Post-Op update, 24 days...

[Pat in NH]

Hi all,

Just thought I'd let everyone know how I've made out so far. A little recap for those who don't know me, I was diagnosed with BAV at an early age and was told it probably wouldn't need attention until my 50's, if at all. Well here I am at 42 on the other side of AVR surgery due to severe stenosis.

I chose to be fitted with an On-X mechanical valve at Brigham and Women's Hospital Boston with a full sternotomy. My surgeon is the Chief Cardiac Surgeon, Dr. Ralph Bolman. My surgery was done successfully on May, 20 2010.

As of today I've not had my post-op follow up appointment, so I'm not sure if I will be going to a cardiac rehab program. I'm thinking it would be a good idea though, and I will ask about it.

I'm feeling great day to day, with little pain from my sternum itself. I do have many muscle spasms in the chest area, I think from surgery trauma and from compensating posture. I'm also having pain in my arms from my shoulders to my elbows on both sides that only Ibuprofen will help. I tried stopping the IB for a few days and the pain got so severe that I could not sleep and could barely move around comfortably. After many questions from the Drs office, the answer is keep taking the IB and that at least works.

When the pain in my arms is under control I'm able to walk about a mile per day, broken into a few shorter walks. I try to take at least one nap a day, as I've found the more I sleep the better I feel. I putter around the house tending the outside potted plants that I planted before surgery and watching the hummingbirds on the three feeders I've hung in my yard. That's about as busy as I care to be right now, lol.

I'm on lots of pills now. Coumadin, Metoprolol, Iron supplements, Lisinopril, Colace etc. I'm sure I won't be on them all for too much longer (besides the Coumadin of course)

So I seem to be coming along nicely at this point and I've noticed that a week makes a huge difference.

Any advice would surely be appreciated and welcomed

Thanks,
Pat

 

[Mentu]

Hi, Pat, I'm glad to see you back and that your AVR went well. I have to agree, no one told me about all the little aches that I was going to discover but it is not a bad trade. I was feeling way worse before the AVR. At three week, however, you are just beginning your recovery so go easy on yourself and try to walk as much as possible. I appreciate you posting your recovery note. Even if you are not ready to run marathons this week, the diversity of experience is good for new members to read. By the way, don't let Cardiac Rehab slip away. You may think it cannot help but it will give you a much better start than what most people will do at home. Recovery isn't just a matter of a few weeks but will take months. Take care of yourself.

Larry

 

[nngbwh]

Pat,

Really great to hear you are doing fine. Remember you are still in recovery mode don't be superman.

First few months are the critical months to recovery. So take it easy. Kick back and relax.

PS: You need to call Dr.Bolman office to schedule a post-op follow up appointment.

 

[ARGreenMN]

Welcome to this side Pat! Yea, I was surprised how many pills I've been on too (I posted a pic somewhere on here of all my bottles one day when I was bored, lol). But I'm down to 4 bottles now, and about to get rid of one of those 4 this Thurs. That feeling your describing of getting better every day, and week to week is still happening for me (I'm 15 days ahead of you - my surgery was 5/5). I find myself completely forgetting I had surgery now for longer and longer periods each day.

Best advice I think (since it sounds like you haven't started it yet) is to get into a cardio rehab program if you can, or if you can't, just do the same work on your own. I feel awsome after those sessions. Let me know if you want details of what cardio rehab is all about. But try to get into an official program if you can because they hook you up to some machines and watch things closely as you're exercising, which gives you peace of mind, and makes sure you're not overdoing things.

 

[ARGreenMN]

PS - you look great in the pic, and you got the same pillow I did! Ross is jealous, but he got cookies and I didn't. Did you get cookies AND a pillow???

 

[Guest]

Welcome to the other side Pat. Talk to your surgeon and cardiologist about the muscle pains, maybe a stronger narcotic painkiller for a short period will help. I had a lot of shooting pains in my chest post op from the nerves being cut. The surgeon's assistant said that the rib spreader does a number on us. Try using a heating pad on your shoulders to relax the muscles.

