Scared and Nervouse for PM surgery

Hello I'm a newbie here and was so glad to find this website. I was just told this morning that I go Friday for a pm. I am very scared about the recovery and how long I'll be out of work. I have a 7 month old at home and not sure how I'll be able to bond with him if I can't pick him up.
What can I expect for recovery? I have read many posts and getting scared as I keep reading. Please help to calm me down.

Thanks,
Jamie

5 Comments

PM Surgery recovery

by rozybud - 2009-02-04 04:02:31

I just had emergency PM surgery last wednesday and the first few days my left arm and chest were very sore but managable w/ family help.

I was awake during surgery but heavily sedated and don't remember much at all.

I'm pretty exhausted off and on this past week, but as long as I take a 45 min nap or so I feel better.

Dont' worry, it's much easier and not a scarry as I thought.
Good Luck! You'll be fine!

welcome!

by Tracey_E - 2009-02-04 06:02:03

Welcome Jamie!
I've only got a few minutes so I can't do my usual book (yet, lol) but I wanted to respond to you before I run out the door.

First of all, please take a deep breath! It'll be fine, I promise! Reading through here can be a double-edged sword. While it's supportive and informative, it also gives a skewed view of reality which can be frightening and intimidating to newbies. You will see posts here for the rarest of problems. For every one person with a problem who goes searching for a place like this, there are thousands out there who are just fine and never have a reason to go surfing. Please don't think the complications you see happen in the real world as often as you see here. I'm not saying complications don't happen, but they don't happen that often.

I'm 42 now, and I got my first pm at about your age. There's absolutely nothing I want to do that I can't! I hike, ski, work out and I had two babies with a pm. Most people who know me have no clue I have a little hunk of titanium that keeps my heart beating normally. I look like all the other women at the gym and moms at the PTA meeting.

Your baby is not going to unbond with you in the short time you are in the hospital and the few weeks you are recovering!!!!! The fact that you are even worried about it tells me you're an awesome mom and that bond is already there and rock solid.

You will, however, need a bit of help with him for the first few weeks. The leads need time to settle into place so for the first 4-6 weeks (depends on your doctor) you will not be able to lift him or raise your left arm above your shoulder. You'll still be able to hold him but someone will have to hand him to you at first.

Ok, gotta dump the pasta then run to get the kid from gymnastics, be back later! You didn't mention, what was your diagnosis?

Not to worry...

by Melissa1221 - 2009-02-04 07:02:15

Hey Jamie,
I just saw your posting and thought I would drop ya a line to try to calm your nerves a bit. I am 29 and hot my pm when I was 26. I went into the ER with dizzy spells, and ended up being scheduled for surgery a few days later. I have to admit, I was scared...heck, any surgery is scary! But it wasn't all that bad. I had my surgery, and I wasn't out that day like the other person wrote, but i was out 2 days after...which I thought was crazy considering it was pretty major surgery (at least to me!) I thought the pain was going to be out of this world! But much to my surprise, there was hardly any. I don't know much about pm surgery, but I'm guessing its pretty much all the same recovery process. I had a sling type thing on my left arm. Forgive me for not knowing ecactly, but I think I wore it for a couple weeks to make sure the implant stayed stationary and so it could heal. Then when that was off, there was a couple more weeks where I wasn't allowed to lift my arm above my shoulder. I know you are worried about this and your baby. I don't see there being too much of an issue. Obviously for a week or so after surgery, you shouldn't lift anything (or anyone!) but after that, you can always use your right arm. Now I have no children, but from the little I know, 7 month year olds aren't too heavy, that you couldn't use just one arm. (but again, I'm no genius!) Like I said at the beginning of my "book", there shouldn't be all that much pain involved. It's more of a slight discomfort and tightness at the beginning.
I hope this helped you, and it didn't scare you!
If you have anymore questions or concerns, and you wanna talk, I'm always here to help. I've been through it all, so I may be able to help.
Sorry again for the book...I hope you were able to make it to the end without falling asleep!

~ Melissa

Don't be nervous

by attybern - 2009-02-04 07:02:22

I had PM surgery 5 days ago. It was no problem at all. They give you a sedative to relax you and then numb up your shoulder area where they will be implanting the PM. Your shoulder will be sore for a while and you will not be able to use your arm/shoulder for about 4-6 weeks. I had the surgery at 8 am and was home by 1 pm the same day. Relax and you will be fine. Best of luck with the surgery.

part deux :o)

by Tracey_E - 2009-02-04 07:02:58

What type of work do you do? if it's a desk job, you should be back in less than a week. How long you're out is determined by the underlying reason why you need the pm more so than the surgery itself.

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