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Welcome to this side Helen, I was thinking about you yesterday and wondering how you got on. Congrats on getting home, and as mentioned above, walk walk walk and keep the sense of humour up. :-)

Blair - I got nothing fresh in the hospital. Veggies were of the canned variety, which as a 'food snob' I don't consider to actually *be* vegetables!! Because I was a heart patient I was also on the no salt diet which was a shocker. After a week I went into a-fib and stayed there for days...

Well! There's your answer. This really is an awesome forum, bet you wish you had posted here earlier heheh :-)

Wow, sounds like you had an 'interesting' time in the hospital!! But I'm jealous of your good food, most of the stuff I was presented with was not recognisable as food and I sent my friends out to get me fruits and vegetables :-) Welcome home, keep up your walking (the more the better...

OMG I came quite close to that . . . and even tried to check myself out the night before my op (and walk home!) with the promise that I would come back in the morning. Funny what our brains do in this situation! But it all worked out fine :-) Good luck Helen!!

Go Helen, looking forward to seeing what graffiti you add to the walls of the no-more-waiting-room which is where many of us are anticipating your safe arrival. :-)

Well I'm not lifting you up above my head if you have hairy legs! (Cue horrible mental image)

Oh newyorker that SUCKS. I had to have a second OHS 10.5 months after my first, just as I was starting to feel like I was turning a corner in terms of my training. NOT a nice feeling. Feel free to vent to us on here about the unfairness of this as a few of us totally get where you're coming...

Go Helen!! Let us know how you get on, you have a global troupe of cheerleaders here all wishing you well xo

Unless you diagnose acute endocarditis as the flu and sit at home for three days with a fever of 104F until you get rigors and shooting pains down your arm . . . . Whichever way you lean (hypochondriac tendencies or 100% faith that you are invincible), I'd be on to the doctor about this!!

OMG that is funny. Humour is the best way to deal with this situation!!

Could be an allergy to terrible jokes . . . .

Yes, wait! After my first OHS I was very eager to get back into things and started lifting light weights at 4 weeks. Ten months later my sternum was STILL causing me bad pain on a daily basis. Cue 2nd OHS and I was stuck in the hospital for a month and this time followed all the instructions...

Goodness Helen that's quite a stressful year you've had. Very sorry to hear about your dad. Listen to your doctors and stay put! It does sound like your stay in the waiting room is about over, but that also means that your time in the 'HELL YEAH I'M FIXED!' room is about to start. :-) Best...

No and no. I fall off at least once every mtb ride (once a week), haven't bled to death yet. I didn't even start mtb until after I got my mech valve. Go forth and smash it!!!

Ohhhh Terry that's a bugger! I had to bail on a race two years ago due to a suspected stress fracture- and while at first I was devastated, I was also just a little bit thrilled that it wasn't my heart that stopped me this time! As you say, the race will be there next year and you'll be able...

At five months out you shouldn't have any restrictions for physical activity?? How about work to RPE (rate of perceived exertion) - if you can put up with the HR strap for a couple of swims you'll figure out what your RPE is for a given heart rate and then you can ditch the HR strap. I don't...

The surgery is life-altering; our old valves were life-threatening! :-) We owe it to our surgeons/cardiologists/surgical teams to make use of their handiwork to get out there and be bad-*****!

I had an x-ray of my entire head to check for any dental issues prior to my first op! Also after a near-fatal bout of endocarditis I was given some really good oral hygiene instructions (in the link by AZDon, thanks!!). 2.5 years on and I have yet to wreck this heart valve with bacteria :-)

Lovely pics! :-)