Activity Time Lines

[jag004]

Hello, my name is Joe. I am going in for my second surgery tomorrow AVR, first surgery was in 2013.

"I fully understand" that I need to talk to my cardiologist about all this, but right now I am bored in my hospital room waiting for tomorrow..........

So, I am just curious as to how long it took all of you to do some of these activities after surgery, especially a 2nd surgery........

A) drive a car, as the driver
B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart
C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin)
D) go-to a rock concert
E) drive a stationary bike
F) go bowling
G) go to the beach, and into the ocean

 

[Standardvelocity]

A)6 weeks
B)?
C)4 weeks
D)n/a
E)tread mill 2.5 weeks, ride motorcycle 10 weeks
F)?
G)ice only left last week

I’m at 12 weeks post surgery still some chest muscle pain with certain activities, bowling and golf are still down the road a ways.

 

[pellicle]

"I fully understand" that I need to talk to my cardiologist about all this, but right now I am bored in my hospital room waiting for tomorrow..........

gotcha ... lets just add to this by saying "everyone differes" and "you should listen to your body ... but in the spirit of boredome

A) drive a car, as the driver

8 weeks

B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart

8 weeks or as advised depending

C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin)

I found myself unable to have more than 2 standard glasses of wine for the first 5 weeks because I was already unhappy with the tachycardia I'd get (turned out to perhaps have been a harbinger of things to come)

D) go-to a rock concert

as soon as you feel ok about that ... I went to a "Queen" imitation band some time in the first 2 or 3 months ... but I'm not a huge band goer anymore

E) drive a stationary bike

if you just pedal and leave your torso out of this, and have good and safe get on and "get off" right now.

F) go bowling

10 pin or lawn?
I'd say 8 weeks ...

G) (i) go to the beach, (ii) and into the ocean

G(i) right now
G(ii) when you feel capable of swimming and are a proven swimmer. I was born and grew up by the beach and I know more about RIPs than (it would seem) enough of the population (someone drowns there way too often). So it depends. But I'd say 8 weeks minimum and prove yourself in a pool first.

Start gentle and ease in, because in the first 3 months you set the ground for the rest of you life. Over do it now, pay for ever...

Best Wishes

 

[3mm]

A) drive a car, as the driver
B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart
C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin)
D) go-to a rock concert
E) drive a stationary bike
F) go bowling
G) go to the beach, and into the ocean

Joe - I will answer this from the viewpoint of a full sternotomy.
A) I drove short distances on low traffic, low speed city streets 2 weeks after my surgery. I trust myself more than some random Uber driver!
B) I don't golf, but I think I would not want to swing a golf club for several months after surgery. Too much strain on the sternum.
C) I don't drink alcohol.
D) I'd worry about getting tired from standing in lines.
E) A couple weeks after surgery I was riding a recumbent exercise bike. This allowed my upper body (sternum) to avoid pressure.
F) See B above.
G) Sitting on the beach is great, but going into the water: see B above regarding swimming.

 

[LondonAndy]

As some of those are outdoor activities, just wanted to add: if you don't want your surgery scar to go permanently dark, don't sunbathe it for a year.

 

[pellicle]

As some of those are outdoor activities, just wanted to add: if you don't want your surgery scar to go permanently dark, don't sunbathe it for a year.

good thing I'm a goth

 

[slipkid]

Hello, my name is Joe. I am going in for my second surgery tomorrow AVR, first surgery was in 2013.

"I fully understand" that I need to talk to my cardiologist about all this, but right now I am bored in my hospital room waiting for tomorrow..........

So, I am just curious as to how long it took all of you to do some of these activities after surgery, especially a 2nd surgery........

A) drive a car, as the driver
B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart
C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin)
D) go-to a rock concert
E) drive a stationary bike
F) go bowling
G) go to the beach, and into the ocean

[Only had one surgery so far but..]

A) Think it was something like 6 or 7 weeks b4 I could drive. I 4get exactly other than it was longer than I would have liked but had too much chest pain to do it sooner.

B) Haven't played golf in over 30 years and never with a golf cart so can't answer that one.

C) Stopped drinking as far back as 2003 or so; no actually it was earlier than that when I gladly gave up demon alcohol but in 2003 I broke my no more alcohol rule when the Director of one of my favorite movies (Jeff Stein of The Kids Are Alright) and Dougal Jones (Keith Moon's personal "minder" back in the '70's) bought me beers at a gathering of crazy Who fans in NYC, so can't answer this one either as far drinking with dinner.

D) I unfortunately missed a concert by one of my fave bands (King's X) during my recovery, just was not up to going out after only just getting home from the hospital (! the show I had tix for might have been the VERY DAY I was discharged!) but eventually I was back to "normal" (as normal I as I am anyways) in about 4-5 months and doing whatever I wanted including rock concerts.

E) When I started cardio rehab at about a month or so out of surgery a stationary bike was part of my workouts in addition to a treadmill and some other weird kind of bike thing that also exercised my arms while I pedaled. Thinking more on that I don't think I could do the arm exercising bike thing until like 2 months out.

