im now a cyborg!

greetings all! i have just received my first pacemaker as of 12/14/2007 and all is well. i am 49 y/o and diagnosed with sick sinus syndrome and i know you all know what that is. i have read most of the info on this site and is is very informative and beneficial and i thank all of you for your time. this is my first ever surgery, not even a dental cavity so i am very new to all of this even though i am in the health care profession-it has never been me personally! i understand the lifting restrictions but can anyone address what i call the "push-pull" idea? that being how much sress can i place on my left arm such as pushing a door open or pulling something towards me? thanks!

1 Comments

reasons

by kmhayward - 2007-12-29 08:12:14

The reason behind the no pushing or pulling is the same as lifting your arm. Any extension and or pressure on the pectoral muscles can cause a shift in the position of the electrodes before they have had a chance to embed properly. The pacemaker and the top of the electrode leads are stitched into your pectoral muscles. When you move your arm back and forth the pecs move too. This is why no swimming and no heavy lifting and try not to use you arm to push yourself out of a chair etc.... at least for the 1st week. After the 1st week just restrict the movement of your arm, keeping it below shoulder height and not putting too much pressure on it. Opening doors should be ok only if they are not too heavy. But quite frankly, just use you other arm, its only for a few weeks then life goes back to normal. Better to restrict than have to go back into hospital to have the wires repositioned
Hope this helps

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In fact after the final "tweaks" of my pacemaker programming at the one year check up it is working so well that I forget I have it.