Mentally adjusting to OHS

[stevo]

Dear All,

I have had plenty of help from advice on this forum. Wondering if I can get some more. Since my Mitral Valve repair 9 months ago I have got progressively fitter but still cannot seem to shake some demons. I have written here before about chest tightening when running ( none at all during other activities with same heart rate) which leads me to believe that either the muscles of my chest and back are still healing and are aggravated by the motion of running ( I had robotic surgery so no chest crack) or I sub conciously get anxious when running and have this reaction. I guess the knowledge that I have had some serious surgery just lingers at the back of my mind.

Any tips, any advice re treatment ie massage, relaxation exercises.

by the way I had the chest tightening checked out TOE, ECG, EKG the whole lot and the cardiologist said it was the best repair she had seen.

Regards

Stevo,

Happy Australia day to all the other Aussies.

 

[geebee]

Happy Australia Day all.

Stevo - have you had a stress test to see if everything is working well while running? If you had, and it was okay, then I think it is merely that you are not totally back to normal. Your body has been through the most controlled trauma possible and it takes some time for it to really heal itself.

It is also not impossible that anxiety plays a part. Only time will be able to make you realize that you are not going to fall over at any time. I have always felt that the mental part of OHS was much harder than the physical. It is very hard to wrap your head around all that is done to you while you are so vulnerable. I am not entirely sure you ever get over it completely as the body and mind does remember even if it is not forefront in your daily life.

Time heals.

 

[Philip B]

Demons

Demons

The demons are hard to shake. My surgery was last March and I'm still doing the recovery & rehab thing. I suspect the mental stuff simply takes time. Like a lot of other folks I know who have been hit with circumstances that bring them face-to-face with their mortality, my attitude towards life has changed since OHS. I find myself sweating little issues a whole lot less and looking for positive angles when faced with difficult sitations. Life's way too short to get swallowed by a bunch of negative junk.

It's pretty normal to be anxious about your successful repair job. Like you, I'm not past surgery far enough to know if I'll ever exercise without wondering if everything will hold together. When I asked my cardio doc about limitations he replied something along the lines of, "Why would you go to the trouble of having this thing fixed if you can't live a normal life? Do what you want to do and stop worrying so much." Easy for him to say; he's never had his chest ripped open.

-Philip

 

[surfsparky]

G'day Fellow Aussie!

There's a few Melbournians now...we'll be able to have own own reunion soon! Yep, those demons are hard to shake. My husband Chris and a mate of his who also had the same op (another Melbournite!) both say that it has taken them 3 years to fully recover fitness wise from their surgeries. Particularly in the first year, they found themselves overly sensitive and conscious of each different heart beat, irregular pain etc. It's good though that you have had it checked out...just to rule out anything sinister. It must have been reassuring also to hear that it was the best valve repair your cardio had ever seen!

BTW, who's your surgeon and which hosptial did you go to?
Chris' surgeon was Peter Skillington and he had 'it' done at the Epworth. We live in the South East so only about a 1/2 hour trip.

Cheers,
Yolanda

 

[stevo]

Gday Fellow Melbournite,

I had my surgery done at Epworth also and the surgeon was Aubrey Almeida - great guy. I still go to my Cardio in Queensland though as I consider him to be the man. I live up near Mt Buller so lots of running on hills. The anxiety hits hard sometimes and for a while I felt robbed. However I am getting much better at putting it in perspective.

We should have a Victorian get together.

 

[aussiemember]

Hi Steve, and happy Australia Day to you and to Yolanda

I'm also a Victorian who lives half an hour from the city in the east and my surgeon is Peter Skillington.

I'd be interested in a get together too!

Jeanne

 

[Magic8Ball]

Bit of a walk for me from WA.....

I'm not anxious post surgery but not pushing hard either....i had a scare 2 months post op and haven't yet pushed hard again.

Just starting the pushing along with cookers throw down and hoping to break the seal on a good hard sweat...

Happy Australia Day...

