countdown to cleveland

[Peej]

Peej:

Here's my prediction: Much of those first few days will become a blur. What I went thru with bowel issues post-surgery; lack of sleep; pain in my back...all of that dissipated as a memory. It's the kind of stuff we live through and do in the moment, but I think the drugs help us remember less. Seems like you did extremely well. BTW, how'd you like those potassium pills? I forgot to mention those to you. They were my absolute least favorite. No coating. Dreadful, but again - a distant memory to laugh about. Welcome to the Dacron club. It only gets better. I'm now triple-jabbed and flying to France today from LAX. Cheers. Herb

Thanks Herb! Enjoy your trip. France does sound better than Cleveland

Yes doing pretty good. Not really feeling any pain though I get a reminder when I have to sneeze or cough. Sleeping in the bed is going fine.

My wife actually said something about me going to the grocery the other day and seemingly forgot that I had a driving restriction because I come off as pretty normal.

Ugh, took the last potassium pill this past Saturday morning. Hated them as well. Huge pills which I was able to get down but hated how the pill immediately started to disintegrate in my mouth.

Local cardiologist follow up scheduled for Oct 12.

 

[Peej]

Although I didn't expect a straight arrow up, I feel like I've taken a small step back in terms of how I feel

I've had very frequent headaches that seem to last most of the day...I mentioned headaches while I was in Cleveland + back home to my general practitioner
None of them expressed concern but it's certainly not comfortable for me
I suspect it is tied to one of the medications

The top of my incision has not healed as well as the rest; I'm getting a little discharge from it each day
Out of precaution my GP prescribed antibiotic though I'm not showing signs of infection...it's mostly an annoyance

Feeling a slight uptick in pain around my chest area; my GP suggested it is a sign my chest wall/muscle is trying to repair itself
It's not terrible but an uptick nonetheless

I got off the stool softeners while I was at CC but seems I will need to go back on them
I haven't been on any pain medication so I'm not sure what may be causing it & something else that has led to some discomfort as of late

 

[bizinsider]

Sorry to hear, Peej. I think we all have our "issues" post surgery. It's just that down the road they become a blur. Even today I get get a pain here/there in my chest if I lay the wrong way. Glad to hear you are checking with your doc. Also, I'd considered checking in with the Nurse Line at Cleveland on those, since they're surgery-related.

 

[BillDaThrill]

Hang in there Peej, wishing you quick progress past this rough patch and on to a more enjoyable recovery. Keep us posted.

 

[Croooser]

I echo Herb's suggestion to try the C C nurse line.

Might be a good idea to make a written list and review it with the cardiologist on the 12th as well.

I had chest pain for several weeks. Felt like a lung problem but cardiologist said nope - just healing. He said if you saw how they had to handle you in surgery, you would understand the pain during recovery. Tylenol really worked well for me. Although CC gave me a prescription for Oxy, I never felt the need.

 

[Cmf2p]

I am glad you made it through your surgery and I wish you the best. I will say that the day that I got home from the hospital from my first surgery, I had a terrible migraine, which I had never experienced before. This has continued for over 25 years and I still get them to this day, with the aura and everything that goes along with them. Stay diligent in regards to your health, but don't be discouraged by minor setbacks. Positivity is helpful in recovery.

 

[tom in MO]

Although I didn't expect a straight arrow up, I feel like I've taken a small step back in terms of how I feel

I've had very frequent headaches that seem to last most of the day...I mentioned headaches while I was in Cleveland + back home to my general practitioner
None of them expressed concern but it's certainly not comfortable for me
I suspect it is tied to one of the medications

The top of my incision has not healed as well as the rest; I'm getting a little discharge from it each day
Out of precaution my GP prescribed antibiotic though I'm not showing signs of infection...it's mostly an annoyance

Feeling a slight uptick in pain around my chest area; my GP suggested it is a sign my chest wall/muscle is trying to repair itself
It's not terrible but an uptick nonetheless

I got off the stool softeners while I was at CC but seems I will need to go back on them
I haven't been on any pain medication so I'm not sure what may be causing it & something else that has led to some discomfort as of late

It appears you are three weeks out. It took awhile for my incision to stop "weeping" especially at the end of the incision. Since it's the incision, I'd leave a message for the surgeon nurse or PA. You can always send them a photo too.

