Huh?

A quck answer - others will perhaps share more details ...

by MartyP - 2018-04-27 12:45:55

Take it easy.  For perhaps another week or two try not to raise your arm too high over your shoulder.  This will give the leads a little more time to set and heal into your heart muscle - you DI NOT WANT THEM TO PULL AWAY.  Again for the next week or two don't try to lift anything heavy - 5 - 15 and maybe towards the 4th week, 20 to 25 or 30 pounds.

Make sure you move your arm around so that you don't get a frozen shoulder - that is no fun.

Once you feel better then slowly start back with your exercise program - the younger you are the faster you will get back to the heavier program, the older you may be, I'm 73, the longer it will take.  Don't get discouraged, you muscles have memory and and they "remember" pretty quickly, but don't hurry things along, you have the rest of your life ahead of you and don't do anything stupid.

If your head starts to feel a little wonky or a bit of anxiety creeps in, many of us have experienced that.  "we know a lot, because we've seen a lot".  Stay with us and ask any questions you may have - "we know a lot, because we've seen a lot". 

healing

by Tracey_E - 2018-04-27 13:06:32

Whatever you do, don't keepy our arms at your side. That's how you get frozen shoulder. Use the arm normally. The only restrictions would be raising overhead and lifting over 10#. 

(I posted this to someone else last week, being lazy and copying it)

Ask 10 doctors, get 10 answers. I think the trend is shortening the length of time they give us restrictions. There was a study and patients with no restrictions had no higher incident of leads being dislodged than patients with the traditional 4-6 weeks of restrictions. I think they all agree that after the first 48 hours it's all precaution so it's a matter of how conservative your doctor is. When I got my first one in 1994, I wasn't given any restrictions. When I got a new lead in 2010 I was told 6 weeks. I had a replacement two years ago, and the instructions said 2 weeks, same surgeon who said 6 weeks a few years before. (that was on the standard discharge paperwork, lead restrictions don't apply to simple replacements)

Leads are not put in tight. They are attached in the heart, run through the vein, and there is plenty of slack between where it comes out of the vein and where it attaches to the device. Sometimes there is enough that they coil it behind the device. So it's never made sense to me that moving the arm is going to do anything at all in the heart. 

You can follow your doctor's advice, or if you feel better being more conservative then hold off raising the arm for a few more weeks. 

Light exercise

by Washingtonienne - 2018-04-27 22:25:20

I was actually instructed at discharge, just over 6 months ago, to rest at home the first day but then get out and go for a nice walk the next - and I did.  Every day for the first couple weeks, I went for a nice walk around the neighborhood.  Once the incision heald up a bit, I was ready to head back to the gym and started with the cycles and treadmill.  Trust your body - if something feels uncomfortable, don't do it. Otherwise, get moving.