now what

had my pacemaker implanted this monday 5/10/10 and am wondering now what. i m 50 years old a registered nurse on med/surg unit for last two years. very unexpectably i lost conciosness sunday night and reciecved my pacer monday. they r talking about 6 to 8 weeks off work due to a 5 pound weight limit. is this a left sided weight limit? do i really hv to be off that long. what should i be expecting over the next few weeks? i actually feel better than i hv in a while.
thanks for ur help and input,
raylene

2 Comments

New Pacemaker

by SMITTY - 2010-05-13 01:05:38


Hello Raylene,

Welcome to the Pacemaker Club.

I was given a 10 lb. wt. limit for two weeks. No mention was made of right or left side. I'm sure you know better than most the muscles structure of the body and how the use of one may involve another. I know the reason for the limitation is that they do not want you doing anything that causes flexing of the muscles close to the pacemaker implant area.

I returned my normal activities in a few weeks, but then the most strenuous activity I had was playing golf or fishing. You being a nurse, I can see the possibility of you being unexpectedly called on to be involved in some very strenuous activity, even if for short periods of time. I suggest you get answers for your questions from the Dr that did your implant. He know if there was anything about your surgery that was not normal. Also, he will have a better understanding of your work requirements.

Physical activity that could stress the implant area, or the pacemaker leads is something you do not want.

Good luck,

Smitty

Arm movement and motion

by cruz - 2010-05-14 10:05:58

I had the wt limit for 8 weeks noted on my discharge papers. I was also told not to get my elbow above my shoulder. The nurse warned about reaching forward and pulling something heavy toward me with the left arm and putting weight on my left arm to push myself up (like from a chair or bathtub). I could see a nurse using her arm regularly to perform all these seemingly harmless motions using her arm, so it might require some serious adjustments or limitations to your duties. No one wants to have to go back and have the procedure as a do-over. Use caution.

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