What’s next?

im 5 days post implantation. I still have the original water resistant bandage. I go Tuesday for the pm check and Friday for bandage and staple removal. Man does it itch right now! I was told not to raise my arm.. no push, pull, tug, tow, reach up or behind.. is it bad that I’ve slipped up and woken up with both arms above my head on one occasion? I panicked and now sleep in the sling.. lol.. pm is on left side so I’m sleeping on my right side. Is that ok?! I’m having what feels like pain in my lungs and I guess it’s not pain, but more of a discomfort on deep breaths. I’ve also had this weird feeling that I can’t describe in what feels like the area where the electrodes should be in my heart. Only once or twice. I’m still feeling random thumps, but hopefull out of the 30 bpm range. I have no blockages or heart disease, just a genetic stage 2 AV blockage. No meds and no previous steps to get here. It’s just scary. I’d like to know what to expect. I haven’t told many people. It embarrassing. I’ve always been very independent, and I’m over hearing I’m too young for this. We are all invincible.. until we aren’t... 

1 Comments

The Itch!!

by Washingtonienne - 2018-02-05 21:17:19

Like Robin1 said, itchiness could be a sign of something more so do monitor it closely.  But, if there is no swelling or discoloration to go with that itchiness, I recommend ice.  My skin reacts to pretty much any adhesive - even bandaids leave little oval rashes. My incision was sealed using only dermaglue and, surprise!, I reacted to the adhesive.  Ice helped a lot with the itchiness and keeping the itchiness at bay helped me not touch my incision.  
But oh man.... that itchiness was the WORST part of getting the pacer.  

On sleeping, I too slept on my ride side until one morining I woke up on my stomach with my left arm up under my head.  I figured, if my body felt ok doing that while I was sleeping, it must be ok.   The caution with arm movement is to give your body a change to build scar tissue - inside and at incision.  But remember that there is some slack in your leads, so it would take a lot to pull them out before healing, and your incision is going to heal pretty quick too.  

I'm 34, 4 months post implant and I don't even notice it anymore.  I was quite surprized how quickly I healed and I'm sure you'll get there soon too.  Best of luck!   

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