Mother seems worse after surgery

My 78 year old mother had pacemaker and ablation surgery on 10/28/15 after being in the hospital almost 6 weeks. Prior to the surgery she was able to walk around using her walking and was lively and spirited. Since the surgery she has been weak and sleeps alot. She is unable to get up to even use the bathroom without assistance. She does have other conditions which I understand can delay her recovery but is it normal? I am worried about her leaving the hospital before she is ready even though she will be moved to a skilled nursing facility for physical and occupational therapy prior to coming home. Thank you for any advice and comments.

2 Comments

Please allow me to be blunt...

by Lurch - 2015-10-31 07:10:16

Your 78 year old Mother, who had been laying in a hospital for almost six weeks, just had her chest cut open, a metal box implanted within her body, a hole poked in her artery so that a wire(s) could be routed into her heart and stuck into the wall of same! That box and those wires are now sending electrical signals into her heart to make sure it is beating properly. They also sent a wire into sections of her heart where they introduced electrical probes to burn away sections.

To do that they undoubtedly gave her sedation and have probably changed some of her medications along the way also.

It will absolutely take some time for her to recover from all of this. Physical and occupational therapy is, IMHO, the best thing in the world for her!

I am sorry for being so blunt about it, but these procedures have become almost "common place" today and sometimes we forget what our bodies have gone through.

I sincerely hope that your Mother recoveries quickly.

Don't fret

by knb123 - 2015-11-02 08:11:14

After reading your description of your mother's six-week hospital stay plus PM implant and ablation surgery experience, I am not surprised in the least that she is weak and sleeps a lot.

In fact, I would be surprised if that were NOT the case. I spent two days in the hospital after my PM implant and was tired and sleepy for at least a week thereafter. What's more, I am young enough to be your sister (and I didn't undergo an ablation, which I have been told can be physically and mentally exhausting to a patient).

So, try not to worry about how your mother is doing so soon after her experience. In the skilled nursing facility, you can be her advocate for physical and occupational therapy and stay attentive to the care she is receiving. I have every confidence that she will bounce back from this. Let us know how she does!

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Member Quotes

I had a pacemaker when I was 11. I never once thought I wasn't a 'normal kid' nor was I ever treated differently because of it. I could do everything all my friends were doing; I just happened to have a battery attached to my heart to help it work.