6 months Anniversary an Amazing Journey

[Aussie Chris]

It has now been 6 months since surgery and what a difference 6 months has made. In the weeks leading up to my surgery I felt like a 95 year old struggling to walk 50 metres. Now 6 months on I feel like a twenty year old and just look like a 45 year old. It has been a really life changing 6 months.

A couple of months prior to surgery I was still leading a pretty active life but was starting to notice things weren?t quite right, mainly while swimming. No matter how much I trained my times were getting worse and worse. It wasn?t until I did my surf lifesaving proficiency swim for this last season and spent three quarters of an hour after the swim catching my breath that I thought it was time to go back to the cardio earlier than scheduled.

Well 6 months has actually gone very quickly. In the early stages I would read about how soon after surgery some of you were getting back into running, cycling and other physical pursuits and think WOW. You guys really got me up and going too. I think I started rehab about 6 weeks and realized I could push myself again, and even though I couldn?t swim yet I was so determined to get back in the water I went out behind the breakers at the beach and lay on my back and just kicked my legs. My wife was horrified when she found out and looking back now, it was a really stupid thing to do.

After 12 weeks I started swimming gently again and soon after that I was back on my surfboard. Initially the chest wires bothered me but within a couple of weeks that discomfort had passed.

About 2 months ago I started a new job working for someone after approximately 20 years of being self employed. I probably wouldn?t have thought about it if it wasn?t for me having OHS and having to wind my own business right back while I recovered. In the new job I can pretty much switch off from work when I leave. I no longer have ALL the worries, I work with a great team of people, I still have the flexibility I had when working for myself, and the office is only 10 minutes from home. I now look back and ask myself why I did not make the change earlier.

About the same time I started the new job I started swim squad training and now about 2-3 mornings a week I do a 3 kilometre ocean swim before work. I never could do that before even in my early twenties. I would just get too breathless. So looking back now it is amazing how long my faulty valve has been affecting me.

Yesterday I did my 3rd surf lifesaving patrol since surgery and I just felt like a big kid again because I had so much energy. In the past I would watch over swimmers from a patrol tower on the beach and occasionally get out in the water during the patrol. Yesterday I spent 5 hours in the surf on a rescue board just enjoying catching the waves while keeping an eye on swimmers.

Last week I saw my new cardio for a stress test which I passed easily and she doesn?t want to see me again until the end of the year.

It has been an amazing journey on this side of the mountain, and I am so grateful for the recovery I have enjoyed. I no longer think about an approaching birthday as ?oh no I going to be _____ this year, but rather I got to spend another year here with family and friends?.

OHS has definitely made positive changes to my life.

Thanks to all of you in the VR family for all the support you have given me since joining, it really has made a BIG difference having you all there to bounce thoughts off.

All the best,

Chris

 

[maka]

Wonderful news...congratulations

 

[aussiemember]

Chris,

What an inspiring post - it really gives me hope of so much to look forward to Even though I don't THINK I have symptoms I sometimes wonder whether my valve does restrict my energy and exercise levels. So it will be interesting for me to see if things do feel significantly improved after surgery like has happened with you. Anyway, congratulations, so glad to hear all is going so well - good luck with many more great years - Jeanne

 

[aussie girl]

well done chris, hope i do as well when my time comes mary

 

[Aussie Chris]

Jeanne,

I would have said I did not have symptoms right up until about August last year. In hindsight there have been so many symptoms. I was always putting my breathlessness down to lack of fitness. How wrong I was.

When I was 35 I would play soccer and so often I would be looking for a sub to come on to replace me as I was so out of breath.

I wonder now how I didn't notice how bad things were, but I suppose it wouldn't have mattered as the Dr's would not have done anything else until the regurg had reached the severe stage, no mater what I was feeling.

All the best,

Chris

 

[WayneGM]

Congratulations on your progress. Well done. I'm sure you'll be an inspiration to those in the waiting room.

 

[MaryC]

Chris,
You sound great 6 months post surgery. This is exactly what I am hoping for....to feel better than I did before the surgery. I think I was also ignoring or not recognizing symptoms I was having before the surgery.

