Disappointed with my progress

[EclipseDS]

Gail - I spent 6 days in the hospital, including operation, and yes, I'm walking everyday and made it a point to go farther each day.

A home care nurse comes in twice a week and she does check my vitals, lungs and heart, and so far, she don't think I'm having a fluid build up. Everyday X-ray back in the hospital don't show it either, but I'll be seeing my surgeon on Tuesday and I'll make sure to ask about the shortness of breath. I did complain about it before I checked out and he said the heart is still adjusting so it's kinda normal. Of course, that was 6 days post op back then.

Anyway, today, I actually felt better. I got up from the bed with relative ease and found I could use my right arm more without the excessive chest and shoulder pain. I can get up from sitting without so much sting in the chest, and I can talk longer. The homecare nurse thought me how to properly use the spirometer and I think that really helped. My new target is 2500ml and I can hit 2000~2250ml now, though still a bit hard. I'll try and go for a longer walk tomorrow and just be more mobile.

Alesia - I miss playing with my 3yo daughter too. Today, she asked if I'm already well. I asked her why and she said "I want you to carry me". My heart was crushed

-Eli

 

[epstns]

Eli - Don't forget that your spirometer is your new friend. I found that if I used mine several times a day, the cough and hoarseness would subside for a couple of hours after each round, and I could breathe a bit better. It got to be that if I felt I was having trouble breathing, I would reach for the spriometer and use it for a while, then I would find that things got easier for a couple of hours.

 

[EclipseDS]

Eli - Don't forget that your spirometer is your new friend. I found that if I used mine several times a day, the cough and hoarseness would subside for a couple of hours after each round, and I could breathe a bit better. It got to be that if I felt I was having trouble breathing, I would reach for the spriometer and use it for a while, then I would find that things got easier for a couple of hours.

I am religious on the spirometer, but I think I wasn't doing it right. The nurse told me to exhale all air and hold my breath as long as I could after inhaling-and I think this has been effective as I noticed significant improvement after only a couple of days. The last 3 days has all been very good so far -and walking is easier

-Eli

 

[Gail in Ca]

I have always hated that spirometer! I was so lucky after this last surgery, I only used it in the hospital, but when I got home, I rarely used it. For some great reason, I hardly coughed at all after my 3rd surgery, and I think I began to walk early in the hospital
many times a day, and I just recovered the lung part faster than my other surgeries. No coughing was so wonderful. Not using that spirometer was wonderful, too. Don't tell my doctor I was bad!
Glad you are feeling better, Eli. I was worried for you for a bit. I thought I had to walk farther each day, but my nurse said it's the time spent, not the distance. Although, they seem to go hand in hand. It really gets better day by day then week by week.
Remember to bring your cell phone when you walk for those 1st weeks. Isn't it amazing how OHS kicks your butt?

 

[Dray]

Eli,

I’m now about 7 weeks post op and I’m still limited in what I can do. By far the most frustrating part of this whole experience has been the recovery. You’re close to my age (I’m 38) and for me it has been a struggle to ask for help with common chores around the house – lawn mowing, home repairs, bringing in groceries, taking out the trash. Mentally I feel great and I’m ready to get back to doing all the things I did pre-surgery but my body simply isn’t ready. It really has been a humbling experience for me.

I’m also having some sleep troubles. I’m a stomach sleeper and there are still spots on my incision which are tender – mostly near the top of my incision. Sometimes I’ll wake up at night because my chest is aching but it has been getting better over the last few weeks. Until recently I wasn’t even able to wear a seatbelt over my chest while driving!

I’ll echo everyone’s comments here – it does get better, albeit slowly.

David

 

[epstns]

David - You are nearing one of the "Eureka!" points in recovery. For most patients here it seems to happen at somewhere around 8 weeks, give or take a couple. At that point you realize that you really are better off than you were before surgery and you realize that you really can do a lot of the things you couldn't do just a week or two before. Those early weeks were rough for me, too, as I usually did a lot of small chores at home, but couldn't until healing had progressed far enough.

It was especially humbling to have to ask my wife to help me put my shoes on. . . but now at 4.5 months post-op, I think I can do more than I could in the couple of months immediately before surgery.

 

[neil]

hang in there. you will be just fine

 

[plsflgood]

Does anybody know what's happened to EclipseDS ? There were no posts from him since July 2011, when he was recovering from an AVR.

 

[EclipseDS]

I'm back. Your PM made me come back here, thanks for reminding be about this place. I just had a different issue that I had to deal with.

-Eli

 

[Bill B]

Well, HOW ARE YOU DOING?

 

[Madsometimes]

I'm four weeks post surgery, and am 39. I was in hospital for 12 days and my recovery was slow. After 9 days I still needed to lie down on my bed for 20 minutes and rest after getting up to use the toilet. I remember asking the registrar why my progress was so slow and he dodged the question.

When I was discharged from hospital I asked the nurse for a wheelchair to take me down to the car park. She laughed at me and said I had to walk, or I would not be let home. Her tough medicine has kind of worked, because I have forced myself to walk every day. It is much easier to build up strength at home, even though it is scary being away from the security of the hospital.

You do see people saying they can run two miles on a treadmill a few weeks post op, or drive their car or return to work. Everyone heals differently, it is not a competition, and most of us are not doing these things. It was hard for me in hospital seeing people 60+ recover faster than me, get discharged while I was still there away from my children. Then, when I returned home, my children thought I was not much fun. I couldn't play with them, I couldn't even get out of a chair.

Now I feel that I am starting to turn a corner. I walked to my local convenience shop on my own to buy bread and a paper, that was a big hurdle for me. It was less than a five minute walk, but I have lost confidence in my abilities. Confidence is returning, the mental must return with the physical.