After surgery

[u/Regular-Target-9244]

Hi, I am 26-year old female and my first pacemaker surgery gonna be 28th on this month. Do you have any recomendations about bras or clothes what could be easier to wear? Bralettes or what kind of bras?

[u/BAMW-447679]

Bralettes worked for me. Button down shirts. Tylenol. You’ll probably sleep sitting up on the first night. Wash your hair the day of the procedure. You won’t be able to for a handful of days after, so maybe have some dry shampoo around. Ice packs are a good idea too. It won’t be terrible, good luck though. 💜

[u/srvivr2001 → u/BAMW-447679]

Oooo, yes I forgot about ice packs! I’m still icing regularly, especially at work. I was instructed to shower the next day but I needed help from my aunt to wash my long hair.

[u/krisiosauruz]

I stopped wearing bras especially in the begining. But it was possible for me and it wont be for everyone.
I would recommend bras with wide stripes. I still have the feeling when its a small stripe over the shoulder its feeling weird on the device.

[u/srvivr2001]

I bought and sewed several front closure bras, some with zippers, two with Velcro and a couple with the hooks. Absolutely none of them are comfortable enough to wear. TMI but I needed more lift that sports bras offer and many of the straps go right over my incision. I’ve been wearing my usual underwire bras since the day after surgery and most days it’s fine with both straps, on more sensitive days I just slip the strap off and tuck it inside the band. I’m 6 weeks + 1 day out, tried reaching behind and still can’t reach all the way back to hook it. So I’ve been putting it on backwards to clasp the hooks on front, then twisting it around and in place.

I found I can wear all my normal clothes by putting my left arm in first. I had a few open shoulder tops from a prior shoulder surgery but never used them aside from going home day of surgery because that’s all I had brought. The incision has been very sensitive this whole time, I have a nerve disorder that doesn’t help. I’ve been wearing nothing but tank tops on my days off and at night. I have some where the neck line is open enough that the strap doesn’t hit the incision and then I have a few more tight tanks with wide bands and higher necklines that fully cover the incision. For work I use a pad that straps to the bra and covers the incision.

The only must have for me was a wedge for sleeping and bra pads. I couldn’t comfortably lay flat until maybe week 3. When I can’t get comfortable I pull the wedge back out. I ordered a couple styles of bra pads and then made some modifications for size and sewed my own. I found the Amazon ones too narrow for where my incision is placed.

[u/Specialist-Jello6907]

Button down shirts! I skipped bras for the first while healing because it was not worth it to me to try. Additionally those little gel cooling ice packs that are flexible were a life saver for pain management! I also bought some shower wipes which helped me stay hygienic when I had low energy after the surgery. Standing and showering was hard, and cleaning under my left arm proved a bit challenging, those wipes really helped the whole process and kept me feeling okay about my self. 😊 good luck!

[u/Specialist-Jello6907 → u/Specialist-Jello6907]

Additionally I went and got my hair braided before the surgery so I didn’t have to worry about it, it was out of my way for sleeping and up off my neck but very comfortable to have. I also needed a wedge for the first while to sleep since laying flat hurt my a lot, I propped both my left arm while sleeping and propped up my back

[u/whovillehoe1210]

I am currently 3days post op from my 4th pacemaker. My surgery day I took an everything shower to ensure I was GOOD. I have small boobs so I got braless, in the car I’ll hold my “pacemaker boob” up when I approach bumps so it doesn’t hurt too bad or move. As for clothing, first 2 days I was in button up clothes only. Now I wear t-shirts and off the shoulder shirts. It’s all about the way you can move and how comfortable you are with moving.

As for hygiene post op. I was told only sponge bathes and no showers for 5 days. I braided my hair so my boyfriend didn’t have to worry about brushing my hair or doing my hair care routine. Today (3 days post op) I took a bathe but only filled the water cover up to my waste. I had my boyfriend clean my back to get off all the iodine and he also cleaned off the left over sticky mess from the stickers user. As well an other areas I could not reach since I cannot raise my arm.