PM surgery for the first time in a few days

Was wondering if there will be certain things i cannot do afterwards for temporarily and permanently, and also what questions should I ask my Dr hes 2 hours away from me so I wont see him often so I was trying to find out what I should ask him all at once any advice will help thanks!

2 Comments

Restrictions Post-Op

by donr - 2012-04-09 10:04:55

Mama: I recall replying to your first post where you asked about how long out of college after surgery.

So the big day is getting here!

This is another "How long is a piece of string " question, since a lot will depend on how you respond to just being in La-La-Land for 40 min or so & the actual implanting process.

there are both temporary restrictions & permanent ones. Ask about the permanent ones AFTER you recover from the procedure & reach some sort of steady state.

The temporary ones are pretty universal: 1) Do not raise your elbow on the PM side above the shoulder for 6 weeks. An annoyance, more than anything. It's to keep you from stretching the leads & putting stress on the point where they enter the vein. If you have trouble at night, try putting on a plain teeshirt w/ the PM side arm inside the body. 2) Cannot lift anything heavier than 5 lbs (or ten, or the weight of a gallon of milk) for 6 weeks. 3) no showers/getting the incision wet for some period of time after the surgery. This one will depend on YOUR surgeon's policies. Face it - you'll have a nasty cut along your upper chest. It will probably hurt a bit for a while. that's normal. Just don't do anything to irritate or stress the cut & you'll be fine.

Don

You probably won't feel like much else for a while. BUT: you have a child. Gotta be careful about trying to lift him/her. Sit & let the little urchin climb into your lap for attention.

a list

by sydgirl - 2012-04-10 01:04:05

Write everything down before you see him and also ask the pacemaker tecs. Your hospital might have a video you could watch also.
Good luck with everything I'm sure it will go well!

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