Is your INR in range? We're not supposed to take ibuprofen or advil or aleve for long periods of time if we take coumadin. Are you taking baby aspirin, 80mg? If so you are really loading up on anti inflammatories that may cause trouble, be careful, you have a brand new valve and new lease on life so we want you to have a full recovery with few speed bumps.

Good luck with Cardiac Rehab, the peace of mind with someone monitoring you while exercising is worth it.

 

[buncle]

Pat glad your doing good.Aches and pains are part of the deal for a while.They will go away. I also got the same pillow.But, the cookie tin was empty when it got passed to me!

 

[malibu82]

love your pillow picture! i got one too but my little daughter stole it from me the minute she saw it!

the pain i had in my arms from shoulders to elbows was unbearable. worse then the sternum area while i was in the hospital. it went away gradually, but now i have this pain in my left back shoulder/neck area! what the heck?? oh well.

glad to hear you are doing well, and best wishes on a great recovery!

take care

 

[Pat in NH]

Hi, Pat, I'm glad to see you back and that your AVR went well. I have to agree, no one told me about all the little aches that I was going to discover but it is not a bad trade. I was feeling way worse before the AVR. At three week, however, you are just beginning your recovery so go easy on yourself and try to walk as much as possible. I appreciate you posting your recovery note. Even if you are not ready to run marathons this week, the diversity of experience is good for new members to read. By the way, don't let Cardiac Rehab slip away. You may think it cannot help but it will give you a much better start than what most people will do at home. Recovery isn't just a matter of a few weeks but will take months. Take care of yourself.

Larry

Wow, so many great posts! I think I'll respond to each separately.

Hi Larry,
Yes, the trade is a no-brainer, ha ha! I'm taking it slow, my wife won't let me do otherwise. I have my follow up appointment with the surgeon on Wed 6/16, immediately followed by a visit to my new cardiologist at BWH, Dr. Kirshenbaum. I'm sure he will recommend rehab for me and I will ask if I can attend at my local hospital in Exeter NH instead of making the trek into Boston.

Thanks for you post and advice, it's greatly appreciated!

-Pat

 

[Pat in NH]

Pat,

Really great to hear you are doing fine. Remember you are still in recovery mode don't be superman.

First few months are the critical months to recovery. So take it easy. Kick back and relax.

PS: You need to call Dr.Bolman office to schedule a post-op follow up appointment.

Hi nngbwh,

Nope, no Superman here, lol. More like Super-slow-man! Yes, I'm basically on vacation at this point, although I have worked on my computer for a few hours each day over the last several days. Just trying to catch up on the easy stuff, and line up some work for when I'm back to normal. I'm a machinist with my own small shop and my customers are very understanding, but impatient regardless.

Thanks for the reminder, I see Bolman and my new cardio Dr Kirshenbaum on Wed. Looking forward to having soup and a sandwhich at Au Bon Pain in the lobby!

Thanks for your post and advice, I really appreciate it!
-Pat

 

[Pat in NH]

Welcome to this side Pat! Yea, I was surprised how many pills I've been on too (I posted a pic somewhere on here of all my bottles one day when I was bored, lol). But I'm down to 4 bottles now, and about to get rid of one of those 4 this Thurs. That feeling your describing of getting better every day, and week to week is still happening for me (I'm 15 days ahead of you - my surgery was 5/5). I find myself completely forgetting I had surgery now for longer and longer periods each day.

Best advice I think (since it sounds like you haven't started it yet) is to get into a cardio rehab program if you can, or if you can't, just do the same work on your own. I feel awsome after those sessions. Let me know if you want details of what cardio rehab is all about. But try to get into an official program if you can because they hook you up to some machines and watch things closely as you're exercising, which gives you peace of mind, and makes sure you're not overdoing things.

Thanks for the welcome! Yeah It's sure is a relief to be on this side of surgery. I can't believe the amount of energy I wasted worrying about this. Not that it's been easy, but it was much much worse in my minds eye.

