Leads And Stretching

I’m a newbie; got my PM put in on 7/22 and so far I’vebeen ok except for occasional lightheadedness and occasional foggy feeling. I’m pretty active and like doing stuff around the house.  I had to fix some ceiling tiles and was wondering what experience people on here have had with stretching your left arm aover your head and lifting things just a month or so out.

I was told my leads were in pretty good and that the leads were also sewn into the muscle to help prevent them from dislodging, but I do get concerned that I may push the envelope. I have to paint this weekend and was just curious if I’m being a bit risky .

thaanks

John

7 Comments

john

by jtlt1999 - 2011-08-20 01:08:11

please....!!! be careful better safe than sorry,i just had my pacer implanted today....and cant imagine how scary to pull a lead would be not to mention life threatining....glad to hear your recovery has gone well for you..take care and god bless...lisa

Thanks

by themixer - 2011-08-20 01:08:17

I guess I must be takign a high risk , anyway 3 days after I got my PM I was tearing donw walls and doing a demo in my kitchen... im 4 weeks in noqw and feel generally pretty good the lightheadedness I thinkis due to a low base rate of 50.

I saw the Dr last week for a interrogation and all was good he siid just dont' do summersalft across a floor..

I have another apt on Sept 8th ... so thank you all I will be more cautious for the enst few weeks

John

Too Soon....

by donr - 2011-08-20 01:08:39

...to be climbing ladders & stretching your arm overhead.

Unless your Cardio is more liberal than mine. He restricted me to elbow below shouder for 6 weeks.

Further, you talk about being foggy & occasionally lightheaded. Bad news for ladder climbing. That happens to you while up there & you fall & you'll be worse off than needing a PM!

If you happened to stumble into an ER where my daughter was after such an event, you'd get very little sympathy! She laid down the law to me after I got my PM.

4 weeks post implant

by brucecal - 2011-08-20 05:08:38

Hi
My Doc said I could go back to raising my left arm above my shoulder and doing normal things with my arm after 4 weeks. I had PC implanted July 22nd and Friday was 4 weeks
He was pretty confident he anchored my leads well.
I'm still going to be a bit cautious and not get back to strength and resistance training until week 6.
Bruce

Thanks Bruce

by themixer - 2011-08-20 06:08:02

We had our PM put in the same day , what is your base rate 50 or 60 .....

I just painted tyhe kitched ceiling today my Dr said he had anchored them pretty well also but to use caution so I am but Im trying not to let it live my life but the opisite.

thanks and good luck

John

Base rate

by brucecal - 2011-08-21 03:08:03

John
My base rate is 60. But prior to PM my "normal" unassisted resting rate was 52 to 56, so my PM is always pacing now when I am at rest.
I need to talk to my MD about this and see if he can change my base rate to 50.
Bruce

Funny thing

by ElectricFrank - 2011-08-21 12:08:28

It's a funny thing about the time to allow the leads to heal. The surgery is pretty much standard and unless we have some sort of serious healing problem the process should be similar for us. So why does one doc say 2 weeks and another 2 months? And why do we keep saying "check with your doctor, only he knows" when he hasn't a clue.

For me I was out driving my Jeep in the desert within a week. It was a lot of bouncing around, but no problem keeping my left arm down. Just used my right arm for overhead reaches. As time progresses I slowly increased my left arm activity, but didn't do any long stretching reaches for about 4 weeks. Part of the issue is how aware you are about using the arm. I think what some docs are concerned about is having us reach with a right arm and something falls off the shelf so we grab for it with the left without thinking. During the time I was going easy on my left I made sure I told myself not to use it even if something happened.

By the way the overhead tile reach is one of those long ones to avoid for awhile.

frank

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