3 weeks Post-op

[MarciaB]

Gee, I want to be like Kenny and keep the whining to a minimum but . . .

Just got back from Coumadin Clinic and my INR is back to 1.7. I know I shouldn't complain about the Lovenox shots, my brother is diabetic, but it is a downer. They really only hurt for a minute, but I spend hours dreading it. With the holiday weekend coming up, They are jacking me up to 10 mg. tonight, drawing blood tomorrow morning (alas, no finger stab) and again Friday morning. and hopefully I will be off the shots before the weekend.

It seems that all the doctor's offices are closing tomorrow at noon. I'm wondering why I was scheduled with an appointment with the surgeon at 2:00? OK, so my 3 week appointment with the surgeon is now at 4 weeks, I guess that's in keeping with my 4 week appointment with the cardiologist at 7 weeks. And I do get to show up at the surgeon's at 8:00 tomorrow anyway so they can check my incision line which has opened a little at the bottom.

OK, that's enough whining, I feel better already. Otherwise I'm doing fine! I'm walking 2 miles a day at a good clip, my lungs are clearer than they have been for a year, and I still haven't sneezed! I'm awake a couple of hours at night, but the need for drugs every 4 hours is dropping off, so I expect that will improve. My family still seems interested in waiting on me, although my husband is watching for me to stop carrying around the hospital's quart water jug (he tried hiding it in the dishwasher, under a pretense of sanitation). He hasn't figured out yet that I am probably capable of cooking, I'll not waver from that deception until the dreaded birthday is over Thursday.

Marcia

 

[Kenny F]

You are hardly a whiner, Marcia! You are doing great - 2 miles a day?? I'm embarassed...

The sneeze thing isn't as scary as I suspected - it just kinda happened one day. Coughing was much worse.

OK, now here's the really scary thing. At 3-4 weeks everybody starts to figure out you are going to make it after all. Sympathy drops off fast, suddenly no one offers to help you up from the chair, and, yes, they realize you can cook (I am the cook in my house)! That's when you have to casually show them the scar and remind them that, by the way, you just had OHS !

Sounds like you are really cruising right along on the road to recovery. There will continue to be little bumps, just stay on top of them. And still take it easy - don't let anybody (yourself included) push you into doing more than you should.

 

[Harpoon]

At three weeks I was still very much "asleep" in the hospital...


Good for you!!! I'm not sure I could walk 2 miles at a fast pace now, almost 9 months post-op.

I can keep up with the kung-fu and my 3 yr old (usually) so that's something.

When I first got home my family made all kinds of arrangements for me to get as much bedrest as possible. For almost three weeks I had the house all to my self for about 8 or so hours a day.

You know, that got pretty boring after a while! =)

I remember the first time I "snuck" out of the house to drive down to the convienient store to buy myself a Slush Puppy. I had this monster craving for them while I was in the hospital and just coudln't wait any longer. It was tough to get in and out of the car and tough to turn so I could see both ways when at an intersection, but I took my time and it was worth it.

Now there are a few times when I wish I was getting waited on hand and foot again!!!

Seems like as soon as I hit three months out of the hospital I got stuck doing the laundry again.... Grrrr...

Rest up and enjoy your success!

 

[tommy]

Marcia,

Sounds like you are doing real well. Sharing your ups and downs ain't whining. That's what we're here for. Family tends to tire of it a bit as you are finding out. But they love you. They just want things to be normal.

Happy Birthday - Happy New Year!

 

[catwoman]

Marcia:

You're doing just fine.

On cooking: I found that I didn't have enough chest strength to cut onions, crush garlic cloves or lift a big pan filled with water from the sink to the stove. I was released from the hospital 1 week after surgery, on a Tuesday, tried to cook for family that Friday or Saturday and was worn out. Tried again 1 week later, still same but not as bad. I got smart, and recruited someone to help with chopping, cutting, etc., because you tend to bear down on a cutting board and there's not enough muscle strength yet. Also still a tad bit sore!

 

[Christina L]

Marcia,

You are not whining. I am pretty good at that myself and know what whining really is. Hee.

As for the Lovenox shots, I had to have those also. Wayne gave them to me - for about two weeks, I believe. He gave them in the stomach. Who gives your shots and where? I am terribly afraid of needles, but I would lay down and close my eyes - thankfully the shots are just subcutaneous and not intramuscular and also the needle is very tiny. That calmed me down some.

My INR this past Monday was 1.5. They cannot get it over 2 no matter how hard they try. Now I am on 10 mg of Coumadin six days a week and 7.5 one day a week.

