First time questions

Hi. I am a 17 year old senior in highschool about to get my first pacemaker on. I am a varsity starter in football, basketball and baseball. I know I will have the two weeks recovery but I was wondering if anyone has had anything similar and if I will be able to play sports normally afterwards?

5 Comments

Too Soon

by Artist - 2015-10-07 04:10:42

Two weeks is too soon to be involved in sports where the PM area may take some hard hits. Your body will probably let you know it is too soon. It takes time for the incision to heal and the soreness to lessen. The leads bond more securely to the heart wall by forming scar tissue and that process normally takes an average of 30 days. Regardless of healing time, even years after surgery, hard blows to the PM area can cause severe pain and swelling. I am not trying to be discouraging. Just increase your activity slowly. Baseball and basketball should be fine, but football is questionable. Perhaps if you have one of the alternative placements sites Tracey has discussed, football would also not be a concern. Please let us know how you are and what decisions were made about placement. Considering your young age and sports activities, I hope your surgeon is receptive to placing the PM deeper.

Good question

by Good Dog - 2015-10-07 11:10:27

I think that the doc's will advise that contact sports should be avoided. However, I played very competitive basketball six months after receiving a pacemaker that had lots of contact. I also played baseball. I was in my 30's, so it wasn't the same as high school. I do think that there is very little risk playing either of those sports.
I think that contact in basketball and baseball is pretty minimal when compared to football. So football is likely out of the question.
I am giving you my opinion and advising relative to what my experiences were. I am no expert. I am sure that there are folks that would advise more conservatively and would not want you to play sports with any contact.
I have always tried to live as normal a life as is possible with as few limitations as possible. Of course, within reason. I have been successful in living an absolutely normal life for the last 30 years. The only time I even think about the fact that I have a pacemaker is when I get checkups, need it changed or go through a metal detector. I like it that way! Life is meant to be enjoyed!
BTW.....I had a congenital 1st degree heart block that went to a 3rd degree requiring a PM. My condition was such that I wasn't PM dependent 100% of the time. The PM corrected the block which was intermittent. When I exerted myself playing sports, my pulse would increase normally (my heart took-over and worked on its own). The max setting for the PM was 140 bpm and my pulse was often well over 180 bpm.
Sincerely,

Dave

life after

by Tracey_E - 2015-10-07 12:10:27

It will be more like 6-8 weeks before you should play sports again. You'll probably be feeling pretty good by two weeks and be able to run and do light workouts, but you'll want a little longer to heal before playing hard and doing anything that involves full range of motion with your arm like swinging a baseball bat or would risk taking a hit.

Talk to your surgeon about placement before the surgery and make sure he/she knows you are very active. Generally, sports are ok but full impact- like football and competitive karate- are not recommended. You won't hurt the pacer, but a full impact hit right on the device will hurt like heck. The usual placement is just under the skin, just under the collarbone, however if they place it a little lower and deeper than that, once you heal it shouldn't be in the way at all. Or, they can place it between the pectorals. Healing is longer this way because the surgery is more invasive, but once you heal you won't even know it's there. Be sure to bring it up well in advance because some are more receptive to alternative placement than others, but where it is placed will determine how much you can do sports-wise. My surgeon opted to have a plastic surgeon do the placement since it's not something he does often, he knew it would be done right and he could concentrate on what he does best- the leads.

p.s. I've been paced 20+ years now and have a daughter who's a senior. Pacers are little miracles! I ski, hike, kayak, do Crossfit and recently tried my first rock climbing wall and treetop zipline course- no one would look at me and know I have a heart condition.. Like Dave, I don't think about it much and I sure don't let it slow me down. Once you heal, it's easy to forget it's there and get on with your life.

It depends

by eva_rb - 2015-10-13 02:10:55

It depends on your normal, and where the PM is placed like what 'TraceyE' was saying. When i had mine fitted i was 11 and i had to sit out of sports for 6 weeks. I think this was right for me because my one is fitted just below my collar bone, i actually found it difficult to even raise my arm for a couple of weeks. But you can basically do sports again when you feel ready, like if you can get it in a place that doesn't restrict your movement or you do exercises to regain strength faster i don't see why there would be an issue especially if you're normally a sporty person. My doctors said they advise no contact sports at all but they also said that for a blow to do serious damage it would have to be very hard- they gave the example of being in a car crash. I would just say to be careful, for me it feels horrible to even be pushed in the chest around my pacemaker so for example i imagine it could do some damage to be tackled in football and receive a proper hit. Also I'm 17 as well and I've never seen anyone around my age with a pacemaker before! Good luck with your surgery! :)

Paceguard.com

by Gailae - 2015-11-06 04:11:11

There are protectors for the pacemaker which are great for contact sports. I jump horses and bought the safeguard which is positioned over the pacemaker inside a pocket of a tee - shirt.
Go to the paceguard site and it will fully explain the product.
I love mine and it takes away all worries of direct pacemaker blows which would be painful.

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