I'm also looking forward to reducing my "pillage". I'm interested to see if some of the funky things I'm feeling now and then are side effects of certain drugs. The arm/body aches being one and a pounding heart beat being the other that concerns me.

Well it sounds like you guys are all for cardio rehab, so I guess I'm in! I'm still hoping I can go locally though.

Thanks for your post and advice! Can't thank you enough
-Pat

PS, Thanks for the compliment! Just the pillow, no cookies!

 

[Pat in NH]

Welcome to the other side Pat. Talk to your surgeon and cardiologist about the muscle pains, maybe a stronger narcotic painkiller for a short period will help. I had a lot of shooting pains in my chest post op from the nerves being cut. The surgeon's assistant said that the rib spreader does a number on us. Try using a heating pad on your shoulders to relax the muscles.

Is your INR in range? We're not supposed to take ibuprofen or advil or aleve for long periods of time if we take coumadin. Are you taking baby aspirin, 80mg? If so you are really loading up on anti inflammatories that may cause trouble, be careful, you have a brand new valve and new lease on life so we want you to have a full recovery with few speed bumps.

Good luck with Cardiac Rehab, the peace of mind with someone monitoring you while exercising is worth it.

I have talked with the surgeon about my arm/body pains. They recommended Motrin until it resolves. So I make sure I take it with a meal. It's the only thing that works that I've tried. The Oxycodone I've been taking won't help even at high doses. I've not tried a heating pad though surprisingly, I will give it a try.

My INR range is 1.5-2.5, my Dr has been keeping it at around 1.8 or so. I'm not taking aspirin at the moment, but my Drs are aware of my taking the IB and said we can re-adjust when I stop taking it. Yes, believe me, I don't do anything unless my Drs know about it!

Thanks for the welcome and advice, it's greatly appreciated!
-Pat

 

[Pat in NH]

Pat glad your doing good.Aches and pains are part of the deal for a while.They will go away. I also got the same pillow.But, the cookie tin was empty when it got passed to me!

Hi buncle,

Yes, I'll make do with the aches and pains for now, but unfortunately for my wife I like to complain, ha ha!

Everyone has signed my pillow, like a cast. Kinda cool. I never got cookies

Thanks for your post!
-Pat

 

[Pat in NH]

love your pillow picture! i got one too but my little daughter stole it from me the minute she saw it!

the pain i had in my arms from shoulders to elbows was unbearable. worse then the sternum area while i was in the hospital. it went away gradually, but now i have this pain in my left back shoulder/neck area! what the heck?? oh well.

glad to hear you are doing well, and best wishes on a great recovery!

take care

Thanks! I like your picture too (your hot!) Yes, my boys (8 and 5) play with it constantly, in fact when I need it I usually can't find it, lol.

Although I'm sorry to hear your having the arm pains too, it's nice to hear someone else has the same problem. And yes, at times it has been worse than the sternum pain, much worse in fact. I also have been getting stray pains in other parts of my upper body.

I think most of these are caused from compensating my posture to be able to walk or sit comfortably. I've been going to my massage therapist and it has been working wonders, not to mention stress relieving.

Thanks for your well wishes and post! It's so appreciated
-Pat

 

[ARGreenMN]

Penny, Angel, TauntT and everyone else in the waiting room - read Pat's description above. Yet another person saying the same thing - he can't believe how much energy he spent worrying about it beforehand - it was much worse in his mind's eye than it ended up being. And yep Pat, get in that rehab program if you can - works wonders!

 

[Luckyguy17]

Pat,

Hi and thank for posting on your current status.

To echo many others and for the group about to have OHS, the fear of OHS anticipation was far worse for me as well and therefore the post op, is far less bad than i anticipated....and am 3 days ahead of you pat, as i had a Monday surgery vs. your thursday OHS....so am this morning 4th Monday since OHS, sort of an anniversary for me in my mind, as they are tearing into my chest at this time, 4 Monday's ago.

