Disappointed with my progress

[EclipseDS]

I'm 15 days post op and quite disappointed with my progress so far. The most frustrating for me is that I can't even finish a sentence without coughing/running out of breath. I've been pretty faithful with the incentive spirometer and can hit 1750ml, so I expect I'd feel better already but it's not just happening. When should I expect to feel better, as far as breathing is concerned?

I guess I'm just being too impatient. I can go through the day without pain medications now, can walk about 500ft straight and require minimal assistance in the shower. However, my pace is still very slow, and my posture is a mess, I feel, my chest is pulling on my shoulders and this causes significant fatigue on them when I'm standing.

I'm interested to hear about your progress. I know everyone is different but I'd like to get a ballpark estimate as to when I should feel better. Also, sleep has been very elusive in the last 3 days and this adds up to my frustrations -I dread the silence of the night. I'll be seeing my surgeon on the 19th, but I honestly don't think he can help me on these concerns. Anyway, I'm still grateful and happy for the second chance -just antsy to get back to where I was.

Thanks,
Eli

 

[escargome]

Eli,
Don't be disappointed. 15 days post-op is not a long time. Healing takes different amount of time for each person. Don't compare yourself. There is nothing wrong with wanting to see improvement, but that improvement will likely be small. Maybe if you are not against it, when you see your doctor on the 19th you can get something that will help you to sleep. I know that if the first step in feeling whole again. Have you been checked for anemia? Just keep doing what you are doing. And give yourself a little more time.

 

[spartangator]

One of the hardest parts of this whole experience is being patient with one's healing. It's always slower than we want. Chris' advice about getting some help sleeping is right on--without rest, everything is harder. If you're not interested in a sleep-related med, many physicians will also have those sort-of "put you to sleep" CDs that can be helpful at bedtime. One of those helped me during the first few nights.

Keep moving as best as you can. The appropriate activity will help and get your muscles back to a point where your posture will return.

 

[Bina]

Eli, at 15 days post op I was still in hospital and unable to do anything for myself except eat.
Talking on the phone left me exhausted, and I was very sad about the whole experience.
Most people find a big turnaround after a few weeks and you will figure out how to deal with the feelings
that you have now. Being tired effects your whole body and a mid day nap might be the cure. Best wishes.

 

[njean]

Hey Eli,
Like Bina, at 15 days, I was still in the hospital!!!

Keep in mind that everyone heals differently. Some people are up and about in no time, while others, me included, take weeks, months, to start feeling significant improvement. After my 3rd, I didn't start feeling really decent until about a year! Yeah you heard me, a year! :eek2:

So hang in there, be patient. You'll start feeling better and better as time goes by, I promise!

 

[epstns]

Eli,
At 15 days, I had been home all of a week. I was constantly coughing, shivering when nobody else was cold, couldn't eat or sleep comfortably -- I was a wreck, but I was doing as well as we expected for that point in time! Bit by bit, over the weeks, the problems diminished. I had a major "eureka" point at about 4 weeks, when I realized that somehow I had gone from feeling really bad to feeling noticeably better. Of course, due to some speed bumps I hit, I had to be readmitted to the hospital for a couple of days to work out a post-op problem. I don't mean to re-tell all my tales of woe and complications. I just want to tell you that you are not at all behind schedule in healing. We are all a bit different, but there seem to be major improvements noted about every 4 weeks -- at 4 weeks, 8 weeks and 12 weeks post-op. You may not notice a big difference until you compare how you feel at, say, 4 weeks with how you felt at 1 week. I kept a journal, so I could just read back and see the major differences.

Even with all my complications, at 16-17 weeks I can now do almost everything I did before (except running fast and lifting heavy items), and it seems that my endurance is better. I am less exhausted at the end of the day, even though I am now back to work full-time (50 hours/week) and doing cardio rehab 3 days a week and going to the gym 2 days a week. Unless something goes drastically wrong, after about 4 weeks your recovery should start to accelerate; you will feel improvements at a faster rate than before.

Hang in there - the worst is over!

 

[Freddie]

Can't add much more that hasn't already been said. It's tough to be patient.
A mild sleeping aid at bed time did wonders for me plus walking a little farther everyday made naps times more refreshing and helped with my appetite. Make sure your drinking enough fluids.

Take care and don't get discourage, it will come.

 

[ski girl]

Eli, I hear your frustration! But as has been said, we all heal differently. I had my AVR when I was 39 and I was very fit going into it - that helped. The older you are and the worse you get before the op, the harder it will be to recover.

What really helped me not get frustrated was to set myself goals for each day. If the goal for the day turned out to be impossible, I let myself off the hook and decreased the next day's goal. My goals were things like 'eat all my hospital food', 'wash my hair', 'do three laps of the ward every couple of hours' and I have no doubt that helped me feel I was improving as I could tick things off my list and then quantify my improvements.

Above all I think we have to keep in mind that we've had a massive operation and our bodies are in a bit of shock from it all!

 

[Cooker]

I'm one of the most impatient people I know ... the healing process is very slow and drove me crazy at times ... I pushed it to hard and was sorry ... try and relax and let your body recover ... it really does take about a year for most to feel 100% ... hang in there!

 

[Greg a]

Like Bina and Norma Jean I too was still in the hospital with doctors that could not figure out why I was not coming to /but still veging out ....Eli you will feel stronger EVERY day without exception !!!!!

 

[jake]

Eli:

Don’t be disappointed! At 15 days, I felt like a train hit me. I couldn't get out of bed without help and almost had several panic attacks because I couldn’t change my shirt without hyperventilating.

I couldn’t get my sporometer off the basement floor and depression was setting in. What kept me going was getting on this board and reading how my progress was totally consistent with a lot of others who have just been through hell and back.

