Post Op

Hi all! I’m six hours post op, and still in the hospital. I’m experiencing pain in my sternum when I breathe. Anyone else have anything like that? The doctor says it’s probably trauma from the implantation. 

3 Comments

Welcome

by AgentX86 - 2019-06-14 23:05:38

To the club you didn't want to join!  Did you have it placed under the pectoral muscle or just under the skin?  That'll make a lot of difference in the pain level.  I've had some pain in my sternum (good thing I no longer live in Vermont) since my CABG surgery, so a little pain when I got my PM would have gone unnoticed.  It's not surprising, though.  Even a little blood pooling in the area will cause at least some discomfort.

Anyway, hope you do well.  Keep in touch and let us all know (and all the newbie lurkers out there) how it's going.

 

Pain

by RedRocksGirl - 2019-06-15 01:26:55

One of the sites of origin of the pectoral muscles is along the sternum (the other is the clavicle) and it inserts on the humerus. If your PM is subpectoral then I'm guessig that's the reason for the pain there. I've been going to a therapeutic massage therapist who does post op massage and he's worked the muscle along my sternum and a lot on my left arm and shoulder where I've had pain since the surgeries (I had to have a pocket revision a couple months after the inital inplant). He's worked with other pacemaker patients and said pain in these areas is common. There's a lot more muscle trauma when putting PMs in than one might think. Even some from having your arm pulled up in a fixed position during the surgery itself. 

Best of luck to you! It'll get better, it just takes time.  :)

Pain

by Michele H - 2019-06-15 07:39:38

My PM surgery was last month 5/2.  Afterwads I also had sternum pain accompanied with a deep throat pain.  I felt I was coming down with a bug.  I found it was likely from the tube inserted into my throat during surgery.  During my follow up 2 weeks later I still felt a lttle pain but much better.  I mentioned it to my EP.  He said he would have prescribed lozengers.  

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