How soon?

Hello, I am due to have a pacemaker, hopefully in the New Year. I have been off work since July. How soon after the 6 weeks post implantation can you return to normal working? I am going to have to change from working as a MRI Radiographer to hopefully find a job in CT scanning.Obviously I have to push/pull/lift equiptment, help move patients, do on call etc
Is there anyone else working in the healthcare proffession working with a pacemaker especially as a Radiographer?
Has anyone experienced discrimination?

6 Comments

Emotional

by Marie12 - 2013-12-20 08:12:37

I'm not a crier either but since my heart attack and ICD implant, I cry quite a bit. Getting better every day though and you will too. My husband felt the same way as yours. He wasn't use to me being like that and he just didn't know what to do. It's hard to explain to them what you are going through. They are not in our body but because they aren't, it's important to cut them some slack when they are maybe not as supportative as we would like.

It's tough to change careers but try and look at it as a new opportunity. Good luck to you with your implant and come visit the site often. It truly will help.

Give yourself a break

by Theknotguy - 2013-12-20 09:12:13

Let's see, major change in life, finding out you need a PM to live, job change and all you're doing is crying? Give yourself a break!

Emotional responses are normal. After all this is a major change. And yes, I started crying at odd times and for no reason. As you adjust and start feeling better you may not have as many emotional responses.

Don't be afraid to seek emotional support. I saw a psychologist. Also worked with therapy dogs. Both helped a lot.

I had major trauma so it was longer than 60 days before I started feeling better. If you only have a PM implant you should feel pretty good at the six week period. I'm in my second rehab and am about 80% of normal but, like I said, I had major trauma. Your's should not be as bad. My max is 100 pounds for lifting from now on. I used to move 4x8 foot 90 pound sheets of wood. That's out. I will be allowed to move half sheets but that's all. So I'm thinking moving people on gurneys should be well below your maximum weight.

Don't know about job discrimination. We have a lot of people on the forum who are working. (I'm retired.) I'm thinking the hospital should want you around. You'd be one of their best advertisements for post PM adjustment. If your hospital doesn't feel that way, I'd find another who does.

Hang in there. Life gets better!

Theknotguy

work

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-20 10:12:12

Check with your doc, but you should be able to return to work at 6 weeks. Definitely switch to CT, pretty sure they won't let you in the room with the MRI. Ask about the MRI compatible ones. I know you can have an MRI with one, but don't think that means you could work around the machinery day in and day out. Good luck finding something new that you like quickly.

NORMAL!

by Tracey_E - 2013-12-20 11:12:05

An emotional response is totally normal!!!! Many find that adjusting mentally is harder than the physical healing. Drs rarely tell you that but you are not alone. If you browse the past posts, this comes up here All. The. Time. It's a blow to find out your heart doesn't work like it should, esp if you are young and have been healthy and active. Know that it is temporary, that it gets better. Electrical problems just happen so there's nothing you could have done to prevent it, nothing you did to cause it. Add in it's the holidays and this means a job change ... yeah, you have a full plate, cut yourself some slack.

For me, as I healed and got back to normal, as I felt better and better, I thought about it less and less. I truly rarely give it a thought now, it's just a part of me. You'll get there.

If you have questions, ask away. Sometimes just understanding better helps us accept it.

Work

by Bryony - 2013-12-20 11:12:26

I will be having a MRI conditional pacemaker which would be ok as a patient but not as a Radiographer being subjected to the varying magnetic field constantly day in day out. There are no physicists, pacemaker companies, advisory bodies who are willing to give an opinion safe or not as it has never been tested in any country. I'm feeling very down about everything, really emotional and crying a lot which is not me.Is it normal to feel like this? It has really really surprised me and my husband who is not used to seeing his wife like this.I worked in a cardiac imaging department about 24 years ago and never really appreciated how the patients must have been feeling.
Thank you for your good wishes, it means a lot especially as my siblings dont seem to care.
I'm so glad I stumbled across this site by chance

Empathy

by Grateful Heart - 2013-12-20 12:12:34

What an opportunity for you. Cardiac imaging with a tech who has a pacemaker! Think of all the patients who you could help even more now, simply because you will have a pacemaker yourself. They will see you living, breathing and working.....reassuring them that they can get back to normal too. Not what you wanted (or any of us for that matter) but you could turn this into a positive in so many ways.

Too early to think of that, I know, but just a little food for thought. You have to get past the first few phases of your new life with a PM yourself. An emotional response is normal for most of us as Tracey said. We are all different and it takes more time for some. So take the time you need, and educate your siblings. They may be very concerned for you and it may come across as indifferent. The more I learned and shared with my family and friends, the less they worried.

Good luck with your surgery, it is a shock to us all but you will be fine. Acceptance is the key.

Grateful Heart

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