Jamieann, LBBB (left bundle branch block) is a fairly common after-effect of aortic valve surgery. In some patients, the nerves that transmit the electrical impulses are very close to the area in the heart that must be cut and/or removed in order to implant the prosthetic valve. I am one of those patients.
I had my aortic valve replaced and was taken back to the CICU (cardiac intensive care unit). During the first 4 or 5 days after surgery, after removal of the temporary pacemaker, my heart tried just about every sort of rhythm one could imagine. It went too fast (tachycardia). It went too slow (bradycardia). It skipped beats. It added beats. I went into afib. I tried them all. . . then I guess my heart just got bored and it just plain stopped. For some hours, my heart would simply stop for periods of up to 20 seconds at a time. Let me tell you, it is really scary to see your own heart monitor screen go "flat-line." After each of these episodes, I would awaken and see a ring of very concerned faces around my bed. These faces belonged to my entire ICU care team. They never had to use the paddles but things got very scary for me and for my wife.
After about 5 days of various meds and treatments, the electrophysiologist came to see me. He said he needed to discuss some choices with me. I hoped he wasn't referring to "end-of-life" choices, but until he composed himself and spoke, I was sort of afraid. He finally cleared the air, though, by telling me that I really had two choices. They could continue to try to control my heart with various medications, hoping that while the meds kept things under control in the short term, that my heart might heal and become more independent in the longer term. This could, however, make my first months of recovery into some kind of less-than-ideal life that I hoped to avoid. My other alternative was to have a pacemaker implanted. I think the EP doctor was afraid that I would resist the thought of a pacemaker, but I surprised him. I told him that my mother had a pacemaker for the last 8 or 10 years of her life, and asked him "What are we waiting for?" My pacemaker went in later that day.
It took a couple of months to get the settings just the way I wanted them. This was because they looked at my chart and set the device the way they would for the "average" 63 year-old man. I was not "that man" however. I was, until just before surgery, still going to the gym 5 days a week and jogging, lifting weights, training hard, for my age. I eventually got the device set the way I needed it, and have never looked back. I am now 5 years out from surgery and still going to the gym 5 days a week. I have done everything I wanted to do, in spite of the pacemaker. I once thought I had hit the pacemaker's limits when I was mountain biking up a hill on St. Maartin. I ran totally out of breath and thought I had out-run my pacemaker. It turned out that my beta blocker was holding my heart rate down, and that the pacemaker would have done just fine had I not been medically restricted.
I do not really even realize that I have the pacemaker, unless I look in a mirror with my shirt off. I am a skinny old gym rat, and my pacemaker looks like the docs left some sort of tools under my skin. I don't feel it, nor do I see it myself. Being a guy, when I go to the pool or beach, or in the locker room, I just ignore it. If anyone stares at it, I just stare right back. I've got a slew of scars, bumps, things sewn into me. . . and I just don't worry about it. I'm here. I'm living my life just as I want to, and the small stuff doesn't matter.
In a couple of years, I'll be due for a replacement pacemaker. They don't change the battery, they change the whole device. I'm nor worried about that, either. Replacements are an out-patient procedure with most people going in first thing in the morning and being home by around lunch time. The only thing I "worry" about is getting the settings the way I want them again, as I'm pretty sure the next pacemaker will be a newer model than the old, and may have different features. Not a big deal, though. They will get it right, eventually.
So, Jamieann, if you do opt for a pacemaker, don't worry about it changing your life. Mine made my life much more "normal" and allowed me to take fewer meds. The meds I have avoided are the sort that control and regulate heart rate and rhythm, and I'm sure that had I opted for the meds, my heart would not feel as "natural" as it does.
