Cardiac Ablation recovery time

[ffmedic11]

I am a 31 y/o female.  I had an ablation done two weeks ago for Atrial Tachycardia.  So far I feel that the procedure was successful.  My question is, how long should I continue to have bruising and tenderness at the catheter site?  They used both sides of my groin as well as an epicardial approach.  My right side and my chest have healed well and you can hardly see the marks...the left side on the other hand has an 8x4 inch bruise as well as swelling that feels sort of like a hard tendon (about 3 inches x 1 inch) right at the crease of my leg under the cath site.  It is still pretty tender to the touch.  I went to my PCP the other day on an unrelated matter and asked him to look at the site.  He sent me for an ultrasound to rule a pseudo aneurysm.  That test came back negative.  I work as a firefighter and am scheduled to return to work tomorrow.  Should I be concerned about doing heavy lifting or exercising if the area is still swollen?  When should I expect to be "back to normal"

[twinbee]

My EP did say it was okay to return to work in a week (desk job) but no heavy lifting. I was  also told to take it easy going up and down steps for the following week also.

[ffmedic11]

Thanks...that is interesting that your EP said 1 month...mine said one week...I can totally understand this if I had a desk job, but I am worried about having to do too much with the large bruise I still have.  I too had some pain when I took a deep breath and that lasted just a few days.

[twinbee]

I had an ablation done for a-fib and a-flutter. My EP told me to take it easy (exercise and heavy lifting) for 1 month. I had no bruising or swelling at the cath sites and no pain. I did have some slight pain whenever I took a deep breath in and that lasted a couple of days.