Lots of questions...
Hi all. My name is Cathie. I joined this group because of my husband Mike. He was just implanted this week with an icd/pacemaker. He has a branch bundle blockage and they put one in as a "precaution". We are both very curious about what his activity level will be when he heals. He is very active and likes to go fourwheeling, snowmobiling....well riding in general. Plus no one will give us answers on how long he will be out of work (He's a machinist) or what he will be allowed to do later on, as in limitations. Can anyone give us some realistic answers???
5 Comments
New To ICD/Piecemaker
by SMITTY - 2010-10-24 08:10:07
Hello Cathie,
Welcome to the Pacemaker Club.
As Tracey said getting a defibrillator and pacemaker for a branch bundle block does sound like an over kill. However since doctors are prone to understate the full diagnosis there is always the probability he saw something else that warranted implanting a D-Fib/pacemaker.
As for activity let everything heal, usually 4 to 6 weeks, and then go back to doing whatever he was doing. The only precaution I have ever exercise is to avoid direct blows to the pacemaker. A hard blow is not likely to harm the pacemaker but it will hurt him and there is a possibility a direct blow can damage the leads going from the ICD to the heart.
Above all he does not want to let that pacemaker dictate his activity limits. The possibility of something interfering with its operation is unlikely. In the event he does find something that affects the pacemaker, such as a security gate in a department store, it will probably feel like an irregular heart beat. The pacemaker and heart beat will return to normal a could of seconds after he moves away from whatever caused the problem and no harm will be done to either.
Now, questions will come up as he gets use to that little piece of scrap metal implanted in his chest. There are a bunch of us that have already traveled the road he is starting down and we can pass been our experiences. And believe me, we have seen a lot of them here.
I wish him the best,
Smitty
Thanks!!
by cj1593 - 2010-10-25 08:10:49
Thanks for the info. As for over kill...I have to add that he has a weakened enlarged heart ie: heart failure. It was working at 30% That played into it too. We are much more optimistic for his his activity level now...Thanks Bunches!!!
makes more sense now
by Tracey_E - 2010-10-26 07:10:52
Ok, that is reasonable! Heart failure is a valid reason for an icd over a regular pm. Hopefully he'll never need it but it's a good insurance policy. The pm itself won't hold him back for anything he wants to do but check with his dr tho before he does any exertion.
Time and Patience
by cruz - 2010-11-22 12:11:47
I have an ICD. My diagnosis was DCM (dilated cardiomyopathy) with ef of 15. At diagnosis, I had never even heard of this and didn't realize it was heart failure. I go to a heart failure specialist. The recovery time is anywhere between 4-8 weeks for the procedure. Usually, an EP does the procedure itself. The restrictions are on lifting, stretching and raising your arm over your head. The leads need to "bond" and that just takes some time. If the leads get fractured or are pulled loose before they get firmly attached, you have to have the whole procedure re-do and it's more difficult, so I was very, very cautious and patient. It's very hard to do and tempting to just go a little bit beyond the restrictions because we sometimes realize the things we use our arm for until we're told we can't do them. LBBB is found on the initial tests and can mean a number of things but when they finally diagnose the cause of the LBBB, they can recommend treatment specific for the cause. The ICD has additional restrictions but they are not restrictions that are bothersome to most. The restrictions are based on what will interfere with the device or cause the device to get confused and "fire" (give us a shock). There are restrictions to getting a Commercial Driver's License (CDL) which affect some from their jobs, certain types of welding, standing over an open car hood while it's running, heavy duty power plants. Obviously these didn't have any impact on my lifestyle but they do affect some folks. They have some phamplets and booklets that can give you a better idea but as TraceyE said, it's an insurance policy and hopefully he'll never need. I had the procedure in Feb 2010.
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questions
by Tracey_E - 2010-10-24 07:10:39
An icd for a bundle branch block seems like overkill. Did he have symptoms or family history or anything else going on? Pacemaker I can see, but icd is overly cautious unless something else is going on. Just my not-a-dr opinion, take it with a grain of salt.
Once he heals he should be fully active and able to do whatever he wants. I hike, ski, rollerblade, work out with weights, had two babies, have traveled the world... anything I want.
Most of us are back to full activity after 6 weeks. He should be able to do light activity now, just be sure not to lift over 5 lbs and to keep the left arm (assuming his device is on the left side) lower than shoulder level until the leads have time to grow into place.
Arc welding equipment can be problematic. Working as a machinist should be fine (aside from arc welding) but there are some models of devices that have problems with some machinery that generates EMF. It won't hurt him, but if he is pacing a lot he may feel funny when he's around it.