Per stool softeners, make sure you are hydrated. Your colon needs the water to operate properly, if the material is not as hydrated as needed it can lead to constipation. Make sure you are getting enough fruits and vegetables too, nature's stool softener. A high fiber cereal in the morning (e.g. oatmeal, grits) can help. After my surgery I had a bowl of grits with added bran for breakfast most days I was home.

 

[Peej]

Adding some updates to my thread although I should probably migrate to the post-op section.
Tomorrow is my 3 month.

Let's see after my last update where I wasn't feeling as good I saw my cardiologist. He wanted me to dry my incision out so it would scab up. It did and a large scab remained at the top of my incision for a long time. A little over a week ago it fell off on its own. I was excited to be done w/the scab & then I noticed a little suture sticking through. Hoping it falls off on its own but plan to talk to my doctor about it. And then (maybe) I will finally be done with the incision drama.

My cardiologist dropped my bp dosage which I was happy about. I was getting little dizzy spells after taking it.

Headaches went away.

Starting feeling much better around week 6-8. Sleep got much better.

Still going to the lab for INR checks for now. I've drifted a little bit above the 2-3 range on 2 visits but not by much.
The nurse recommended a small change from my original dosage I started after leaving CC and got me back within 2-3 as of my last visit.

Still feel a slight "click" in my chest when I take a deep breathe but from what I've read many people feel that.

Still just walking for now and have not returned to the gym for any weightlifting although I think I could.
Feeling good with walking at a fast pace.

Overall, back to normal life. Thanks to all for being a supportive and positive group.

 

[Chuck C]

Overall, back to normal life

Thanks for the update Peej.

Very glad to hear that life is back to normal for you.

 

[bizinsider]

Still feel a slight "click" in my chest when I take a deep breathe but from what I've read many people feel that.

Congrats on the progress. On that click, I had forgotten all about that. At some point it just stopped happening!

 

[Keithl]

Adding some updates to my thread although I should probably migrate to the post-op section.
Tomorrow is my 3 month.

Let's see after my last update where I wasn't feeling as good I saw my cardiologist. He wanted me to dry my incision out so it would scab up. It did and a large scab remained at the top of my incision for a long time. A little over a week ago it fell off on its own. I was excited to be done w/the scab & then I noticed a little suture sticking through. Hoping it falls off on its own but plan to talk to my doctor about it. And then (maybe) I will finally be done with the incision drama.

My cardiologist dropped my bp dosage which I was happy about. I was getting little dizzy spells after taking it.

Headaches went away.

Starting feeling much better around week 6-8. Sleep got much better.

Still going to the lab for INR checks for now. I've drifted a little bit above the 2-3 range on 2 visits but not by much.
The nurse recommended a small change from my original dosage I started after leaving CC and got me back within 2-3 as of my last visit.

Still feel a slight "click" in my chest when I take a deep breathe but from what I've read many people feel that.

Still just walking for now and have not returned to the gym for any weightlifting although I think I could.
Feeling good with walking at a fast pace.

Overall, back to normal life. Thanks to all for being a supportive and positive group.

Congrats on your recovery.


Your timing is similar to mine. First 5 weeks I was sleeping on a angle/wedge pillow at about 30 degree incline.

I don't feel a clinking, but if I lay on my left side a certain way I hear it and I am 2.5 years now.

As for INR, it took several months for my INR to stabilize. Once I started home monitoring and no longer used a service I have a much different approach, I do not make major change sin dose unless I am over by a bit. I stay in the 2-3 range. A few times I have tested at 3.4, if I will likely take a half pill the next day (dose is 7.5) and see what it is the next week. My INR has been so stable in the 2-3 range that I often skip a week now and don't worry about it as long as the readings are in range. I also have a very predictable diet which helps.

