I'm FAT!

Pacemaker installed September 2013... Since then I have put on 20 LBS up from 176 now 196. The Army has me on a breath at own pace and distance and don't die profile. Civillian Doctor (who did the insertion) advises me to do anything I want as long as it is not contact sports... Anyone else getting FAT?

12 Comments

move more, eat less

by Tracey_E - 2014-05-07 01:05:17

It's not rocket science. What you weight is more about what you eat than how much you move, 80/20. If you're cleared for anything but contact sports, that leaves an endless list of options. Pick something and go for it!

weight gain

by bmccasland - 2014-05-07 02:05:59

Yes, I'm battling the bulge as well. I have put on 18lbs since originall implant on January-06,2014.. Mostly because of being sednatary..

hate to join you

by wjs1954 - 2014-05-07 03:05:05

But yeah me also up about 20 from last Nov. Had the pm put in 2~24, Nov is when the doctor had me stop exercising till they decided to do the pacemaker. Now just to lazy too get my fat a$$ out the door and start running again.

Thanks IAN!

by DANRAINES - 2014-05-07 04:05:36

IAN.... You sound like a NIKE commercial (glad to see the "American Experience" isn't lost in translation) HAHA!

I'm just stuck waiting for the Veteran's Affairs Office to tell me what percentage they are going to give me after I am cut loose from the military. Primarly, it is that medical clearance that matters. The Army is scared of the word PACEMAKER...

FAT,,

by stannita - 2014-05-07 05:05:03

My pacer is in now about 9 months. On insertion, one of the leads made a hole in my heart with subsequent open heart surgery to correct. Spent 4 days in hospital and when I weighed myself a week later, had lost 12 pounds. Shock! I have gained 3 pounds back but trying to keep weight off. This was a hard loss pain wise, did not miss eating at that time. It really is what you eat, how much/little, and exercise. Good luck on losing but don't know how to make it easier. Pain does it for me....Nita

scale upage

by judyblue - 2014-05-07 08:05:18

Sadly, I am part of this new club too. I will use the hope of summer to get back down.

Yes - I can relate!

by bluebowtye - 2014-05-07 11:05:19

Hi Dan,

I had my surgery almost 3 months ago and my biggest issue now is trying to get off the 10 pounds I gained during recovery. I am working on it but it's not easy. It is so frustrating when I try and put on a pair of jeans that I could wear before and now they are too tight. I am just thankful the weather is getting warmer so I can get outside. I love walking and hiking at a little park close to my house. I am slowly starting to workout with light weights again. My Dr. also told me I can do anything I want, so I'm hoping I can get this weight off in the next few months.

Good luck to you!

~Sheila

I'm not FAT !

by IAN MC - 2014-05-07 12:05:42

If your Drs have said you can do anything; then do it !!

Walk fast,, walk instead of using the car , run till you're breathless every day; then run further every day; cycle , play sports, go to a gym; every time you go upstairs run up two steps at a time , just do it, and do it frequently !

.. and EAT LESS ; it's not rocket science !

I used to tell jokes about fat people but I don't anymore; I think they've got enough on their plate !

Ian


Rehab?

by Gotrhythm - 2014-05-08 01:05:32

In the months leading up to the PM, SOB and feeling too exhausted to move were my main symptoms. I recognized that I sometimes ate sweets to get "energy," even though I wasn't really hungry. I gained a few pounds. And I became so sedentary and out of shape that exercise was still too hard, even after I got the PM.

Is Cardiac Rehab an option for you? I hadn't had a heart attack or surgery so I had to do it on my own nickel. But it made all the difference for me.

Although I wasn't overweight before, I lost about six pounds over the twelve week course. What mattered most was the help I got with knowing how much to push myself, and when to back off.

Two years later, I'm running no marathons, but I am able to exercise daily with confidence. And my weight is stable.

