Ugly PM in my shoulder

UGLY PM

by zo6 - 2018-03-15 12:28:46

Be thankfull your alive. After all its no big deal.Tell everyone your bionic

Ugh

by RegBrown - 2018-03-15 21:42:18

ZO6.....

I did say I was grateful but us Australians are all bronzed and rippling muscles and we spend all our spare time at the beach, so lumps aren't good for us.  

I do Mig and Tig welding too with my PM.

Lump comes and goes

by Theknotguy - 2018-03-15 23:24:49

My lump comes and goes depending upon how hydrated my body happens to be.  Sometimes it really sticks out and other times you can hardly see it.  After four years you can barely see it unless I'm dehydrated.  

As I remember waking up in the hospital with a sore shoulder and a lot of swelling the pacemaker was really sticking out.  That continued until after my body had healed.  The healing process continued for quite a few months.  Especially since I was more active than most and constantly did things to irritate the pacemaker pocket.  

I was doing volunteer work in a wood shop, would start to move wood, and that in turn would irritate the pacemaker pocket.  Then I'd get more swelling and I'd have a bigger lump.  I also got the "ant bites" some people describe and the pocket would really itch sometimes.  Indications of healing.  So during that time I had a bigger lump.  After everything healed - a few months later - the swelling subsided.  

So I feel your lump and swelling will decrease over time.  
 

Ugly PM in my shoulder

by RegBrown - 2018-03-16 01:02:28

Hi Theknotguy...thanks for your encouraging feedback.  I am experiencing all you mentioned...itching, swelling etc.  At 65kg (146lbs), I am pretty skinny and the PM looks like a jam jar lid stuck above my left breast.  Triathlon has been my sport for 25 years (5th in the world in my age group in 2015) so tend to be scantily clad for a lot of my life in the pool, track and on the bike, and as such I have had enough of my peers sarcastic comments, which they think are hilarious!!

Eye of the beholder

by Gotrhythm - 2018-03-16 14:16:19

No offense, but I don't think there's anything wrong with how your pacemaker looks. I think there's something wrong with the company you keep.

I know there's  a competitive male thing that says being ragged on means you're "one of the boys," but denigrating, even in jest, the device that's keeping you alive, to the point that you become self-conscious about it...well they sound like a bunch of jerks to me. 

In the eyes of the people who love you, your pacemaker probably looks beautiful--assuming they notice it at all. Most likely they just see you, alive, and that makes them happy.

Don't let jerks tell you how to feel about yourself.

Battle scars

by Beaks - 2018-03-17 06:55:53

Reg, I'm 46 and weigh 65kg. There's rearly a time in British summer when I don't have a top on so everything thats happened to me in life is on show. I have a 6" scar on my stomach from cancer, a 4" one on my back from sciatica surgery, my face is scarred from the sun from surfing and now I have a pink scar and hidden jam lid above my peck. Personally i couldn't really care to be honest, dosen''t define me, just makes me stronger. See it like you'll out live anyone that has an issue with the way you look anyway so why worry.

Battle Scars

by RegBrown - 2018-03-18 03:09:23

Hi Beaks,

British surfer?  Now there's an oxymoron!  I was one of those also between 1966 and 1975 until I caught Hep B surfing in Sri Lanka.  That slowed me down for 7 years.  Thanks for the pep talk in regards to battle scars, I can understand what you say.  However, mylifelong philosophy has been....if something can be fixed that bothers you...get it fixed.  I want to disguise this ugly lump even though it probably saves my life on a daily basis.  I just want it to do its life saving anonomously.  I thought a wedge of car filler around the perimeter might do it but, of course, the device moves around a bit so that may not work!