Keep in mind every person's body adjust to warfarin doses differently. When I bridge it can take 2 weeks for me to get back to normal and stabilize, Dose changes with me take a while to have any impact unless I make big changes.

My surgeon and then cardio had me on Metropol proactively after surgery, but I did not like it and almost a year later I dompted it since my BP was fine even without the pill. I recently went back to Losartan as my BP crept up a few points and noticed after being off for so long I have some dizzy spells for a few weeks until my body readjusted to it.

 

[Peej]

Congrats on your recovery.


Your timing is similar to mine. First 5 weeks I was sleeping on a angle/wedge pillow at about 30 degree incline.

I don't feel a clinking, but if I lay on my left side a certain way I hear it and I am 2.5 years now.

As for INR, it took several months for my INR to stabilize. Once I started home monitoring and no longer used a service I have a much different approach, I do not make major change sin dose unless I am over by a bit. I stay in the 2-3 range. A few times I have tested at 3.4, if I will likely take a half pill the next day (dose is 7.5) and see what it is the next week. My INR has been so stable in the 2-3 range that I often skip a week now and don't worry about it as long as the readings are in range. I also have a very predictable diet which helps.

Keep in mind every person's body adjust to warfarin doses differently. When I bridge it can take 2 weeks for me to get back to normal and stabilize, Dose changes with me take a while to have any impact unless I make big changes.

My surgeon and then cardio had me on Metropol proactively after surgery, but I did not like it and almost a year later I dompted it since my BP was fine even without the pill. I recently went back to Losartan as my BP crept up a few points and noticed after being off for so long I have some dizzy spells for a few weeks until my body readjusted to it.

Thanks Keithl

The click is not from my valve...I believe it's from the sternum rubbing or moving a bit and I only feel it when I take a real deep breathe but it is becoming less and less noticeable as time goes on

We have some similarities - same 7.5 warfarin dose and I got as high as 3.5 before they recommended I change the dose down to 5 2 days a week. At some point I would also like to start my own testing at home.

I purchased a bp monitor...I too think I am fine without a bp pill. A long time ago I was initially put on bp as a measure to slow the progress of my condition & it seems to have stuck with my doctors that I need to be on it for good. But now I've had surgery I want to see if I can get off of bp medicine. We'll see.

 

[Keithl]

Thanks Keithl

The click is not from my valve...I believe it's from the sternum rubbing or moving a bit and I only feel it when I take a real deep breathe but it is becoming less and less noticeable as time goes on

We have some similarities - same 7.5 warfarin dose and I got as high as 3.5 before they recommended I change the dose down to 5 2 days a week. At some point I would also like to start my own testing at home.

I purchased a bp monitor...I too think I am fine without a bp pill. A long time ago I was initially put on bp as a measure to slow the progress of my condition & it seems to have stuck with my doctors that I need to be on it for good. But now I've had surgery I want to see if I can get off of bp medicine. We'll see.

Interesting by 3 months I would not expect much if any sternum clicking, the sternum is mostly 100% at that point. Maybe some joints still settling back after be fileted like a fish and spread butterflied on the table for hours. I had a few times I heard cracks at rare times.

 

[Critter]

I personally think they should put the metoprolol in the water system. It has primary indications for prevention of heart attack and stroke, cheaper than dirt. It puts a governor on your ticker so it encourages the chronotropic (timing) and ionotrophic (horsepower) effects of the heart. YMMV.

 

[slipkid]

I personally think they should put the metoprolol in the water system. It has primary indications for prevention of heart attack and stroke, cheaper than dirt. It puts a governor on your ticker so it encourages the chronotropic (timing) and ionotrophic (horsepower) effects of the heart. YMMV.

Yeah, and it can give you ungodly nightmares, make it impossible for you to do anything other than lie in bed and be unable to function because it steals all your energy etc. I'm never voluntarily taking that poison again. I'm glad you don't have access to the water supply.