February 25th - The Big Day

Well, it's confirmed, my doctor, cardiologist and EP all agree I need a pacemaker due to my heart block. I'm having and echocardiogram on Saturday just to find out what kind of pacer I will need. I'll be counting the days and staying connected on here and reading all the posts. I just find it hard to believe my EP told me I could probably return to work (although I go to school) in 48 hours. 48 hours!! I can't imagine that. Doesn't the soreness last longer than that? How am I supposed to concentrate if I'm in pain?

6 Comments

healing time

by Tracey_E - 2010-02-04 09:02:03

Just because you have permission to go back doesn't mean you'll be ready to go back, but you never know! Play it by ear and see how you feel. The 25th is a Thurs so you might be feeling pretty good by Monday. Going to classes isn't sitting in an office all day, you might be surprised what you're up to by Monday.

We all have different tolerances for pain. I had my pm and one of my leads replaced last Monday. Mon I was still under the local from the surgery so I felt great. I took pain meds Tues and Wed nights to sleep, just tylenol during the day. I haven't take anything since last Thurs. On a scale of 1 to 10, the pain was never more than a 5 or 6. I'm more stiff than sore but basically back to normal, just being careful with the left arm and resting when I feel tired.

take it easy

by patsy - 2010-02-04 09:02:06

them doc have no idea how sore you are ask for pain meds for you self i did not go back to work for 2 month an im in retail alot of lifting no good in the beginning need to rest you dont want to wined up back in hospital i hated that place they never let you rest in there. someone said on the site once that they should put a pacemaker in the doc s with out the leads an see how they feel talk to you later husband is needing my lab top Patsy

Yep....

by DanaT - 2010-02-04 09:02:28

That's what I'm sayin'.....

48 hrs????????

by Pookie - 2010-02-04 09:02:45

Your EP is nuts....in my opinion.

We all heal at different rates/speeds/times.

YOU will know when YOU can go back to school.

Give yourself at least 1-2 weeks off of school...just my opinion.

I took a month before going back to work, and then when I got there I realized I should have taken another week.

Again, we are all different.

good luck,
Pookie

Just Need to Adjust ~ ~

by Carolyn65 - 2010-02-05 12:02:58

DanaT, you are the only one who will know when and where you feel like being. Your body will let you know how you feel. Just take time to listen to it.

The main things are just not to lift anything heavy, do not raise the arm above the implant area and to wear appropriate clothing until the incision heals. This clothing meaning something that will not rub, scratch, bind, etc. the incision area. Each person is built differently. I had been told the vehicle seat belt might bother me. My "large" upper body sits at such an angle the seat belt did not touch/rub my incision. After a couple of days after the incision, and taking a pain pill at night for those two days, I felt a lot better. After about a month, all my "work" was still around me, but I had to remind myself to take my body just one day at a time.

The biggest thing for my body, was when I started doing/feeling good, I would forget the PM and try to "over do it" in my routine.

Take care, soreness on a 1 to 10 is very minimal.
Carolyn G. in TEXAS ( :

It all depends...

by justme08_2000 - 2010-02-06 02:02:15

I had my PM put in on a Thursday evening late late. I think by the time I got out of recovery and to my room it was 11-11:30pm. I got sick from the Versed, Phegeran (not sure of the spelling), and darvacet mixture. I'm in school for Respiratory Therapy so I was a nervous wreck (for no reason come to find out). They had to pump me full to get me to shush it and dance off to lala world. I got so much Versed that I slept though the WHOLE process. I woke up to feel them putting the butterfly stitches on.

As far as the hurting part... I'm not even going to lie I hurt BIG time bad. I'm really thinking that alot of it had to do with the fact that I'm a top heavy woman. I think men and women with smaller "girls" would do better. Even though I was in pain that first night I found that if I kept my arm bent at the elbow to try to help support the "girls" that it didn't pull and hurt as bad. I did take some pain meds for the weekend and then come Monday I was pretty much pain free.

I was told that the pain does depend on several factors... pain tolerance, normal daily activities, and age. The only thing I had problems with as far as pain goes is... I write with my right hand and everything else I do left handed. So, part of me wishes I would have had mine put in on the right side vs. left side. I would go to grab the milk or whatever and that's when I would hurt. But like Caroly says the soreness after my first day was pretty minimal... maybe a 5 at it's worst for me.

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I just had this miracle implanted two weeks ago and I’m feeling better.