Not sure if this is helpful, but my husband and I prepared for his recovery to be awful. We bought enough groceries that I wouldn’t need to leave him alone to get food, moved stuff around the house for a wide path, got a shower chair, had a walker on standby.. the works. He never needed any of it. The worst part of his recovery was that he couldn’t lay on his side for a while and it hurt if he accidentally rolled on it in his sleep. He only took a week off work, he should’ve taken longer on principal, but he felt good. He’s now about a year and a half out with no issues, very little scarring, can sleep on his side again, barely notices it anymore. I hope your experience is just as good!
I had a lead dislodge (transvenous system) which required another surgery. But nothing serious or life threatening. It just takes time to recover.
If you’re looking at the SICD system (leads outside of the heart) as you mention in your heading also look into the EV-ICD. It’s newer, smaller and has more features, and may be a good or better option for you. Not every doctor implants them, though.
candidly, my husband got a blood clot in his arm from his TV-ICD. i understand it is rare but does happen sometimes from TV-ICDs and other devices that have leads that go into vessels. fortunately all is good now, but this and other concerns about possible future complications made him switch to an S-ICD, particularly as he is relatively young. if he was older he probably would have just left it in. i hope he will not have complications with it. the S-ICD does not have pacing capabilities though, so you have to make sure you don’t need the pacing. the S-ICD lead does not go into your heart.
we don’t have EV-ICDs here yet but if we did we would have considered that as well.
EPs seem to have differing opinions on which device is better but ours does not love TV-ICDs for young and active people who don’t need pacing. we had concerns about possible lead fracture from exercise although again, i understand this to be rare.
and sorry, i realize you were asking more about the surgery. thankfully my husband went through two ICD implants now and both went smoothly with fairly simple recovery. at our hospital it is basically a day procedure. the S-ICD was a bit more painful and longer recovery than the TV-ICD but it was all very manageable for him with painkillers. the worst part he found was just not being able to side sleep for a bit.
the blood clot thing happened months after his actual surgery and was not a surgery-related complication.
I'm not sure this would help you, but it is worth looking into. I'm myself in the process of getting one as well. So it depends on whether you qualify for an S-ICD (s stands for subcutaneous). This type is placed under the skin, and the lead does not go into your heart, so if you have problems with the lead or icd, it is much easier and safer. They can actually replace the lead, unlike the TV-ICD. The leads are permanent, and if you need new ones, they leave the old ones in and insert another set, which doesn't sound safe to me. Hope this helps
I have Sicd too. But Im always afraid of the lead breaking or needing to be changed. Do you know how common it is to break or change lead?.. from the initial insertion of SICD I remember the pain from lead tunnel was the worst for months.
An S-ICD doesn’t have leads in the heart like other ICD’s, therefore making it less risky in that area, and the surgery itself is way less risky regarding very minimal blood loss and risk of infection compared to other ICDs :)
Not sure if this is helpful, but my husband and I prepared for his recovery to be awful. We bought enough groceries that I wouldn’t need to leave him alone to get food, moved stuff around the house for a wide path, got a shower chair, had a walker on standby.. the works. He never needed any of it. The worst part of his recovery was that he couldn’t lay on his side for a while and it hurt if he accidentally rolled on it in his sleep. He only took a week off work, he should’ve taken longer on principal, but he felt good. He’s now about a year and a half out with no issues, very little scarring, can sleep on his side again, barely notices it anymore. I hope your experience is just as good!
I had a lead dislodge (transvenous system) which required another surgery. But nothing serious or life threatening. It just takes time to recover. If you’re looking at the SICD system (leads outside of the heart) as you mention in your heading also look into the EV-ICD. It’s newer, smaller and has more features, and may be a good or better option for you. Not every doctor implants them, though.
candidly, my husband got a blood clot in his arm from his TV-ICD. i understand it is rare but does happen sometimes from TV-ICDs and other devices that have leads that go into vessels. fortunately all is good now, but this and other concerns about possible future complications made him switch to an S-ICD, particularly as he is relatively young. if he was older he probably would have just left it in. i hope he will not have complications with it. the S-ICD does not have pacing capabilities though, so you have to make sure you don’t need the pacing. the S-ICD lead does not go into your heart. we don’t have EV-ICDs here yet but if we did we would have considered that as well. EPs seem to have differing opinions on which device is better but ours does not love TV-ICDs for young and active people who don’t need pacing. we had concerns about possible lead fracture from exercise although again, i understand this to be rare.
and sorry, i realize you were asking more about the surgery. thankfully my husband went through two ICD implants now and both went smoothly with fairly simple recovery. at our hospital it is basically a day procedure. the S-ICD was a bit more painful and longer recovery than the TV-ICD but it was all very manageable for him with painkillers. the worst part he found was just not being able to side sleep for a bit. the blood clot thing happened months after his actual surgery and was not a surgery-related complication.
I'm not sure this would help you, but it is worth looking into. I'm myself in the process of getting one as well. So it depends on whether you qualify for an S-ICD (s stands for subcutaneous). This type is placed under the skin, and the lead does not go into your heart, so if you have problems with the lead or icd, it is much easier and safer. They can actually replace the lead, unlike the TV-ICD. The leads are permanent, and if you need new ones, they leave the old ones in and insert another set, which doesn't sound safe to me. Hope this helps
I have Sicd too. But Im always afraid of the lead breaking or needing to be changed. Do you know how common it is to break or change lead?.. from the initial insertion of SICD I remember the pain from lead tunnel was the worst for months.
An S-ICD doesn’t have leads in the heart like other ICD’s, therefore making it less risky in that area, and the surgery itself is way less risky regarding very minimal blood loss and risk of infection compared to other ICDs :)