I hope that your scar will heal over. Probably a few stitches will fix it up just fine!

I have stood in awe of you Marcia - you have done so well - now me at three weeks - not a pretty sight!!

Glad your hubby and all are still waiting on you. Wayne has been great through all of this but about two weeks ago, I guess, he started to wait less on me - he has had a cold the past few days and is acting like he is dying. I told him I would hate to think what HE would have been like had it been him who had the heart surgery!! And as Kenny has said, I just gently remind Wayne every now and then about my surgery and he perks right up - it is easy for our caregivers to think we are well because we are doing so much better than at first. Realistically, Wayne knows that recovery for me will be slow - they drilled that into the family members in Cleveland - Wayne took the classes they provide for caregivers.

As for the sneezing - that is so weird as I sneeze all the time around our house - I am allergic to our cats and I did not sneeze for at least three weeks after my surgery - so by then the first sneeze didn't bring tears to my eyes but it didn't feel so great and can't imagine if I would have sneezed before that.

Hope you get your INR straightened out and the scar problem. You will. A nurse told me it takes a while to get people regulated on their Coumadin.

Happy New Year Marcia!! We Colorado people hope to have a brunch some time in the next few months maybe in Boulder or Denver - so keep your calendar open!!

Christina L.

 

[MarciaB]

Do you guys think two miles is too much? The first time I did it, I had to sit for a few minutes at 1 1/4 mile(I walk along the train tracks and they have conveniently left stacks of new ties every 20 feet or so - it's also really flat). Second time I just slowed at 1 1/2 miles, last time I was pretty fast for the whole two miles. That's really amazing to me, I've never been able to push very hard, never could make my cardiologist understand why I HATED doing the treadmill. It's nice for a change to push a little and feel good instead of bad. It's one of the pluses of the mitral replacement, you feel so yucky before that OHS sounds like a great idea!

Christina, I am allergic to my cats also, and it is funny I haven't sneezed, normally I sneeze a lot. I noticed I was getting that tickle one day, and thought "no, no, NO!" and it went thankfully away.

I saw the PA at the surgeon's office. He said sometimes the last knot the the stitches is bothersome and he would just dig around in there and cut it out. Ouch! and more ouch! And no underwire for a few days, do these people realize that NO ONE makes a D cup bra without the metal stays? And the mono-**** sports bra doesn't seem a good solution since the problem area is right between 'em. But there I go, turning the discourse back to ****s!

All that may put a damper on the walking. Yesterday I tried to do my one mile route because of a time crunch between my nap and doctor's appointment. I walked east instead of west down the tracks, but had to cut it short because there was a car parked on the dirt path with what looked like bobbing white buns. I think the high school students need to be back in school!

Marcia

 

[Georgia]

Oh, Marcia, too funny

Oh, Marcia, too funny

You shoulda rapped on the car window - scared the bouncing buns to death and maybe instilled in them what appropriate behavior is. hohoho

You sound like you're doing so well. I say we milk the condition for all it's worth - my husband was in charge of food for weeks and weeks. He collected menus from all the restaurants in town that had take-out (NOT just McD's and Hardees) and we chose carefully as we went along. It was largely wasted on me because everything tasted awful for a couple of months, but I sure didn't tell him that.

I don't think 2 miles it too far as long as you're doing all right with it. Do you have a cell with you in case you get woozy? Be sure you don't fall.

I can't believe all you guys have had Lovenox shots at home. I don't know what I'd have done if I'd needed them. I guess my daughter might have been able to administer. I couldn't (I've had this argument with others and NO, I COULDN'T), and I doubt that hubby would have tried.

Happy New Year to you. And for the record, sneezing NEVER hurt me for some reason; coughing was the worst.

 

[catwoman]

Christina and Marcia:

There is a product called Sneeze No More that you apply to cats to cut down on the allergens (or whatever they are). Heard about it from a DVM who shows cats -- and he's highly allergic to cats. Can you imagine being allergic to your patients??? Steven said the product worked for him. Don't know if it's still on the market, but I can check with him if anyone's interested.

Don't want y'all sneezing -- still hurts too much at your stage of recovery!!!!!

 

[MarciaB]

You know Georgia, I just couldn't do it.