Good on you and welcome to the other side and you are right that every day/week is better, as you are working to your full recovery, i can see my total recovery coming quite soon.

You are doing well in restraining yourself to allow the healing which should do away with the aches and pains, it just takes time and a little more activity each day.

That being said it is important to do the pain meds, if you need them, to allow you to walk as much as you can, it has been the solo exercise in my recovery, as rehab is not an option available anywhere closeby to me and am envious of those of you that do have this option.....oh and Ia mowed a couple of acres on tractor and lawnmower a week ago, about 5 hours of relatively high exercise as a test, where i regularly took BP checks, but all was well through about 5 hours of good activity and sweat...so now I know.

As Andy has stated, there is much reassurance to be had to do physical activities, while being monitored and encouraged by the physio therepists...although I was angry with y young therapist, while at hospital, I am now thankful on her insistance on using the spyro, walking the corridors, stairs etc...so although she was a true bitc_ in my eye at the time, hell she was pushing and I had just had OHS, arghhh, she the therapist is now an angel for getting me going and getting me out of hospital and to some normalcy ASAP.

Have found that since leaving hospital, I have been somewhat having to state my "adult status", in making decisions on activities, that i can do, while my support structure has been trying to hold me back. Am currently at the recovery stage of some tightness in upper chest, some slight dizziness, if i get up too fast from a crouch and that's about it, other than restraining myself from lifting anything too heavy, although that may well no longer be a problem for me any longer either...likely the Kryptonite glue on sternum, has solified things way faster than a normal sternum closure.

Am officially designating myself as fit for driving and did an outing with spouse yesterday to check me out...she certified me as well...(grin)

Only remaining meds are a 5 mg Coumadin, which has my INR in 2.5 to 2.8 range (perfect for surgeon) and I eat like before operation with lots of greens and vit K, 2 x 25 mg Metropolol daily, that's it...have not required pain meds for 2 weeks now, no temparature and my BP readings are very good with systolic rising a little lately to 115-120, from 90-100 in 1st days and dialostic about 80.....my pulse is up to 80-85 at rest since OHS, where my norm pre op was 70....may be a result of the restart?, but all seems A-Ok.

I meet cardiologist for 1st time on thursday next and still waiting for a call for 1st meet post op with surgeon. As of today am solo, for the 1st day since returning home and the support has been great and I will miss the company, but also am good to regain independance. Am finally sleeping my nights and need more like 8 hours that my pre op norm of 6.5 to 7, but that is ok too, as have not had a need for naps in daytime, other that 1st few days at home.

Every surgery is different, every patient is different, mine was not minor surgery, with replacement of BAV and fixing and ring on Mitral valve....yet I seem to be having a very fast and bump free recovery, maybe I am lucky at 56...or maybe the Kryptonite glue has helped me....so for those with upcoming OHS, you may want to ask your surgeon, if he has heard of the process of gluing sternum and whether he would be willing to try it out with you.

Am personally happy that my surgeon was willing to make me the 1st test case on Kryptonite in our hospital and looking forward to his impression on use and results, I feel good and maybe it helped.

Funny story on Kryptonite, when my spouse and sister visited me in ICU 1st evening, there was a saw and special blade just above me, with a sign that said something like "if this saw is required, please return ASAP, as this patient will need it if return required"...(smile) ...wish i had a picture and am thankful that no return was required...(bigger smile).

Oooppsss, just realized that this has been a long winded post, have been taking courses from my mentor and coach Andy (Grin) and am in debt to the forum and my other coaches, Ross, Mentu, Bina, Andy and the many others that have helped me with a crash course on managing the OHS process, the medical professionals can help tremendously but the experience of the living members is also instrumental and the AVR group has been big time instrumental in helping me through the process.

 

[swim mom]

For reassurance my surgery was on May 19th and most of my pains are tolerable now except the pain in my left shoulder, upper arm and neck. It is nice to know other people have the same pain. I agree Tylenol with codeine does not work well, my doctor suggested motrin because it works better on muscle pain.