F) Haven't bowled in 30+ years, with or without a golf cart so no answer there....

G) Not really a beach person, so haven't done that one even 10 years post surgery (wow typing this now I realize I missed my 10 year OHS anniversary which was about a month ago!).

 

[Pmacky09]

Really appreciate the great info in this thread. I'll be having AVR surgery in the next couple of months (no date yet) and am entirely focused on what happens post-surgery. I am typically a very active person - running, hiking, dancing, all the cardio things - but am v. restricted at the moment.

I would love to hear from others about how quickly (and how far) they were able to walk in the weeks after surgery. I believe I saw one post here about running 4-5km approx 7-8 weeks post-surgery, which was super encouraging.

 

[tom in MO]

A) drive a car, as the driver - As soon as I was off pain killers, 2-3 weeks.
B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart - Don't golf.
C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin) - As soon as I was off pain killers (I'd have 1 drink on them ) Ethanol does not interact with warfarin in my experience, unless one pukes up the medicine.
D) go-to a rock concert - First week, I watched the Monterey Pop festival on TV
E) drive a stationary bike - In rehab on week 3
F) go bowling - Don't bowl.
G) go to the beach, and into the ocean - I am no where near an ocean, but I could take a full shower a few days after surgery.

 

[3mm]

how quickly (and how far) they were able to walk in the weeks after surgery.

I could walk 1 mile about 2 weeks after surgery. I was slow, but I could do it a couple times daily. After 3 weeks I started cardiac rehab where I did 30 minutes of actual cardio activity without stopping except to switch machines. This was a combination of step machine, treadmill, and bike. Improvements were steady, and continue even 8 months after surgery. I had a full sternotomy, so I had to give my sternum adequate recovery time.

If your insurance and medical system will give you cardiac rehab sessions, I strongly urge you to use them. My cardiac rehab put me on a 6 lead ekg while i was exercising, so they could see if anything bad happened. It was reassuring when they would tell me that my EKG, pulse, and blood pressure were all fine.

 

[Survived03]

I was up to 5 mile walks 5 1/2 weeks after surgery. Worked my way up to it starting with hallway walks in the hospital.

 

[Jeff Lebowski]

.

 

[Pmacky09]

I could walk 1 mile about 2 weeks after surgery. I was slow, but I could do it a couple times daily. After 3 weeks I started cardiac rehab where I did 30 minutes of actual cardio activity without stopping except to switch machines. This was a combination of step machine, treadmill, and bike. Improvements were steady, and continue even 8 months after surgery. I had a full sternotomy, so I had to give my sternum adequate recovery time.

If your insurance and medical system will give you cardiac rehab sessions, I strongly urge you to use them. My cardiac rehab put me on a 6 lead ekg while i was exercising, so they could see if anything bad happened. It was reassuring when they would tell me that my EKG, pulse, and blood pressure were all fine.

Oh wow! This is super encouraging! Slow is totally fine and the best way to re-start. I'm going to look into cardiac rehab for sure; thank you for that tip!

 

[Pmacky09]

I was up to 5 mile walks 5 1/2 weeks after surgery. Worked my way up to it starting with hallway walks in the hospital.

Nice!! So happy to read this. My intention is also to start rehab in the hospital hallways!

 

[slipkid]

Nice!! So happy to read this. My intention is also to start rehab in the hospital hallways!

They will be urging you to do just that, I think as soon as most (all?) of the tubes come out. I still had an IV but once the catheter and chest tubes were gone they had me going on hospital hallway walks multiple times a day (including stairs pretty quick too).

 

[SD Surfer]

Hello, my name is Joe. I am going in for my second surgery tomorrow AVR, first surgery was in 2013.

"I fully understand" that I need to talk to my cardiologist about all this, but right now I am bored in my hospital room waiting for tomorrow..........

So, I am just curious as to how long it took all of you to do some of these activities after surgery, especially a 2nd surgery........

A) drive a car, as the driver
B) play a round of golf , with a golf cart
C) have 2-3 drinks with dinner (I'll be on Coumadin)
D) go-to a rock concert
E) drive a stationary bike
F) go bowling
G) go to the beach, and into the ocean

Hi Joe,

A) They told me not to for 6 weeks, so I waited 5 weeks and 5 days. (I'm a rebel)
B) Not sure about that one, I'd be cautious about the twisting if you're having a full sternotomy
C) Not my area of expertise (26 years sober)
D) Soon as you feel ready? (Stay out of the mosh pit)
E) Using lower body only, soon as you feel ready.
F) That's a LOT of one sided weight and twisting. Could wreak havoc on a sternotomy... Careful with that one.
G) The ocean heals everything! My first surf was 3 1/2 months post op, but that was mostly 'cuz laying on a board to paddle would've been very painful any sooner. Just going in the water could've been sooner, just be careful about getting tumbled if there's any sizeable waves.

Best of luck with your surgery and recovery. A couple of days ago was 6 months for me, and life is pretty much back to normal!