 

[geebee]

Chris,

You are certainly a posterchild for the benefits of valve replacement. There are many of us who did not realize just how limited our activities were until after surgery. It is so normal to simply tone down what you do because of being tired or winded and not attribute it to anything but getting a bit older.

Congratulations on all you have accomplished. I am sure your life will just continue to get better and better.

Have fun.

 

[Ozmercy]

Way to go Chris, I was feeling that way till I started having all these gastro problems. I am sure that once I get that taken care of I will be back to pushing the limits like you. I was a swimmer in high school and college and have been longing to get back in the pool or ocean. Reading your post makes me want to get out there now. God bless,


Randy

 

[Jim P]

Congratulations on the progress after 6 months Chris. You are definitely inspiring to me. I am 10 weeks post-op and feeling great. I hope to write a similar posting to yours at 6 months.

 

[aussigal]

Congratulations Chris...

You make me sound slack...

You certainly have reclaimed your active life and more...Your effort, will and determination are an inspiration to others and proof that there is a lot of LIFE after OHS and it can be even better than before!

WELL DONE!

 

[Mary]

Congraulations, Chris!
Ocean swimming is tough at anytime, and a 3 kilometer swim six months after replacement is an amazing accomplishment! Way to go, and I wish you continued success in your recovery.

 

[Phyllis]

Great news, Chris and an inspiring post for all those in the waiting room!

 

[aussiemember]

Jeanne,

I would have said I did not have symptoms right up until about August last year. In hindsight there have been so many symptoms. I was always putting my breathlessness down to lack of fitness. How wrong I was.

When I was 35 I would play soccer and so often I would be looking for a sub to come on to replace me as I was so out of breath.

I wonder now how I didn't notice how bad things were, but I suppose it wouldn't have mattered as the Dr's would not have done anything else until the regurg had reached the severe stage, no mater what I was feeling.

All the best,

Chris

Thanks for your reply Chris - and once again so glad to hear that all is going well!!! Just a quick questions regarding your above post. Looking back now how long before surgery do you think you felt your first symptoms - do you think you were getting symptoms at the mod/severe stage in retrospect - and did your energy levels change markedly once you reached severe?? As I also have MVP I am really interested in how others felt the progression of their symptoms/heart regurg went??!!!

 

[Aussie Chris]

Thanks for your reply Chris - and once again so glad to hear that all is going well!!! Just a quick questions regarding your above post. Looking back now how long before surgery do you think you felt your first symptoms - do you think you were getting symptoms at the mod/severe stage in retrospect - and did your energy levels change markedly once you reached severe?? As I also have MVP I am really interested in how others felt the progression of their symptoms/heart regurg went??!!!

Now I would say my first symptom that I can remember which took me to the Dr 20 years ago was a slight pain in the chest when I really exerted myself or when I drank coffee. Its funny now that very first symptom was one of the first things I noticed after surgery to have disappeared.

In my late 20's early 30's I can remember sawing or filing something and being aware of reguritation sound or fealing which was quite off putting. About the same time I was diagnosed with high blood pressure and there were no obvious reasons for it. The high blood pressure went away also following surgery. Some here have said that they found it gradually crept up again over time, but so far so good it has remained low. No one has really been able to explain that one. Since my op my heart rate has been graduallly reducing over time.

Between the age of 35 and 38 I played soccer and I always thought I was unfit as I was not alone in feeling breathless but I probably felt it more than others and was always the first to get a substitue during a game.

At 38 I took up swimming to help with a back injury following a fall off a roof and I really struggled to do 50 metres without a rest. That was probably a combination of regurgitation and bad swim technique resembling a bulldozed in water.

About year before surgery I did my surf lifesaving bronze medallion and part of the test was to run 100m on the sand, swim 200m in the surf and then run 100m again. I really had to push myself to do it and my recovery time was much longer than others who were a similar age. However I did find out later that I was actually the oldest in that group. I might not have pushed myself as hard if I had known that at the time.

Anyway hope that is of some use.

Best wishes, Chris