First day home...I'm scared!

[offwego]

Scared that I feel so good!!

I can't believe it's not even a week since (my second) Mitral Valve repair! They wanted to keep me another day till my INR levels increased but I managed to convince them if I promised to get a blood test in the morning...

I was a little nervous going home and being alone after all the incredible attention round the clock...But my ex wife actually stopped by to visit me and she was really helpful having her around to go back to my apartment...Was nice to have company and I was surprised they let me leave without anyone.

I know recovery will have it's ups and downs but this is so good, it's almost startling...I took an hour nap when i got home, then my sister came over and went and filled some prescriptions and buy some food and my daughter visited for an hour.

I kicked them out and am happy to be alone and trying to figure out what to do tomorrow...I guess finding a lab nearby and walking will be a good start...

Wanted to share such good news with you all. I never expected to be one of 'those' people who have such good surgery and recovery stories...

I know my biggest problem will be in not over doing it..

Woo Hoo!

 

[nngbwh]

Welcome back. Sounds like you are doing great.

 

[njean]

Relish the moment, my friend!

So happy to hear that you are feeling so good! Please take care of yourself though and don't push yourself even if you feel this great. You've got all your life ahead of you....enjoy it!

 

[rubywhistle]

Great news offwego

I am so glad to hear it

 

[Julian]

Wow, this is great to hear! As the others have said, take it low and slow. Glad you feel so well, walking to the lab a week after surgery, I was still in the hospital.

 

[Freddie]

Congrats!
Now listen to njean. It is very easy to over do it, so be careful okay? Even opening that fridge door can cause some major discomfort.

Be good to yourself.

 

[offwego]

I promise to take it slow and not over do it....I know I am at risk to overdo it very very easily....I could imagine getting in my car tomorrow and going for a drive...I did that last time..i was out of my mind but i blame that on complete shock of bad experience at the hospital and even meds and off pump....

This time I know I can't be so stupid, even if I want to...when is the soonest the doctor will say it's ok to drive? is 3 weeks possible? please?

 

[nngbwh]

I promise to take it slow and not over do it....I know I am at risk to overdo it very very easily....I could imagine getting in my car tomorrow and going for a drive...I did that last time..i was out of my mind but i blame that on complete shock of bad experience at the hospital and even meds and off pump....

This time I know I can't be so stupid, even if I want to...when is the soonest the doctor will say it's ok to drive? is 3 weeks possible? please?

Some doctors will say 6, some say 2 before you can drive. It all depends. Don't think about driving. Think "RECOVERY"

 

[njean]

I think for most, we've been told 6 weeks just to make sure that sterum heals up properly.

 

[neil]

driving 2 weeks? cricky i was still getting my grapes peeled

 

[escargome]

Yahoo! Glad to see you are home. Now I agree, take it slow. I know right now you may be starting to believe that you are 10 feet tall and bullet proof. You need to just take your time getting your strength back. Walking is good, but don't go walking all those NY city blocks. Take Care of Yourself. Now you can start writing your epic to make you a celebrity...

 

[Julian]

I drove 3 weeks post AVR 2 weeks post pacemaker. Amazing right! Seriously I still wasn't right in my head at that time shouldn't of been on the road but the doc said it was ok, I was going through mental changes but I still managed to push through. Overall driving helped me get my confidence back early on.

 

[offwego]

Woke up and first thing I did is take a deep breath to check and see if it's as 'satisfying' as it was yesterday...and I was pleased it was even better ..Good start...got out of bed, some aches and pains of course around the incision but I was able to sleep on my side...I do need some more pillows...need to order them today!

Ate a healthy breakfast and searched online for nearby labs...found one on 16th and 8th and took a breath and headed out for my 'first' official walk... I am stiff around my neck and shoulder but not too bad...and I felt pretty good...I was conscious of slowing down my natural native New Yorker pace (fast) and steadily walked to the lab...It was a longer walk than I thought but I didn't have much problem with it...they took the blood and I had a drink of water and started back...

I have not been out much in the past 4 weeks and the sun is bright in NYC on the Avenues (north/south)...found a nice place to stop and stand facing the sun while I made a few phone calls...spent about 10 minutes basking in the sun and took off heading back...slow and steady without breaks (other than stop lights) and before I knew it I walked into my building...Got hugs from my doorman and building super, picked up my mail and am now happy to be sitting down with my feet up...

WHen I get the results, I'll go pick up the Coumadin at a nearby pharmacy..and maybe take a little (shorter) walk again.

As far as driving, I am certain I will be driving (short drives) by 3 weeks...I know I could easily drive now but I promised myself and everyone else that I won't push things to the point of stupidity...

I'm starting to get my head around that this recovery is just completely different from my first which was so much harder (much more pain, weird heart beats, racing heart, pounding out of control when laying down, etc,)...I have none of the problems I had the first time..It's such a mystery as to why...Is it that I was completely repaired? is it that I am 8 years older? Was the minimally invasive somehow harder for me? Did I really suffer from my terrible experience post op from the morphine?

I'll never know the answers and they don't matter much anyway..

I hate to jinx myself by saying this but I have a feeling things will proceed very nicely as long as I don't do something stupid, like pushing myself to hard too fast...which everyone would agree is my biggest risk.

My ex wife called me and asked how I was doing today...I said..."I'm doing so well that pretty soon I will be complaining about just about everything else soon..."

 

[Lynlw]

Sounds like a great day to be out in the beautiful sun. Im glad things are going well. Just remeber not to over do, which can be the hard part when you are feeling good.

