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I was scheduled for a pacemaker to be inserted on Monday, June 21. I was told it would be a simple procedure and that it would provide me with more energy. I was also told the surgeon was good and that I would be going home the following morning. What I was told didn’t all happen.

Monday morning I the hospital called and asked if I could come right in as they had an opening. That way my surgery would be done before lunch so I agreed. I go in and get prepped and head for surgery. Within an hour I was done and on my way back down to my room, and waited for lunch. Everything seemed to be going well until I noticed I was having difficulty breathing. I mentioned that to my nurse, but she brushed it off and put me on oxygen. In the morning they checked my pacemaker and found it was working like it should, but my breathing wasn’t. I was taken down for an x-ray as part of the checkout procedure. A short while later my nurse came in and told me I would not be going home today as my left lung had collapsed. When threading the wires into my chest the surgeon apparently nicked the sack around the lung causing a leak.

The collapse was serious enough to require a tube into my chest. It was a simple enough procedure and not painful because they had just given me a dose of morphine. Back at the room pain began to develop so more morphine was given and a pain pill. As evening came I went to sleep, but woke up at midnight with pain that was getting out of hand. I had never experienced pain like this before so it was time for more morphine and two pain pills. At this point my blood pressure had climbed to 225 over 125, which was not good. After about an hour things settled down and I got some more sleep.

More x-rays in the morning indicated the lung was ok so they took out the tube, which eliminated my pain. Another x-ray about an hour later indicated that everything was ok except now I was sick to my stomach do to the pain medication. More medication and then around noon I was asked if I wanted to stay another day or go home. I opted to go home, which is where I am now.

This was to be a simple operation. Instead I feel like I was run over by a truck. Hopefully in a few days I will have my energy and strength back. Thanks for your prayers.