Attitude

by valley01 - 2014-05-08 08:05:53

I went into this with the attitude that this PM was NOT going to slow me down. I was 43, active, and a clean eater before insertion on 10/1/13 which helped me tremendously plus I work out with a group of people and I was determined not to fall behind. I was out walking 3+ miles a day 2 days after surgery and ran a 5k exactly one month post surgery. It wasn't comfortable at all. I called my cardiologists office daily the first week with concerns on weird things I was feeling and they assured me I was fine. I walked holding my chest at the insertion site because it felt like the PM was bouncing and was painful. I even tried taping the insertion site to prevent the bouncing. I eventually got used to the new feelings and the pain went away. I actually lost 10lbs within 2 weeks of my surgery. On 3/6/14 (5 months after PM insertion) I had my left adrenal gland removed for Conn's Disease. That was much more difficult to bounce back from than the PM insertion but I made myself get up and walk right away. Now I am down an additional 10lbs from that surgery and running my first 10k on Saturday. I understand everyone's experience is different, just do what you can do and stay positive. Summer is coming :)

Donr

by DANRAINES - 2014-05-13 05:05:24

Thanks for the reply...

Makes me feel like I am going to be ok!

Dan, you are....

by donr - 2014-05-13 09:05:04

....living in a closed community where a PM is as strange as a Martian!

And - everyone is expected to be physically active to the lower stages of anerobic?

BUT - OTOH, you will not find the outside world much more understanding of the reality of your situation.

Assume there are 10 million hosts for PM/ICD's in the real World outside Uncle Sam's Army. There are other people in the BILLIONS, so guess how many PM hosts the average bear knows!

F'rinstance - I live in Atlanta, Georgia, a city of several million people w/ a thriving community of PM/ICD hosts living here. There are at least half a dozen hosps implanting the devices. My own Cardio has a thriving practice caring for Hosts. I know for a fact from this site that there are at least TWO other hosts living w/i 25 miles of me. But have I met either of my "Neighbors" or any of the other hundreds of hosts in the city? NOPE! We are scattered all over the place & not familiar to very many people.

Based on this lack of familiarity, we are not understood & considered by many to be helpless cripples, incapable of living at pace any faster than "Breath(e) at own pace and distance and don't die profile."

For the information of the non-service folks reading this, a "Profile" is a restriction on physical activity based on 6 different categories of medical condition. The ratings w/i each category is evaluated by the Medics & assigned based on their evaluation of one's capabilities of performing their duties under very severe conditions. The heart falls in the first category called "Physical Stamina" & Dan probably has a 3 or 4 rating here. Based NOT upon his capabilities, really, but on the Army's capability of caring for him medically in the field, far from home (Read that as "On a God-forsaken, barren, freezing , very high mountain top, in the middle of a fire fight, with no capability to medevac him, Afghanistan." For that matter, just about any pro football player w/ bad knees would rate a 4 in the lower extremities category because of his unreliability on that mountaintop. A 4 is the worst rating.

Bottom line - any physical exertion on Dan's part is most likely not only frowned upon, it is practically FORBIDDEN! by the profile system.

Therefore, it is up to DAN to take care of himself, because ONLY HE knows his true physical limitations.

Dan - from an OLD SOLDIER - stop eating & start exercising. You may NOT know the limits of your capabilities, but you'll never learn them with the stigma the Army has branded into your forehead.

Advanced TMI for the uninitiated:

The most stigmatizing category of the 6 is the "S" Category. S=Psychiatric. Get anything other than a 1 in that category & you are dead meat professionally.

You hear about the high suicide rates in the services. People who are normal don't go around "Offing" themselves. Put people under the stress that modern combat entails, repetitively, & they start showing signs of that stress. The infamous PTSD is the most well known of the maladies that can occur. Until the stigma of less than a 1 in the S category is removed, soldiers will continue to avoid seeking help early on in the development of their psychiatric problems. Further, commanders resist looking for such indications of problems because it may lose them a sorely needed asset - a man (or woman). Consider that an Infantry company has about 120 men in it during peacetime. Start taking casualties & it may well be down to 30 or 40 men. With no hope in sight for replacements. No man in most mental states would either (A) leave his buddies, or (B) start looking for soldiers who might be breaking down in the early stages. That is a reality that the "System" has yet to adequately confront.

Donr

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