day 14 after surgery

[70sdiver]

So I'm at day 14 from surgery. On day 8 Friday the 26th I woke up and shortness of breath after 10 to twelve steps decided late in the afternoon I need to get checked so went to the local ER and I was having Arterial Flutter. Saturday morning I wake up and feel good no shortness of breath at all. I have been walking since the day of my surgery and this morning I did a slow 45 minute walk approx . 1 1/4 mile .I'm still having muscles spasms but not as bad. I think the surgeon going with sternal plates is really helping as I have very little pain in my sternum area but dam the ribs are sore. I hope I can keep giving you good updates. I'm still waiting to get set up for cardiac rehab. I'm not sure at this point how far to push the walking, I've been keeping it on level ground but would like to try some hills .Where were you guys walking at 14 days?

 

[ValveAdmin]

Hi there, best wishes for your recovery!

 

[dick0236]

Don't try to be a hero. Let your body tell you when it's time to increase your activity. Fourteen days might be a little early to climb hills. I was still in the hospital fourteen days out (that was in 1967)........but I returned to full-time work six weeks after surgery.........you've got plenty of time to live your life......take baby steps in the beginning

 

[treichert0312]

No hurry! I am almost 80 days post surgery and have got three miles plus hills nowadays. Just keep the 1-2 miles going and you’ll be on the hills in no time.
I saw my surgeon 60 days post surgery - mid August, after my Father’s Day surgery. He gave me the go ahead for light running. At about 70 days I finally got into cardiac rehab. When I told the cardiac rehab nurse I was jogging, she insisted I get permission slip from the doctor.
Listen to your body. And your doctor.
My fear going into the surgery was that I would not be able to ski or bike - only walk. Not true - I’ll be getting everything back! Except for the machete juggling.

 

[70sdiver]

I think I'll pass on the juggling lol. I'm hoping to be able to go hunting again in the near future. I think once I get my wind back I'll have to start skydiving again, I sold my gear and quit about 5 years ago as I didn't want to tip over in the plane. I did however keep my altimeter lol.

 

[Brokenhip]

So I'm at day 14 from surgery. On day 8 Friday the 26th I woke up and shortness of breath after 10 to twelve steps decided late in the afternoon I need to get checked so went to the local ER and I was having Arterial Flutter. Saturday morning I wake up and feel good no shortness of breath at all. I have been walking since the day of my surgery and this morning I did a slow 45 minute walk approx . 1 1/4 mile .I'm still having muscles spasms but not as bad. I think the surgeon going with sternal plates is really helping as I have very little pain in my sternum area but dam the ribs are sore. I hope I can keep giving you good updates. I'm still waiting to get set up for cardiac rehab. I'm not sure at this point how far to push the walking, I've been keeping it on level ground but would like to try some hills .Where were you guys walking at 14 days?

The program for walking that I was given, recommended early in recovery 3 walks per day of a shorter duration rather than one long effort. So instead of 45 mins, that would be 3 x 15 mins, working up to 3 x 20, then 2 x 30, 2 x 35 & finally 1 x 60. Good luck.

 

[70sdiver]

Thanks that makes sense.

 

[gpr100rs]

I wasn't doing much at day 14. I was in the hospital after surgery for 10 days because of A fib. It took a lot of effort for several weeks just to walk up a flight of stairs and I can remember being out of breath after taking a shower. I went through bouts of a wonky heart beat (PAC's) etc. for six months, but that resolved. I'm now 1 1/2 yrs. post surgery and feeling good, normal rhythm, good cardio, etc., playing squash where my HR gets to 170. Healing is a several month process and differs for everyone. Your heart has been through a major trauma and needs time to heal. At about a year you'll look back and realize how far you've come.

 

[pellicle]

hey mate, small steps forwards each day. Don't over step and slip back.

Like Dick says, one bite at a time.

 

[70sdiver]

well here we are at day 26 the breast bone still aches and still getting some muscle pains. I've been keeping the walk in the morning to 2 1/2 miles and a small walk after lunch and dinner. All in all I'm feeling way better than before surgery .I see my cardiologist friday for the first time since surgery. I'm on warfrin for 90 days and I can't wait to get off of it makes my gums bleed on occasion I'm staying at 2.1 range. A boring report for sure but I love boring.

 

[pellicle]

I can't wait to get off of it makes my gums bleed on occasion I'm staying at 2.1 range.

usually this is an indicator of gum disease which was masked by coagulation.

Gum disease is caused by deep sub-gingival plaque. Its a significant casual factor in endocarditis. I would strongly recommend when you are at the 3 month stage (and the process of endothelisation has completed) that you get a proper dental subgingival clean and continue this on a 6 monthly basis. When you get that done, I strongly urge you to have 2grams of amoxycillin pre-procedure as prophylaxis against that being causal in endocarditis.

Plaque is like having a fully living mico-sized coral reef of bacteria underneath your gums. I say coral reef because its a layer upon layer of organisms building on the foundations in the same way.

Endothelisation is the same process that the surgical implant undergoes

Calculus is what we call plaque.

 

[70sdiver]

I plan on having another deep cleaning as soon as possible. I did find the cause of the bleeding after flossing I had a pop corn shell stuck between my gum and back tooth, I was trying to figure out why i wasn't bleeding while flossing and I realized i was only bleeding when I was doing the back tooth after really working the floss deep it popped out. I still can't figure out why I wasn't feeling it stuck back there.

 

[pellicle]

its pretty common for people to blame warfarin for everything (so far here its been a range from hair loss through to erectile dysfunction and gagging on it being rat poison). I think that the general drum given by the medical profession doesn't help this. Basically unless someone is a researcher of warfarin in the literature, the average clinician is a hapless fool

 

[70sdiver]

Update Day 39. Things have been going really well I decided to try a nice long hill walk today and glad to report I did get the heart rate up and broke a nice sweat I started At the bottom with a med fast pace and ended at the top a slow walk lol. I have been accepted for cardiac rehab to start on Oct 4th. I got the motor scooter out and the wife and I have been riding daily. My next big thing will be Thursday when My ex boss and good friend will be taking me on his boat steelhead fishing. I got a nice 18' open alumnaweld but I think it will be in November before I try handling the the tiller on the 125hp motor. I'm going to keep updating so others can see and maybe go in to surgery with more confidence than I did. I was prepared for so much to go wrong I never really thought that things can and do go right. I thank the lord for the PAC that said she thought she heard a slight murmur and sent me for testing. I think we are the lucky ones that find out we have a problem before that problem kills us.