New member

welcome

by Tracey_E - 2023-03-22 22:04:15

Glad you found us. If you have questions as you heal, ask away! It can be hard to wrap your head around when it comes on suddenly. 

Thanks

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-22 22:33:59

Thanks Tracey😊nervous about how this will effect my life .

Welcome to the club

by AgentX86 - 2023-03-22 23:21:48

Let us know how your surgery went.  I'm sure everything will go right but it's good to have the story here.  We often only see the problematic cases, which scares people.  Good news is wanted too.

I know you'll be fine.  Do pay attention to your after-care instructions and limitations.  This is important.  If you can, take someone with you to help you remember.  Writing things down works but I know multi-tasking doesn't work.  You'll be thinking about other things and may miss some important information.

Welcome to the club

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-23 08:12:01

I would love to see more positive experiences on here myself ,it seems that most are problems . I know there has to be some good stories . I would love to hear them 😊

Hi you🌷🌷🌷

by Lavender - 2023-03-23 09:24:37

My pacemaker was a sudden surprise after having a 33 second heart pause. I had been fainting for six months but I have a sneaky rare arrhythmia called ventricular standstill. 
 

I had an easier physical recovery with little swelling and only took Tylenol a day or so. My arm and neck had soreness and some itching etc but all healed. I've had mine two years. My heart ejection fraction improved to normal. I take no meds. I am fixed. I live a normal life with no restrictions. 
 

The first 6 weeks or so you keep your arm on the pacemaker side lower than the shoulder but keep using it! Your life will be better than it was because you're safer with the pacemaker 😃

Hi you

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-23 09:43:22

Thanks for the encouragement , I was walking everyday for the last seven months around two miles a day . This came out of the blue. Kind of floored me . Always have taken care of myself etc , Woke up with palpitations and heart was dipping to low thirties in  emergency room . Nervous about the whole thing . I will get my head around it eventually . Love to hear the more positive stories 😊

how it will affect your life

by Tracey_E - 2023-03-23 10:03:28

I know it seems HUGE right now, but believe it or not most of us get to the point where we barely give it a thought. The list of things we can't do is very short and once we heal, we can live a full, active life. I'm congenital so have been paced most of my adult life (I'm 56 now). No one looks at me and sees a heart patient.

Mrw2350, for every one person posting with a problem who is looking for answers, there are hundreds out there with no issues who don't bother posting about it. It makes it seem very skewed. I just put a picture in the gallery from the finish line of the half marathon I did last weekend. I make it my unofficial mission to balance out the post op pics in the gallery with active pics. 

How it will effect your life

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-23 10:14:37

Thanks Tracey ,I needed the encouragement. Can't wait until I can back to walking and working out 😊

walking

by Tracey_E - 2023-03-23 10:59:42

Check with your doctor, but I was out walking the day I was released from the hospital. We need to not lift anything heavy (how heavy depends on who you ask, doctor's vary) or raise the arm above shoulder level for 4-6 weeks. Other than that, anything goes. It's important to try to use the left arm so you don't get frozen shoulder, just don't raise it high until the leads heal. 

Some people are out running after the first week or two. That was too much bouncing for me, but walking felt good. I was back at the gym at 4 weeks, doing my old routine without twinges or babying it by 3 months. Just ease back into it. It takes some time between when we are healed enough to work out and the time we are fully healed and scar tissue has built up around the box. If something doesn't feel right, back off and try it again in a week. Working out will aggravate that fresh scar tissue at first, that's normal.  Ice is your friend during this time.

If you feel symptoms as you get back to working out, let your team know. It's common to need to adjust the settings. They send us home with a good guess but settings are not one size fits all so it may take a fews tries to fine tune it to your needs. This is perfectly normal, even expected, if we are active. 

Best of luck for next Tuesday !

by IAN MC - 2023-03-23 12:02:55

If your recovery is anything like mine you should certainly be able to resume your 2 mile daily walks by the end of next week  ( maybe before )  .

Despite the skewed feedback on here ,having a PM installed is really  a minor procedure ; recovery is almost always rapid and uneventful.

For me, having a pacemaker immediately restored my  heart-rate to normal levels and bradycardia is now a distant memory..

I'm sure you will be the same....enjoy your return to walkiing a.s.a.p. . Try 3 miles as a celebration !

Ian

Walking

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-23 12:45:30

Thanks Ian ,I intend to start again as soon as I can 😊

Newbie

by MegZ - 2023-03-24 19:14:41

I am 83 and had my pacemaker placed at the beginning of February.  I was in hospital to make sure Dofetilide would work for me and when, after two doses, it proved to not be good for me my doctor told me he would give me a pacemaker the next day.  That was a surprise!   Since things still did not improve I had my 4th ablation; an AV Node ablation a week ago.   I do feel very much better.  My breathlessness has cleared up quite a bit although I do want it to be better that it is.   I experienced no pain and so far no side effects.

I was happy to find this club.  Since everything happened so fast I still feel a little lost.  It will be good to ask questions.

Thank you.

Good luck!

by Aberdeen - 2023-03-25 05:56:55

Wishing you well on Tuesday! You have been given excellent advice from the other members who have posted previously so I have nothing to add.Let us know how you get on!

Good luck

by Mrw2350 - 2023-03-25 07:28:51

Thank you very much 😊