All pre-surgery tests done and ready to go.

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

I am 9 weeks post-op today. I had an echo today and the technician described my rebuilt heart as perfect. I am going back to work in two weeks, this is two weeks early. Recovery time will vary. I contribute my speedy recovery to my cardiac pre-hab and significant increases in the amount of walking I did post-op. Once I got up to a mile a day, I started increasing it by a mile per day each week until I got up to 4 miles per day. At this point I began feeling fully recovered.

 

[kimcdougc]

Hey all.. I found this website, by accident, while researching "something" in preparation for my AVR on June 27th.
I am an ACHDer thus always told this day would come. I guess I never thought it would be at age 43. I newly married with an almost 10yr old son and an 11yr old stepdaughter. I am a social worker in the healthcare (cardiac and geriatric) field but I don't know how to prepare and what to expect.
The symptoms I had, I thought was exacerbate asthma and allergies. My cardiologist compared my EKG from February and from last year and scheduled a cath 2 days later.
Knowing this would always come, I am not as bothered by the surgery as I am about being out of commission for a few weeks. It's driving me crazy to know I will be dependent.
I have several questions about what to expect regarding recovery time.
I am already inspired by this forum and excited for such a wealth of support.
any words of wisdom, insight, information, etc will be appreciated.

kat12

kat12, read read read the posts on this website. Go to the on-x website and read about it. Watch the video they have about it. Go to youtube.com and watch the video's of the surgery (if you have a strong stomach) I did. Watch the videos of those that have recovered. Prepare everything in your home before you go to have surgery. I wrote out a list of all the bills, passwords, and how to do everything that I do concerning financial stuff for my husband. Put as many bills as I could on auto pay. I do my moms and dads bills to so I set them up on auto pay and advised my sister of the how to and passwords on their accounts. I wrote my "just in case" letters and told my sister where they are. I bought a "chair lift" to help me be more independent when I get home. Educate yourself.

This week I have been cleaning floors, bathrooms etc so that when I come home my husband will not be so overwhelmed. He can concentrate on taking care of me. Mind you I took lots of breaks in between cleaning as I tire out pretty easy now. I have been walking 40 minutes a day for 2 months now to help with my recovery.

Think I have done everything I can to prepare. Now I just have to trust in the Lord, my doctors and the medical team that is going to take care of me. I must admit these last few days are emotionally crazy. Up one minute, down the next. Staying pretty busy doing last minute preparations. It is the hardest when my husband goes to bed...but I log on here and feel uplifted.

Hope all goes well for you. Kim

 

[ski girl]

Hey kat (and everyone else about to have surgery!) - you may find you're not as 'dependent' as you fear. I was out of the hospital a week after the surgery, and I live by myself. The only thing I needed help with was carrying groceries! Everything else I figured out how to do. The trickiest bit was how to get washing out of the bottom of the washing machine, I was momentarily stumped but then I remembered I had barbeque tongs - worked a treat.

I actually found that doing as much as I could for myself helped the emotional side of my recovery - so as long as doing something doesn't hurt, try to do it for yourself. Many minutes of entertainment can be had trying to pick something up that you dropped.

Good luck class of May 2013!!!!