I just wanted to know how is your daughter?
My thoughts and prayers are with all of you.

Thanks for asking. She is getting better. She really has little discomfort from the ICD. She ran into some breathing difficulties during the surgery and they had to keep her intibated for a while. She was NOT happy. She is experiencing some pain in her right lung area which is very far away from where the doctor was. Her respiration was not the greatest the first night, around 10 or under, until I made her talk for a while, then it seemed to get better and stay around 19-20. She on occasion get a sharp stabbing pain in her chest, doctor says this is from the tube and should get better within 7-8 days.

Thanks again.

I´m glad to hear that she is getting better. As I told you I got my ICD 11-21-02. If you have questions I´ll try to answer them. In the meantime make sure that she doesn´t move her arm to much, that is really important. It takes some time until the ICD is unremovable in its place. Before I got the ICD I had a "normal" pacemaker implanted in 1998. I didnt´t take it serious and moved my arm more than I was allowed to and so I needed a second surgery because one of the cables slipped out of the atrium.
Take care!

Thanks, I had actually forgotten that you said you had one. You didn't have these pains she is describing in the right side of your chest did you? She isn't moving her arm much at all. In fact she is wearing a sling to help remind her not to move it. Her doctor has said she most likely will be able to play softball this summer provided I find some kind of chest protector that everyone is happy with.

Its good to hear she will be able to play softball again, I think this will make her happy. Just hope you´ll find the right protector.
No, I didn´t have these pains, but in my case everything was different. My heart stopped beating during the surgery and they didn´t get the cables through my veines. So they had to open my thorax with a big cut and they put me asleep for 4 days. After waking up my whole chest hurt.
The place where the ICD sits, still hurts, though and it is very sensible. For example it is very uncomfortable to wear a bra. But it is getting better, one just needs a "little bit" of patience... I had some massages and gymnastics that helped a lot.

[This message has been edited by Mezi (edited 02-04-2003).]

Wow, you certainly did have an ordeal during your surgery. Yeah, I was wondering about the bra. It is not exactly positioned in a place that would make wearing a bra comfortable.

I looked online last night for different kids of protectors, one I really liked, but apparently it is only made for younger children. I did find a place here in the states that makes them for each individual person. It is somewhat like a cast, but flexible.

With my old pacemaker it was no problem to wear a bra after 6 weeks, so I hope this time it just takes longer but will be possible sometimes without being uncomfortable. Perhaps it is because the ICD is much bigger than the pacemaker.