Day 9 of Recovery - Pacemaker Results, You Won't Believe What Comes Next

Saturday, 11th October 2025

Day 9 brought some pivotal moments in my recovery journey - pacemaker assessment results and news about the next stage of my care.

I woke up, you guessed it, in pain, but my breakfast was there so the nurse helped me get upright. At this point I was allowed to stand up but until we had the results from the doctors I was still confined to my room.

The Morning Wait

Every other day during my stay in the hospital the doctors have been there promptly with breakfast, not today. So I had breakfast and waited. The nurse didn't know why they were late, good news? Bad news? No news? Waited a while and the nurse decided I should get ready for the day, you know Murphy's law, if I go into the bathroom and turn the shower on surely that will summon the doctors :)

As it happens, no, it didn't, so I was helped back into bed to get comfortable for the remainder of the wait.

Excellent News from the Doctors

Well, whatever the reason for the delay I needn't (use that exact word it is definitely a real word) have worried, around 10:15 the doctors arrived and their demeanour was jovial. The first task at hand was to remove my temporary pacemaker wires, one doctor took care of that while the other left me with the teaser he would return "with great plans for me". Removal of the pacemaker wires was quick and pretty painless.

The other doctor was on the hunt for a machine to read my pacemaker, it took a few minutes, maybe it was in Kirchberg, but he returned with a kind of big old brief case laptop slash leap child computer looking thing, whatever it didn't matter what it looks like, it worked and successfully read the pacemaker and the report was good, it had worked properly all night and everything remained exactly where it should be which was confirmed by an ultrasound.

The Plan: Moving to Kirchberg

Finally, the teased plans, everything is good, I can move on to the next stage of my recovery a couple of nights in Kirchberg hospital so my cardiologist can have a look at the work. I was deemed fit enough to go home tomorrow, but it was always the plan that I would be discharged to Kirchberg for my cardiologist to observe me for a couple of days.

Afternoon Visit and Entertainment Setup

After that exciting morning my wife came to visit after circumnavigating Luxembourg.

A nurse dropped off an information sheet about the limitations imposed by a pacemaker, not many of concern, this was written in French so my interpretation is mine and I'm sticking to it:

• No more airports, the security scanners are no good for a pacemaker
• No more going into shops with security scanners at the door, same reason as above basically
• Keep a safe 30-40cm from induction hobs, eerrrr not great then, this I was not aware of before the operation, this might have changed my whole decision making process, but hey I have arms which are longer than 40cm so hopefully this will be fine
• No martial arts, I'll have to finally give up on ever getting that Tae Kwon Do black belt.
• No chopping wood, as enjoyable camping in Krynica Morska was (well we were in a hotel near the camp site) with my cousin in full Bear Grylls mode was next time sadly my wood chopping assistance won't be available

Since the days are a little slower now I improved my entertainment setup, whilst CNBC Europe had provided some terrible repetitive English language TV for the last week and the Trounwiessel (the accession to the throne - the transition of the Crown from Grand Duke Henri to his son Guillaume) had passed the time last weekend and RTL showed Luxembourg's brave battling 4-0 defeat to Germany last night. My tablet arrived, part of my wife's epic journey, I'm all set, work crap removed and VPN installed along with iPlayer so I can join in the family strictly watching.

The day ended with the cannula put in for the IV drip yesterday being taken out. For the first time since the operation I am not punctured :) not sure that will last long though.

Progress Summary

Key developments on Day 9:

• ✅ Temporary pacemaker wires successfully removed
• ✅ Pacemaker reading showed perfect function overnight
• ✅ Ultrasound confirmed everything in correct position
• ✅ Approved for transfer to Kirchberg hospital
• ✅ Cardiologist observation scheduled for next few days
• ✅ Received pacemaker limitation information
• ✅ Improved entertainment options with tablet and VPN
• ✅ Cannula removed - first time not punctured since operation

The pacemaker is working brilliantly and I'm progressing well enough to move to the next phase of recovery under my cardiologist's care at Kirchberg. The medical team's positive demeanour this morning was a clear indicator that things are going according to plan.