cord that wears and frays), it needed to be extracted and a new one put implanted in it’s place.

The fractured pacemaker lead was leaking current into my pectoral muscle and causing it to jump like a bouncing ball. Believe me, my pectoral muscle hadn’t had that much excitement in a long time.

Since the fractured pacemaker lead was being extracted anyway, my cardiologist decided to extract the other one and replace my existing pacemaker too.

I thought this was fantastic, an overnight stay in the hospital, and I would have two new leads and a new pacemaker to boot. I’d be ready to rock and roll for another ten years or so.

Sadly, my tricuspid valve was severely damaged during the lead extraction procedure, so that’s why I ended up having to have a full-blown open heart surgery.

Back to my pacemaker complication, it seems that the new pacemaker has slipped out of its pocket or something. The posts and screws are now right under the skin, and get pinched during exercise, and also with any little friction of my bra strap which lays right over the pacer. Right now, I’m going without a bra until I can show the Doctor what’s happened.

This is my third pacemaker, and I know that something weird is happening since neither of my other pacers started migrating or slipping out of the pocket like this.

I’m afraid that the screws and connection posts will just work their way through the skin pretty soon. I have an appointment with Dr. Blake, my cardiologist, soon and I’m anxious to hear what she recommends.

I’m just curious, have any of you had any pacemaker complications after open heart surgery?

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