Showers

I got my pacemaker September 26, 2011. How long for recovery, showers, able to do things again. I'm a 74 (almost 75) year old female and have always been in excellent health. This incident really frightened me and now with the pacemaker, I'm told I'll be able to dance again. Will I? When I think about dancing again I get nervous and don't think I'll ever get on the dance floor again. Two faints and both times I was dancing. How do you cope with something like this and how long before I'll "trust" my pacemaker and try to dance again.

4 Comments

New Pacemaker

by SMITTY - 2011-09-30 10:09:26


Hello,

To answer your first questions, about showers and doing things again, your Dr needs to give you a schedule for bathing and activity. I was able to shower after about three of days so long as I didn't get the incision site wet. As for activity I wasn't allowed to raise my elbow above my shoulder for about two weeks, or lift more than ten pounds. But we all have different limits on such things and again the Dr is the one or answers.

"How long before I'll trust my pacemaker?" Only you can answer that question but I'll try to give you some signs to watch for, but I'll say for certain you can trust in now and hereafter.

You don't say why you got your PM but I'll guess it was low heart rate that could have been caused by anyone of several things. I'll go a little further with my guessing and say your heart rate was dropping into the low 40s or 30s when you passed out. A low heart rate like that while you are dancing calls for more heart beats per minute than yours could produce. Nothing uncommon about that, as many of us find that to be a problem as we get older. (By the way I'm 82.) Without our PM some of us wouldn't be here at all and more would be semi-invalids.

To prevent all those unpleasant things we get a little manmade electronic device implanted in our body and run a couple (some people get three) wires from it to our heart. Its sole purpose is to sit there and monitor your heart function and when it detects your heart rate going below a set point (usually 50 to 70) the Dr programmed into the PM it will send an electrical impulse to keep your heart beating at or above that set point.

That sounds simple doesn't it. Well believe me, while that PM is anything but simple, its job is that simple. And don't worry about it ever failing to do what it is programmed to do. I'm on my second PM in 11 years and neither of them has ever skipped a beat.

Our heart rate is likely to be lowest when we are at rest. After quietly resting about 5 to 10 minutes check your heart rate. What you find is probably the lowest your PM will let it go. Also, a PM has a feature called rate response. This feature is not necessary for all people with a PM but if your Dr thought it would be of benefit to you, it will be turned on. To find out if yours is turned you can check with your Dr. Or, after getting that resting heart rate just mentioned, pick a spot on your chest about 3 or 4 inches from the PM implant spot and tap on your chest for 20 to 30 seconds. The taps do not have to hard enough to be painful, but do need to be enough to jiggle your PM a little. Then check your pulse. If the rate response is on your heart rate will probably up into the 80s or 90s for a minute or two. If it doesn't increase it just means the Dr knew you didn't need the rate response.

I mention all this because the next time you go dancing your PM is going to keep your heart beating at a rate that is high enough to keep you safe. That you can put hard earned money on. You stand a lot better chance of having a meteorite come crashing through your roof and hitting you than that PM stopping.

I'm sure you will get several comments trying assure that PM will help without failing. Also there are a bunch of the members that can answer questions about PMs, so speak up anytime you have one.

Good luck to you,

Smitty


Lucky Dancer

by donb - 2011-10-01 07:10:12

Hi, Welcome to this group! I say "Lucky" as you hit the jackpot with the above postings by our top information givers. Smitty & Frank are both a couple years older than I but I may have a slight edge on seniority with PMs'. I'm about 5 years older than you, I am on my 4th PM with my first implant 20 years ago.
Luckily my heart problem is electrical which hopefully is yours also. Your PM will correct this real well if your structural part of your heart is healthy. Now, dancing is a number 1 in having a healthy heart & keeping it well. I must mention as Smitty hinted that sharing a little info as to your condition will give much support from this group.

Now, as I have dance instructed with senior groups in adult classes with ballroom dance, you have already have 2 partners, don't know about Smitty though? I'd bet he would get you out on the floor before I'd even be able to say Hi.
So, good luck with your new implant friend, best device since the bread slicer. Don

Showers and dancing

by ElectricFrank - 2011-10-01 12:10:06

I started showering and even using my hot tub the day after implant. The real issue is keeping the area dry and not exposed to infection. My approach was to tape some plastic wrap over the area during the exposure to water. In the case of the hot tub I kept that area out of the water, but wanted to be sure any spray didn't get to it. I also removed my extra wrap afterwards so the area could breath. Be prepared for a standard boiler plate answer if you ask the doc. It is much easier for him/her to tell you to avoid showers for 3 weeks than to explain what I said above.

As for passing out while dancing you are just going to have to avoid any of us swoon producing good looking guys for a year or more. There are some things a pacer can't handle. LOL.

frank

Even Luckier

by Gellia3 - 2011-10-01 12:10:19

Hi,
Welcome to our club!

Go and dance. I just celebrated my 36th anniversary with a PM (I've had 7 replacements, so far). The first was a 3pound Cordis implanted below the muscle and I went out horseback riding two weeks later. Well, it was more like horseback falling off! LOL

I haven't missed a thing in life and I hope you won't either. With a little PM watching over my heart activity (CHB) I have gone out and tried as much as life has had to offer.

Dance like the wind! And, have a wonderful time doing it. NO FEAR!

My very best to you,
Gellia

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But I think it will make me feel a lot better. My stamina to walk is already better, even right after surgery. They had me walk all around the floor before they would release me. I did so without being exhausted and winded the way I had been.