Got my PM implanted yesterday

Take it slow for a while

by crustyg - 2020-06-09 10:38:08

You can get back to exercising now - I was out on my road bike four days post PM last year, even without a sensible maxHR.  It's important to keep the skin wound clean and dry, so any exercise that you do that makes you really sweat probably isn't a great idea until the skin wound has healed well - depends a little on the skin dressing.  Try not to raise the elbow on the PM side above shoulder for some weeks - 2-4probably.  NO swimming for 6 weeks!

Running every day probably isn't a great idea even at 35yrs - you should be having a rest day or doing some other exercise on the non-running day.  Professional and keen club athletes usually/often have a physio to tell them to train smarter not harder, otherwise injuries start to slow you down.  Professional track runners often move to cross-country over the winter for this reason as indoor work tends to lead to injury.

Also, you *probably* have been warned that your arrhythmia is likely to recur (although a pacing strategy that's as atrial-based as possible is the best to minimise this), so you might want to consider investing in a good quality chest strap for HR monitoring, and *always* stop if you suddenly feel crummy/bad/awful/sick when exercising (as you may have dropped back into AFlut or worse, AFib).

Otherwise crack on with your life and exercise.

Best wishes.

Good news and thank you for letting us know

by Gemita - 2020-06-09 11:27:08

I do remember our chats and I am so pleased the angonising is over for you and for your family.  You now have your pacemaker and you can move on and think about other things.  Making any decision for me is difficult enough but making a decision on health matters is fraught with difficulty and procrastination but what a relief when a decision is finally made and the procedure is done.  Such a burden is lifted.

As you say, you kept logs of the days when you didnt feel so good to remind you that all was not well because the good days just serve to confuse us into a false sense of well being.  I know the feeling well.  You begin to question if this is all in your mind, if things are really as bad  as you think they are but as you go down your diary of events, you can see clearly what is happening and this helped me also to finally come to a decision.  Doctors generally need this sort of confirmation and need us to be sure it is what we want.

I really hope for the very best for you and that your quality of life improves from now on.  Take it slowly as Crustyg says and don't expect too much too soon.  Pace yourself and maybe do a little more each day is the way to move forward.  There will be a lot of learning on your journey and maybe some mistakes made but that is what life is all about.

Exercise

by AgentX86 - 2020-06-09 12:46:34

If you feel like mild exercise, there is no reason you can't start with walking now.  I started the day after I was released but at a somewhat reduced distance.  I made sure I didn't sweat until after at least the wound check - ask. The incision must be kept clean and sweat will carry all sorts of bugs where you don't want them.  I was banned from the gym for a month so that I didn't sweat. After that month, I was pretty much good to go. Follow your doctors' orders but as long as you feel up to it, do it.  There may be other reasons that they want you to start slower so make sure you pay attention to their instructions.  Ask questions.