Exercise

Advice Received Re: Activity

by Penguin - 2023-05-30 05:22:52

With the advice your EP has provided I would be guided by how you feel.  Be mindful of any extremes until you feel confident and be aware of your wound and the need for the PM wires to bed in during the post operative period.  Also be aware that your settings may need to be tweaked at your check up.  Sometimes this impacts on how much exercise you can do as there is a setting called Rate Response which increases your heart rate for exercise. Rate Response settings can be tricky to tune to patients' needs, and aren't always perfect when the device first goes in. 

I would exercise gently as soon as you feel comfortable doing so, (with your EPs blessing) but take it gradually to build confidence and knowledge of how your settings are performing. 

Official guidelines say 4-6 weeks for sport / more strenuous exercise. 

There's really no single answer to this one...

by crustyg - 2023-05-30 06:46:33

PM on Wed, out on my road bike the following Sunday, i.e. 4days later.

Several things to watch for: you *must* protect the skin suture over the PM until it's completely healed, so no swimming.  Avoid exercise strenous enough to really make you sweat until the skin wound dressing has come off/been removed.  And see above.

Move both arms as much as usual post PM implantation - otherwise you risk a frozen shoulder.  It *is* possible to pull out a lead in the first week after implantation but it's very uncommon and extremely unlikely if your pacing leads are the correct length (the post implantation CXRs should show plenty of slack for the leads), as almost everyone uses mechanically fixed leads these days (tiny metal helix screws into the heart muscle).

However, my PM wasn't 'tuned' (i.e. adjusted for my requirements) until 5weeks post implantation, so depending on your underlying condition just having a PM may not make that much difference to cardiac output (and hence exercise ability).  For me it restored A=>V synchrony so cardiac output was up 20% for any given HR just by having the PM, and my legs could really feel the difference.

My guess is that your hesitancy is the thing holding you back, and you ought to get back to your favourite activities now.  Your body will soon tell you that you're pushing too hard!

Best wishes.

Go for it

by Tracey_E - 2023-05-30 09:42:03

I was out walking the day I was released from the hospital. I was told wait 4 weeks before working up a good sweat or swimming due to infection risk, give the incision a chance to heal. Other than that, do whatever you feel up to. 

As you get back to more intense workouts, you may feel tugging/soreness around the device. Ice is your friend. It's not hard to tell when it's time to back off, wait a week and try it again. Just listen to your body. t took me about 3 months to get back to my full routine with no residual soreness or discomfort. 

I hope this brings your energy back! If you have any questions about living with it long term, please ask away. I've been paced since before you were born, still healthy and active. There's nothing I want to do that I cannot.

👏🏼🎈

by Lavender - 2023-05-30 14:21:00

So proud of you and the way you are handling the situation! Hooray! Bet your anxiety level is way down. Itching to get out there sounds wonderful!  

right away...

by dwelch - 2023-05-31 23:54:39

You can start day one, but of course with restrictions.   you are five days post, that is still in the really sucky part of the recovery, not sleeping yet, cant wash your hair with both hands, the thing hurts a lot.  If this is device number one you have no idea how to protect it are probably bumping it a lot which combined with the inscision really hurts a lot, maybe you are taking meds to offset the pain (I recommend not, just learn to not hit those pain points).

every day you should be exploring the boundary.  I can move it a wee bit more each day with out it hurting, if you dont move it then stiff shoulder hurts for WEEKS.

Full blown sports or workouts, depends on the sport and workout, but give it some unit of weeks.  I was at the time of my first one doing bmx stuff, jumps and tricks and vert ramp skateboarding and I remember getting back into at soon as I could, but I think it was certaily after the bandages were off.  back then the things were huge and it stuck way out...certainly if this is a gym thing you can do leg stuff day one, you can walk you can do some machines that only need one arm or say treadmill, etc (no dont use a sling, when you get to door of the hospital after surgery, sling comes off).

bottom line is, it will happen, and you will know.  while this sucks for now and is a major event in your life and has disrupted your activites more than any other event in your life, it is really only going to be some number of weeks.  which yes at 16 is an eternity but every year you get older that time frame gets less relevant.  your primary job is to learn to live with and protect the device.  with time you will learn not to bump it into things or let people touch it you will have a ninja like sense of a dog or child or object on a collision course and you will block that or move your body around it like so many of the action movies out today.  cause it always hurts to bump it. wont hurt the device, just you.  your other job is mental and educational.  learn more about your condition and how the pacer helps you.  from this site and others learn to expect the next two visits that are probably already scheduled, maybe have a list of questions for the doc (when can I do sports the DOCTOR cannot give you a straight answer on this, so that is not your primary question, it is like fourth string or further down).  

Your body has already started to grab onto the lead and secure the device, every day the odds of you pulling the lead out decrease quite a bit.  But, would you rather work out a week sooner and risk it or would you  rather go through this surgery again, two more times, one to put a new lead in and then in a few months one to take the old lead out, each having the same recovery procedure?  That is what you have to think about.  A few more weeks or six more months of this...

but yes, hey this is great you were active before, I was very active before my first one and very active after I was 19 and honestly do not remember those weeks being a burden or eternity.  I was back doing all the same stuff, just with a much better performing heart.

I am on device number five, and when you get to that age it becomes when can I drive, and when can I go back to work, then third or later is when can I play.  The old timers like me (some have already answered above) driving is like day two or three, I tend to wait for the next monday and go back to work so if it is on a wed then I try to veg at home until the next monday if I can then drive and go to work at the same time.  I am still not sleeping thruogh the night by then that is more than a week, and I am not sleeping on that side by then that is a couple of weeks for me.  by a week I may be trying to wash my hair with both hands (pro tip, medical tape and a plastic storage bag, put it over the device/shoulder, tape the top and sides and you can take a shower and keep the bandages dry.  no need for a sponge bath).  One device though my primary vehicle was manual transmission with no power steering (a 65 suburban) that was too much too soon (american steering wheel on the correct side, right hand to shift left hand to steer, pacer on left side, no power steering, too much work for a newly recoverying shoulder), I did have another vehicle or two maybe an automatic so I think I drove that for a few weeks.  (if your steering wheel is on the corect side, lol, then the seat belt is always a PITA, big fuzzy grandma/grandpa seat belt covers, fake sheep skin, whatever, after a few weeks, at first keep the belt from touching the device, too much pain).

Anyway, this all sounds great you are asking qood questions and interested in getting back to life and as crazy as it sounds this second, you will get back to all of those things and you will day to day forget you have this device, it will be like your belly button or middle toe that you dont really think about much.  this will happen and for the most part you will forget the details of the recovery.  the recovery period relative to the time between devices is really insignficant a few weeks related to ten years.

good luck, have fun, come back soon, while we are all old people to you, there are some teens that come by and parents that come by that could really use your help.