 

[WayneGM]

Stevo, I had a mitral valve repair as well, although I had a full sternotomy. Like any major trauma to the body, there's probably going to be some lingering effects. I was in a car accident 30 years ago and got whiplash. I've had reoccuring neck and shoulder issues ever since. I think the OHS was many times more traumatic to my body (and mind) than that car accident, so I suspect I'll have some lingering effects from it. I'm almost 2 years out and I am still dealing with the demons. It does get better over time, but I'm not sure they will ever go away entirely. While physically I can pretty much do what I did before I had the heart problem, I am still very aware of my incision (which is still sensitive), don't have quite the same stamina I had, and some muscles get achy when I over do it. On the other hand, the trauma of OHS had it's positive side, too. I think it's helped me prioritize my life differently, for the better, as it was a wake up call on how fragile we are. I have more peace of mind today than I think I ever did before.

Best wishes and good luck.

 

[toughcookie]

a good book to check out

a good book to check out

I have been using and enjoying "The Emotional Wellness Way to Cardiac Health" by Nezu, Nezu and Jain. I highly recommend it.

 

[aussiemember]

Bit of a walk for me from WA.....

Very slack of you Dave - why it's only a hop, skip and a jump from Perth to Melbourne and the terrain is SO friendly - don't you know walking is good for the heart ??

 

[aussie girl]

Hi Stevo,

I had my OHS almost 6 months ago and physically feel great but I have found that I am paranoid about every ache and pain I get. When I have a headache its a brain aneurysm any chest, arm or neck pain is a heart attack. I know in my head that this is silly but it's hard to stop thinking this way. I have spoken to a few other that have had heart attacks and they have told me they felt the same.


Why not have an Aussie reunion in Adelaide and split the difference between Perth and Melbourne?

HAPPY AUSTRALIA DAY to all my fellow aussies

Mary

 

[MikeHeim]

I'm a little over 25 months post-op and I can tell you that it takes a LONG time to get your exercise confidence back. I too wondered for months and months if I would ever be able to go out for a "relaxing" run instead of constantly worrying that something was going to go wrong with my repair. There certainly isn't a light switch moment, rather the confidence comes so slowly that you don't even realize it's happening. The best thing that you can do is keep moving forward and know that everything will get better with time. Good luck!

 

[Marguerite53]

Any tips, any advice re treatment ie massage, relaxation exercises.

.

Hi Stevo. This may be crazy, but I would like to suggest acupuncture.

I have been whining about my scar being hypertrophied and painful still, after 21 months post surgery. So my husband suggested I go see his acupuncturist. I had only 2 sessions and then the holidays hit (and the expense of the holidays ) and am anxious to resume treatments in February. The idea is to awaken the scar tissue/blood vessels and "allow" the wound to heal properly. After 2 sessions (and some daily essential oil treatment), the scar is less tender, but looks the same.

BUT. More importantly and interestingly..... what happened was that my resting heart rate (which has been elevated since surgery) came down from the high 80's/low 90's to the low 70's where it is supposed to be. AND one day I realized that I felt as if I had my old self back. A clarity of mind, a sureness of movement....I don't know how to describe it except to say that I just felt like my old self again.

I'm not a deep believer in naturpathics or alternative medicines. I don't ingest herbs, or do yoga. But once in awhile, these practitioners are very very right on.

May I suggest, then, that you are possibly fighting your own energy on this....that without removing the energy blockages which years of disease and then surgery and meds have put up, you just may not get anywhere.

Well, it's a thought.... a suggestion!

What do you think??

Marguerite

 

[Cooker]

The mental aspect of recovery does not seem to be discussed near as much as the mental state in pre-op. I had a few bumps in the road which made me wonder if it was ever going to be back to, or better than before. I don?t even give my AVR a thought as far as activity goes; my age seems to be much more restricting than my surgery. I am a big golfer and I was scared to really let it rip ?no pun intended? but I got tired of my great grandmother out driving me so I just said "Censored" and let loose.