One thing about driving, remeber until you get the official ok from your surgeon or cardiologist, IF you drive and have an accident, even if it is totally NOt your fault, there could be big problems as far as insurance etc if you are driving before you were released to by your docotors. As for "when" it usually has to do with a couple things in our experience, meds you are on, can you turn to look over your shoulder without pain and a biggie is making sure your sternum is strong enough to handle the airbag IF you are in an accident. (which is hwhy they often reccomend you don ride in passenger seats the first few weeks too.

 

[Protimenow]

If you don't already have one, I strongly suggest that you get an INR meter and are prepared to do your own testing. Even if you don't really want to spared that long walk to the lab, it's really great (in my experience) to be able to do this simple diagnostic test at home. While you're still fine tuning your warfarin dosage, having your own meter and strips will probably save you quite a few trips to the lab.

Many insurances cover the meters - although some want you to wait until you're 3 months post-op. (Without insurance, I was able to get some perfectly good meters on eBay)

It's good to read that you're doing well. You'll probably feel even stronger when you've healed even more...

 

[kfay]

Protime, why in the world would offwego buy a meter, when I'm assuming he is only on a short course of coumadin since he had a repair instead of a replacement with a mechanical valve? Unless he is on it long term for some other reason, it would make no sense whatsoever to buy a meter for a 3 or even 6 month course of coumadin.


Offwego, I'm so glad for you that everything is going so well. I've had 2 surgeries myself and I think that the anticipation of the surgery is so much worse than the actual surgery. Who knows why some surgeries are easier on us than others, I'm just glad this is your experience so far and hope it stays that way. I just loved your description of standing outside with the sun shining on your face, I could almost feel it myself.

Kim

 

[offwego]

Protime, why in the world would offwego buy a meter, when I'm assuming he is only on a short course of coumadin since he had a repair instead of a replacement with a mechanical valve? Unless he is on it long term for some other reason, it would make no sense whatsoever to buy a meter for a 3 or even 6 month course of coumadin.


Offwego, I'm so glad for you that everything is going so well. I've had 2 surgeries myself and I think that the anticipation of the surgery is so much worse than the actual surgery. Who knows why some surgeries are easier on us than others, I'm just glad this is your experience so far and hope it stays that way. I just loved your description of standing outside with the sun shining on your face, I could almost feel it myself.

Kim

Wish we had some sun out today in NYC..it's cold rainy/snowy....and I just have not been able to motivate to go out in this...might skip it other than a short trip to buy a scale as I have to monitor my weight closely to gauge the dosage of Lasix...Card told me I should not lose more than 1-2 per day of the close to 20 lbs of fluid gain I retained..(I think I lost 5 lbs of it but can't be sure.)

I'd love to have a meter but as you said I don't anticipate being on Warfarin for all that long, if I remember correctly, I think I was only on it for about 2 months post first repair but can't be certain. I was released with low INR and they wanted to keep me there...it was all a mess yesterday and the reality is my doctor called furious that they did not prescribe ANY Warfarin for me, he was practically yelling at me...it was pretty funny...He told me to take 5mg till Monday morning and then head to NYU and get the tests done there, which makes perfect sense.

I took 7.5 last night and will take 5 tonight and 5 tomorrow...I hate not being in range...and was incredulous at the nurse who released me forgetting about 1/2 my medication prescriptions! Luckily I am aware of them all and got it sorted out with my card last night.

I feel pretty great overall, just normal tired...My covers fell off the bed in the middle of the night and without thinking i reached in an awkward position and pulled them up with one hand...OUCH...that really hurt!

 

[Jkm7]

It's so good to hear how well you are doing.

Keep reminding yourself to not overdo it. I also felt great post op my second surgery and had to pay close attention to getting enough rest and not doing more than was sensible. The rewards for a good healing are so worth it.

Keep up the good work.
(Chances are, all things being equal, the longest you'll be on coumadin will be about 3 months. No reason to buy a meter if that is the case. I was supposed to take warfarin for 3 months and my surgeon told me to stop at 2 1/2 months.)

 

[offwego]

It's so good to hear how well you are doing.

Keep reminding yourself to not overdo it. I also felt great post op my second surgery and had to pay close attention to getting enough rest and not doing more than was sensible. The rewards for a good healing are so worth it.

Keep up the good work.
(Chances are, all things being equal, the longest you'll be on coumadin will be about 3 months. No reason to buy a meter if that is the case. I was supposed to take warfarin for 3 months and my surgeon told me to stop at 2 1/2 months.)

Thank you! It's great to share how well I'm doing...It still feels so unreal...I was so braced for a repeat of surgery #1...I didn't even go out today...freezing rain and I gave myself permission to just lay around all day...have to get out tomorrow no matter what...

BP is around 115/80..HR is fine too...No crazy pounding, even when I lay down...Getting into the sleep position is not comfortable, I might raise the head of the bed just a little to be more comfortable.....and I def need different and more pillows...even though I didn't do much of anything today, I feel my heart is if anything even more 'quiet' it's just much happier...I can tell there will be many other odd improvements in ways I can't really imagine all from the fact that my heart is working right..feels actually more right than at any recent time.

I removed the bandage today and left it off to give it some air...I will put a fresh one on either before I got to sleep or before I go out tomorrow..

My biggest problem today is boredom!

and that's a pretty good thing!

 

[carolinemc]

But when you go out, bundle up real good, freezing temps are not good for anyone, much less a heart person. Listen to me, a mother here, but never had kids but always looking out for people. You have a good walk or where you are going and keep those legs moving, you can even walk in place at home. You keep save and keep us updated, hugs for today.