Hello friends,
Just touching base to let you know that I am out of the hospital, and "home" at our host house, still in Rochester. We're to fly home tomorrow, to California. Can't wait to see our son, Sam!
We are so happy with the choice we made to go to Mayo Clinic. The outcome was the best possible one, with my aortic valve getting repaired, instead of replaced. They also successfully ablated multiple pathways, so I won't have anymore SVT. Yay!
Of course, I can't yet feel the benefits of a "non-leaking" valve (being in the immediate post-op period), but all signs point to me no longer being short of breath with exercise, AND, thus far, my blood pressure has normalized, so not taking BP meds. That may change, but for now, off those meds.
The hardest part(s) of the whole deal for me, was (and still) back & shoulder pain. In the first several days, I was also extremely nauseated, but that has all resolved. The incision itself, doesn't hurt much. One thing, I'm sort of struggling with, is the restrictions on lifting, because I have a hard time judging what is "too heavy". I was sort of operating on the premise, that if it didn't hurt, that was okay, but that is WRONG. I have to remember that this is not like my previous abdominal surgery.....this is a broken bone, that has to be allowed to heal. Also, it makes me feel so "lazy", when everyone else is carrying things (luggage, etc), but I know that I have to follow the guidelines.
I'm looking forward to starting cardiac rehab in several weeks, and work on getting my strength back up.
I wanted to thank all the people on this board who helped update my status, and who encouraged me, along the way. My husband actually had the chance to meet up with another member that was at St.Mary's, at the same time we were, and that was awesome!
The biggest thanks of all to Kfay (Kim) who went out of her way to guide me through the process of where to stay, and overall hints about the hospital, etc. Thank you so much, Kim!
Now that I've crossed over to the "other side", I'm sure I'll find lots of valuable information, within this forum, to help me in my recovery process.
Talk to you later, Cherie
Just touching base to let you know that I am out of the hospital, and "home" at our host house, still in Rochester. We're to fly home tomorrow, to California. Can't wait to see our son, Sam!
We are so happy with the choice we made to go to Mayo Clinic. The outcome was the best possible one, with my aortic valve getting repaired, instead of replaced. They also successfully ablated multiple pathways, so I won't have anymore SVT. Yay!
Of course, I can't yet feel the benefits of a "non-leaking" valve (being in the immediate post-op period), but all signs point to me no longer being short of breath with exercise, AND, thus far, my blood pressure has normalized, so not taking BP meds. That may change, but for now, off those meds.
The hardest part(s) of the whole deal for me, was (and still) back & shoulder pain. In the first several days, I was also extremely nauseated, but that has all resolved. The incision itself, doesn't hurt much. One thing, I'm sort of struggling with, is the restrictions on lifting, because I have a hard time judging what is "too heavy". I was sort of operating on the premise, that if it didn't hurt, that was okay, but that is WRONG. I have to remember that this is not like my previous abdominal surgery.....this is a broken bone, that has to be allowed to heal. Also, it makes me feel so "lazy", when everyone else is carrying things (luggage, etc), but I know that I have to follow the guidelines.
I'm looking forward to starting cardiac rehab in several weeks, and work on getting my strength back up.
I wanted to thank all the people on this board who helped update my status, and who encouraged me, along the way. My husband actually had the chance to meet up with another member that was at St.Mary's, at the same time we were, and that was awesome!
The biggest thanks of all to Kfay (Kim) who went out of her way to guide me through the process of where to stay, and overall hints about the hospital, etc. Thank you so much, Kim!
Now that I've crossed over to the "other side", I'm sure I'll find lots of valuable information, within this forum, to help me in my recovery process.
Talk to you later, Cherie