I guess the mental aspect of thing is different with the younger OHS patients. Life is for the living and I decided the hell with the apprehension on physical limitations. I would rather break something doing something I like to do, the way I like to do it than pushing myself up out of a rocking chair

 

[stevo]

Thanks everyone.
Had another little setback today - I have definitely overdone it exercise wise over the last 10 days with 3 gym sessions, 4 running sessions 2 swimming and 2 hilly mountain bike rides. I fell in a heap when running this morning - out of breath, no energy and have felt very lethargic. I forget sometimes I am nine months out of OHS. Has anybody else fallen into this trap in an attempt to be as fit as those people you used to train with prior to OHS. I had no real symptoms prior but the valve was leaking. I unrealistically thought I would be right to go straight after surgery - so frustrating. After such an episode how did you restore your energy again.

Stevo

 

[Magic8Ball]

Mate, what are you trying to prove?

I couldn't have done that list of things before surgery, never mind after.

Give it time and don't push it too much (like it looks you've been doing)

If i could run as far as one of your running sessions i'd be waiting for a certificate of acheivement.

I'm now about 14 months post op and just beginning to think about pushing things (although anything more than nothing is pushing it ).

Take care and listen to your body and not that little devil on your shoulder telling you to do to much.

Regards.

 

[MikeHeim]

I had that happen a number of times. About 10 days after surgery, I walked from my house to the post office downtown (about 1/3 mile) after a day where I had already went for a couple short walks. I got to the post office, put the letters in the box, turned around, and only made it about four steps before my legs turned to jelly. My body had clearly had enough for the day and wasn't in the mood to negotiate. I ended up having to sit down and call my wife to come and pick me up - really embarrassing.

There were a couple incidents several weeks later where I would go somewhere with my wife, feel pretty good while I was there, but just collapse collapse in the car from exhaustion when it was time to go home.

I ran a half-marathon at thirteen months post-op, and fell asleep on the shuttle bus on the way back to my car. For awhile, I didn't really think I was going to find the energy to drive home.

Things will get better, you just need to give them time.

 

[WayneGM]

It's very easy to fall into the trap, which is why so many of us warn about overdoing it. I didn't have any symptoms pre-op and had to learn to have lots of patience post-op. I felt much worse post-op than I ever did pre-op. It is frustrating for sure, but the fact is that it will take time for your body to heal as it's been through quite a trauma. Overdoing it will just set you further behind. A steady pace, with incremental increases over time, will get you to the finish line faster in the long run.....remember the tortoise and the hare.

Best wishes and good luck.

 

[surfsparky]

Steve, you'll get there...it just takes alot more time than we anticipate or would like. Chris is a surfer and it's only just now that his fitness levels in surfing are back to normal. Hang in there and don't place yourself under too much pressure to perform at your peak.

I really think we should all meet up...Chris would like to meet all the fellow Aussies too...we might not be oganise one in Adelaide just yet (we have 3 little ones at home) but those in Melb could perhaps meet at a restaurant one night? Let me know if you're interested and we'll organise dates/venue. (And who knows in the future maybe an Australian-wide one could be organised?!)

Cheers,
Yolanda

 

[Elcarim]

Hi Stevo,

I had my OHS almost 6 months ago and physically feel great but I have found that I am paranoid about every ache and pain I get. When I have a headache its a brain aneurysm any chest, arm or neck pain is a heart attack. I know in my head that this is silly but it's hard to stop thinking this way. I have spoken to a few other that have had heart attacks and they have told me they felt the same.




Mary

Aussiegirl, I am the same, not so bad these days but there was a time when if I even cut my finger it was my pacemaker's fault! And the slightest bit of lightheadedness made me fear that I would collapse and die. It took over my whole life and I was eventually treated for post traumatic stress disorder. I have been treated, but I still get anxiety attacks now and then.


Oh, and I am another Aussie, from Ballarat (only Victorians will know where that is!). So if you arrange a meeting, let me in on it too