Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Pacemaker!


So, I got my pacemaker put in! The entire procedure consisted of my catheter ablation - the one they attempted to do on Friday, but could not complete because of the vicinity of the problem area to what is essentially my heart's natural pacemaker - and then inserting a pacemaker. First they stuck 3 tubes into one of the incision in the main artery next to my groin, went up to my heart and fixed the open pathway caused by the WPW. Then they made a slit in the skin near my collarbone, hooked up some leads to my heart and plugged in a little pacemaker. It's not very big at all compared to some, and after the swelling goes down I won't even be able to see it sticking out of my skin (yay)! Plus the doctor I had is INCREDIBLE at suturing, all my nurses were raving about him, so the slit is going to heal up without leaving much of a visible scar at all, just a thin white line. There are dissolving stitches underneath the skin and dermabond, which essentially glues my skin together, on top to hold it in place. I've got an ice pack on there now to help with the pain/swelling. Last night I was partying it up with some Loritabs and a Morphine IV (and by partying I mean mumbling random stuff about eating my boyfriend's asparagus flavored cookie hat and falling asleep).

All in all, I feel GREAT (aside from the intense pain in my shoulder/collarbone). I can already tell I have loads more energy. I can't really use my left arm for about 6 weeks, so I'll need to get help carrying my backpack around and going from class to class, but I'll be able to resume normal activities in a week or two - even exercise! My resting heart rate is now set a 70, low is 65, high is 150, but those are all easily changeable. My old resting heart rate was 40, so this is a HUGE upgrade! I feel awesome. As soon as I'm not in tons of pain with a swollen chest and a sling around my arm I'm going to go conquer the world! :D

Also, Flobee and I are awesome in hospitals.

4 comments:

Liz said...

YAY!!! I'm so glad that everything went well for you!

You guys are so cute! LOL

Tizzalicious said...

I am glad that it all went well!

TheCandiMafiaBoss said...

I'm glad that you are on your way to recovery!

That last picture is so cute!

Dorm Bedding said...

I so hope your health is stabalized & you're feeling well :) I can't believe you had the time to post with everything going on!