Pacemakers

My husband had to get a pacemaker just days after his 30th birthday. It was a very simple procedure, he came home two days later, and immediately started noticing a difference. His was to treat his heart failure and arrhythmia, and the pacemaker saved his life. He was able to go for a mile walk the weekend after he had the surgery.

My Mother had a pacemaker put in over 3 1/2 years ago at age 94. She had heart block due to reaction to change in medication (medical mistake), heart rate dropped to the 30's and she was nearly passing out.
She tolerated the procedure very well with minimal to moderate discomfort. The area was sensitive for several months.
They make a little "pouch" area under the skin in chest, so incision is pretty small, about 1 1/2", just big enough to put in the pacemaker, stitches absorb, will be covered with a dressing, so can't shower for few days. There may be some bruising and it will be tender, but will give Rx for pain med if needed. It will be somewhere below collar bone to above breast, sometimes near where the bra strap goes, so may be a bit problematic until it heals. May have to pad the area for protection. The pacemaker is metal and will bulge under the skin, but they get used to it.
There will be a kit provided from a Company that will check it over the phone every three months (explicit directions will be provided) which is battery operated, has electrodes that fit on wrists and a magnet. The Cardiologist will check as well at follow up appts.
The setting for the pacemaker will make sure that her heart doesn't drop below a certain rate and she will feel much better immediately as the blood flow returns to normal.
My Mom's follow ups were 3 to 6 months the first couple of years, then when we saw Cardiologist 3 months ago, he was so impressed with her health, made no changes in meds and told her to come back in a year! She is now almost 98 and the Cardiologist is the ONLY Dr. she has seen in over 3 1/2 years, which is a story in itself.
Best wishes for your MIL!

My father in law has O. and also my brother. The surgery is pretty simple. Technology these days is incredible. You're not supposed to raise your left arm over a certain height for a week or so, but other than that, people are generally back to normal really fast. The pacemaker will make her feel a lot better.

My brother had his first O. put in when he was in his early 20's. He married at 16 years old, and when he had his pacemaker put in he was a young dad who was always exhausted and pale and thin. It was determined he had little. paricardium (the sac around the heart). He was a sickly child from about age 2 I guess..he is 9 years older than me so I don't remember his being "young".

His heart rate was so low (his resting heart rate was in the 20's!!!!). So a pacemaker it was to be. It was installed (this was over 25 years ago) normally with the electrodes attached to the paricardium...up near the left shoulder area of the chest. He was to go home from the hospital and early that day, was doing a slow walk down the hall with his pole(he was not a stationary person and HATED the hospital and Dr's), and this barrage of nurses came at him telling him they had been searching for him and he was not to be up and about. They said he needed to be prepped for surgery! He said NO WAY..I am going home tonight!

They said no...your recent scan showed the electrodes are no longer attached to anything. Apparently the little bit of paricardium he had was not enough to hold things in place. So they did a more major surgery that evening and installed the pacemaker down near his belly button (looked like he swallowed a bar of soap..they were much bigger then). They also had to stitch felt TO his heart to act as that buffer for the electrodes since the sac was not sufficient. It was a major deal and sorta new ground for the surgeons. Without a pacemaker he would die...you can't live with a heart rate of 20 bpm.

He is now 51 and is on his 4th pacemaker. He will be due for a new O. soonish. He is having some other minor health issues (back troubles, liver issues, etc) which he downplays like always and refuses to go in until its pretty extreme. He was also diagnosed with Graves Disease years ago and they killed his Thyroid and he takes a synthetic thyroid pill. That helped some with keeping weight on for overall health.

We are simply blessed he has stayed with us and that medical technology has made all of that possible. He lives a small and quiet life with his soul mate of 34 years, has 2 sons who both have sons of their own now. Most days, if he is not working, you can find him on a lake fishing with his wife right beside him...come Spring, Summer, Fall or Winter!

My grandfather got his first in his late 50's (as a thoracic surgeon, he had O. of the first internal ones)... and had a series of them until his 90's. Obviously, both the tech and the procedures improved dramatically over the course of his lifetime.

These days, they're so SIMPLE, and the side effects so mitigated... that I can't really speak as to side effects/expectations EXCEPT that it's very possible to live for 40+ years with them.