87 year old getting pacemaker on Thursday

My father is getting his first PM on Thursday. He is already very frail. I understand he will have very limited to no use of his left arm as he recovers. How do you manage this when he needs to use a walker now, uses a handrail to get on and off the potty, needs help getting in and out of bed and chairs?

4 Comments

social worker

by Chels - 2013-05-28 10:05:40

I work in the surgical department at a hospital and this is a perfect issue for their social worker to help you both with. Just give the hospital a call and ask for them. They will help work through any after care concerns and will have good resources for you.

Help

by fishfighter - 2013-05-28 11:05:18

He might need a nurses aid or someone to help him for a couple weeks. Do talk this over with his doctor ASAP.

recovery

by Tracey_E - 2013-05-28 12:05:46

Does he have other arm/shoulder issues that they would say no use of the arm? Because not moving/using the arm at all leads to frozen shoulder. We can't raise the arm higher than shoulder level and are not supposed to lift anything heavy for 4-6 weeks. Other than that, it's important to move the arm and use it normally. Using the walker and getting in and out of bed shouldn't be a problem, though you might want to keep an eye on him for a few days to make sure he's ok. We all vary in how sore we get so it's hard to predict if he'll feel up to it without help the first few days.

how is she doing?

by Tracey_E - 2013-05-31 11:05:18

Wondering how it went!

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Member Quotes

As for my pacemaker (almost 7 years old) I like to think of it in the terms of the old Timex commercial - takes a licking and keeps on ticking.