The summer after my senior year my boyfriend and I were always on the lookout for some quiet, out of the way place. One evening we pulled in behind this country church in the middle of nowhere (well, at least it was dark!), a few minutes later a car pulls in behind us. We high-tailed it out of there, the other car following, until he put his lights on. So the cop comes up to the car, shining his flashlight in the driver's window. My poor boyfriend was struggling to get his trousers up (try driving a stick with your pants around your ankles). He gave us the riot act about disrespecting a church and threatened to haul us down to see Judge Wheeler. "Do you know who Judge Wheeler is, young lady?" To which I replied, "Yes, my mother just bought a bed from him." (true-it was a small town) My boyfriend gives my an absolutely withering look, but the cop let us go with a warning.

So, I think I'll just turn around and walk the other way.

Marcia

 

[Harpoon]

--is reading up on the "teen love" accounts....


Just ain't gonna go there.... My past in that regard is best left where it is, in the past.


Future???


Nah, we won't get into that either.


I'm all for milking the help thing too. A number of times I directed more than cookedi n the kitchen and it always worked out well. I picked out the recipes and made sure we had all the neccesary ingredients and did some of the lighter labor, but left the grunt stuff up to my father.

Don't be afraid to ask for help, don't even be sheepish about it. Better that you make someone else do somehting than you spend the rest of the night, or the next day, or the next day after that, laying in bed or on the couch wishing you hadn't decided to pick up that pot of boiling water to dump into the sink after cooking the spaghetti.


I think the walking thing is quite cool. Idid that as much as I could when I was in the hospital (once I was able to at least, took a while to get there and I had an entourage, as well as various tubes, wires, and medical gear in tow...)

I did more when I got home, was just great to talk a walk up and down the street (one lap on a dead end street=one eight mile) with the kid, who wants to type his name right now, hold on a sec...

patrick

Now he's asking what his phone number is, he's saying it but I won't type it.... He's too bright for his own good here =Þ

Anyways, it's a great sign when you can walk like that without trouble, the more the better.

Just fantastic!

And I had the great fortune of getting home mid-May when it was warm and sunny with a nice breeze and lazy days ahead.

Now there's two feet of friggin' snow on the ground, grrrrr.....

 

[pillarpaul]

Marcia,

I would say you're doing great overall. As for the walking, I'm of the push the envelope theory in walking. My regimen after my surgery was to add one mile per day each week out from surgery. So the first week after surgery I did one mile, second week two miles, etc. until I got up to 6 miles per day the sixth week post-op (then I returned to work full-time). I should note I was in good shape before the surgery. Incidentally, I didn't do the one mile all at once that first week - divvied it up over 3 or 4 times per day. Keep up the good work.

Paul

 

[Ross]

.......and I still want to make it 200 ft without turning funny colors.

 

[MarciaB]

Has anyone noticed double vision while walking? It takes about 1/4 to 1/2 mile to set in. I'm not dizzy or anything, it just seems that my right eye wants to cross a little. It goes away as soon as I stop. Don't remember that happening before surgery. I will mention it to the on-call cardiologist when he calls to give me my coumadin doses for the weekend.

Marcia

 

[Gemma]

Hi Marcia,
Jim had his AVR done the same day as your surgery, and he's also walking about 2 miles a day - seems to be further when I go with him, possibly a cunning plan to get me fit too - I've been slacking a bit in the exercise department lately
Strangely enough his incision's pulled apart at the bottom a little bit too - it stops right where his belly sticks out when he sits down and I think this has caused a bit of stretching. Seems to be healing up OK now though.
It seems that walking is really a great cure - Jim feels much better when he's been for a walk, think it frees up the back and chest muscles a bit after sitting so much. The migraines I mentioned a while back are getting less too.
Happy new year everybody.
Gemma & Jim (the impatient patient!!)

 

[elphie]

Marcia,
I am 3 wks. post op and I too have experienced double vision. Mine isn't necessarily brought on by walking though. I can just be sitting and as you described, it seems like my eyes are crossing. I did experience this a little bit before surgery, but now it's happening at least once a day. It only lasts for a minute or two, but it is disturbing. I'm worried that its going to happen when I'm driving. Besides, it just makes you wonder what is causing it.

 

[Kathy]

Marcia and Elvie,

I had quite a bit of trouble with my vision at three weeks. In fact, I could barely read captions in a magazine. Some of it was double vision and other times things were just blurry. I was told that there could be changes in vision for up to 6 months and not to have your eyes tested until that point. Since I'm almost there I am calling the eye doctor on Monday! His mom is my former neighbor and she had a mitral valve replacement about ten years ago, so I'm hoping that he will be well-versed on the topic. I will post after I see him with any pertinent information.