I am 7 months out and still not 100% just yet but I can skate 30 miles on rollerblades daily. Just relax, give your body and mind the time it needs to recover and I promise you, you will emerge from the experience a better and stronger person. Remember, your body will keep you weak and lethargic just long enough to give it the time to recover so just relax as best you can and let it happen!

 

[EclipseDS]

At the hospital, all the doctors and nurses kept telling me I did great, that I did better than expected and my recovery was amazing. I was able to stand up, walk and sit on a chair just hours after the operation. When I did my laps on the TCU ward, I made it a point to go farther than the last time, to have fewer stops. I was about ready to check out on the 4th day had it not for my INR being too low. I guess, somehow, this made me set an unrealistic goal. Yesterday, I pushed myself and walked almost half a mile 2 times, and I was exhausted at the end of the day. It helped me sleep for 6 hours straight but I think I pulled a muscle as my left calf is in a bit of pain.

Anyway, glad to hear you all chime in. I'd be waiting for that 4 week milestone and maybe set a more realistic goal, hard as it may. It really is hard being a patient, there are a lot of things I want to do, that I used to do with ease, but is now a challenge. Can't wait to get back in shape again.

 

[catwoman]

I felt much of the same at the same point post-op. I kept asking "When will I be normal again?" and smart-a$$ friends would answer, "You never were." :tongue2:
I learned to be more patient with recovery. If I pushed myself too much, I was taking one step forward, two or even three backwards.
I spent 2 weeks post-op w/ my parents. I had problems sleeping -- my back hurt so much! When I couldn't sleep in the bed, I'd move to the den and sleep sitting up. I was uncomfortable and miserable; when my dad would ask what he could do for me, I'd say, "Trade places with me." Like you, I had problems talking for more than a few minutes w/out "coming up for air," as I described it.

But like others have said, things do get better. Your body is going to take its own sweet time to recover. Remember, you've put it through the wringer!!

 

[hetmarie]

Hang in there Eli. Things will turn around for you. I had a terrible cough for weeks after surgery. Couldn't talk without coughs. I felt like I would never feel "normal" again. My incision didn't heal properly so I had to wear a wound vacuum for six weeks (was that ever awful, having to carry that thing around all the time). Then one day I woke up and realized I felt significantly better than the day before. And the next day, even better. You'll have good days and bad and then some months down the road, you'll get out of bed and won't even think about what you've been through. Sleep when you can and where you're most comfortable. Try not to compare yourself to anyone else because everyone heals at a different pace and everyone has different issues post-surgery. Be happy about the small steps forward.

 

[DebbyA]

I agree with everyone else about giving yourself time to recover. I'd also like to point out that we valvers are a different population from the majority of OHS patients, so we may look pretty good to the hospital staff. At 60, I was amazed during the presurgery interviews that they kept calling me "young and healthy". Your heart is healing inside just like the scar you can see, and your body endured several drastic treatments in the course of the surgery. Improvement will come.

 

[epstns]

Yeah - Get used to being the youngest patient in your cardio's waiting room!

In my rehab class they call me "young man" - and I'm 63! (Of course, I don't complain about this one. . . )

 

[Gail in Ca]

It sounds like they liked your progress in the hospital. I would call your cardio about the problem of not being able to finish a sentence w/o running out of breath. I've had 3 surgeries, and I know everyone is different, but you are young and I would think that wouldn't happen after 15 days. How many days were you in the hospital? Are you walking every day, adding more time with each walk? The distance doesn't matter, the time does. Anyway, please, please be proactive with Kaiser! If you are worried about your recovery, and don't feel right, please make sure your health professional listens and takes you seriously!
All the best to you, and hopefully you will feel better as each week goes by.

 

[Lynlw]

It sounds like they liked your progress in the hospital. I would call your cardio about the problem of not being able to finish a sentence w/o running out of breath. I've had 3 surgeries, and I know everyone is different, but you are young and I would think that wouldn't happen after 15 days. How many days were you in the hospital? Are you walking every day, adding more time with each walk? The distance doesn't matter, the time does. Anyway, please, please be proactive with Kaiser! If you are worried about your recovery, and don't feel right, please make sure your health professional listens and takes you seriously!
All the best to you, and hopefully you will feel better as each week goes by.

I know it is frustrting and you DO need to be patient with alot of things getting back to "normal" post op. BUT I agree with Gail, at 2 weeks post op for someone young and healthy, I would be concerned about not being able to finish sentences with out running out of breath. I would call and get it checked, just to be safe. Hopefully everything is fine, but IF there is a problem, like fluid around your heart or lungs the sooner it is diagnosised the better and if you catch it early enough, often it is much easier to treat. Justin has a history of pericardial Fluid post op so his last few surgeries we were able recognise early enough he was able to stay home and just needed motrin or sometimes steroids, instead of having bigger problems for months like his earlier surgery

PS, About your posture, I know it hurts, but really try to work on good posture, it could also be causing some of the breathing problems if you are kind of hunched over and your lungs can't open as well.

 

[alesia]

Hey there! I had my surgery on June 23 and I am 38 yrs. I felt good in the hospital, but when I was at home I noticed alot of stuff I could not do yet. I cried everyday, because I never really thought about how long recovery was going to be. To get into my husbands truck, he had to push my a?? up just so I could make it in. The hardest part is the recovering and not being able to do much. I miss playing and holding my 4 yr. old. What has helped me so far is eating right, going for walks and not lifting anything over 5 lbs!!!
.

 

[epstns]

Alesia - I had some trouble getting into my wife's big SUV after surgery. My car is lower but she won't drive it - she can't see where the corners of the car are. . .

Our solution was to take a kitchen step-stool along in the truck. That one step up was enough to make entering and exiting easy until I no longer needed it.

Hang in there - it starts to get better at an increasing rate soon.