post surgery update

[fit4life]

Hi Chris,

I am so glad to hear that it looks like you have turned the corner and on the road to a great recovery. I am a fellow engineer and had my AVR surgery for a bi-cuspid aortic valve on Monday, 3-25-13. Like you, I was blessed to have God working through the hands of my extremely talented surgeon, Dr. Robert Riley. I was very fortunate to be able to have my heavily calcified and stenotic native valve replaced with an On-X 27/29 mm valve through a minimally invasive procedure known as a right anterior thoracotomy. I walked from ICU to the cardiac telemetry unit under my own power. I progressed well and was able to be discharge yesterday, 3-28-13. I had great care in the hospital, but it was absolutely elated to get home last night. In the quiet for my home, I can hear my new On-X valve quietly clicking away.

Take care, get as much rest as you need, and walk,
Rob

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

Thanks Rob. Wow you are home already! :thumbup:That is awesome. How are you doing with walking and sleeping? I have my follow-up with my cardio on Tuesday. Today was my second full day at home. I am 11 days post-op. Before surgery I was walking 2 miles a day at the gym in 32 minutes. Today I took two 4/10 of a mile walks. These took me 25 minutes each. Starting next week I will do 3 walks per day...adding a walk with each passing week. My bed is too high and hard to get in and out of. So for now it's the family room couch. Feeling blessed!:angel: I am convinced that my cardiac pre-hab plan contributed heavily to the success of my surgery and now with my recovery.

 

[fit4life]

Hi Chris,

Because my surgery trauma was less than yours ( I did not have a full median sternotomy), I am walking just about like you; I walked just under a mile yesterday. However, walking outside in Phoenix at this time of year subjects one to a lot of pollen, and I unfortunately suffer from allergies. This results in a lot of sinus drainage and at night, when I sleep (or try to sleep), all that settles into my lungs. So, I have been doing a lot of coughing. My sleep is so-so. I feel my pulse strongly in my upper chest and neck and I'm not used to the sound of my valve yet ( do you hear yours?). I am also sleeping in the family room recliner for now. Take care and hope your recovery continues smoothly.

Rob

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

Hi Rob: Saturday was only my third full-day home post-surgery. One of my nagging post-surgery problems was an amazingly horrific stiff neck. I was in the operating room for 9 hours. This was the main reason for my sketchy sleeping consistency. This also contributed heavily to my inability to comfortably get in or out of bed. We finally got some Tylenol. WOW! what a difference. My neck now no longer bothers me! So, surprisingly way ahead of schedule I am now sleeping in bed and not on the family room couch. Most of my recovery has been way ahead of schedule with the exception of my non-heart related post-surgery complications which delayed my discharge from HUP by 5 days. Saturday I did 3 (25 minute) walks. I also did our weekly shopping tour of Costco. Sorry to hear of your allergies. That sucks! I treated my BAV and anueryism like an engineering project at work. What else would I do? I only became fully aware of the sound of my ON-X Aortic Valve once I got home. I guess the noise in what Penn calls the "step-down wing" precluded me from having any aural focus on my valve's operating noise. My awareness varies. Obviously, late night in a quiet room is my time of highest awareness. Daytime it is pretty much acoustically invisible. However, and I find this strange and funny. I am most aware of it when sitting on the toilet. I think it sounds like a horse trotting around a track....Call me SEABISCUIT! Looks like you got the largest On-X Valve. I got the second largest. I am 6' 0" tall and I am back to my usual weight of 184 pounds. I lost 9 pounds while in the hospital. Feeling blessed!:angel: Best wishes for a smooth recovery!

 

[fit4life]

Hi Chris,
Engineers tend to think alike. I also treated my AVR procedure the way I would approach an engineering design problem. I read and researched medical publications and anything I could get from the Internet. My surgeon actually commented that engineers are at a disadvantage because they read and study too much, and then think they are qualified to give him advice! I was fortunate that Dr. Riley listened to me and was actually negotiable an a few small items. I took a nice long walk this Easter morning, just as the sun was coming up. It was beautiful! I plan to step it up a notch this coming week, listening closely to my body. My ascending aorta had some dialation, but not enough to require repair. However, my heart had become very enlarged as I have always led an active lifestyle (I slowly jogged through 4.8 miles the day before my surgery). Consequently, I think the On-X 27/29 was required to correctly fit into my aortic annulus. I am 5'11" and tip the scales at 151 lbs. Do you know if your On-X valve was the type with the "anatomical sewing ring that just received FDA approval on Feb 26, 2013? I'm fairly certain mine had the anatomical sewing ring. The customer care RNs at On-X were absolutely amazing to work with me. I have a very high regard for all the people I interfaced with at On-X. A clinical representative from On-X was present in the OR during my surgery. I hope to keep hearing that you are ahead of schedule - that's fantastic. Hope you had a wonderful Easter.
Rob

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

Rob: I can not tell from my hospital paperwork whether or not my valve has the new anatomical sewing ring. My guess would be highly likely. I am sure that my surgeon would want to start using it. I will ask at the follow-up with Dr. Bavaria on April 30th. Yes, I had a nice Easter. How could it not be? As the pastor of my church said this morning.....I'm paraphasing...something to the affect...that I too " had been resurrected today."

 

[T in YVR]

I am convinced that my cardiac pre-hab plan contributed heavily to the success of my surgery and now with my recovery.

HoTS - glad to hear you are doing so well!

I'm a big believer in your quote above...I expect the surgeon to be at his best when I eventually get my AVR, so the least I can do is be at my best - both mentally and physically. Besides it keeps me feeling productive while waiting for the big day. I told my wife I am in training for my own personal Olympic event

Hope you continue to feel so well,
Tony

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

You nailed it Tony! I treated my situation as an engineering problem. This is how I decided on the ON-X Valve. Then simple common sense kicked-in! The healthier I am going into surgery the more likely I'll have a smooth successful outcome! I joined the gym. I walked two miles almost everyday in 32 minutes. I experienced no fatigue from this. I lost 12 pounds. Post-surgery I went from my pre-surgery weight of 184 to post-surgery weight of 175. I am already up to 1.2 miles per day and I am back to 184. So, much of this process is mental. Fear is normal as is denial. Unfortunately they get you nowhere.:thumbd: It is real simple. If you have a bicuspid aortic valve you need to get it replaced. Avoiding this fact and surgery is more dangerous than having the surgery!!!

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

So my post surgery follow-up appointment with my cardio went well yesterday. Also stopped by work and most of my co-workers said I looked terrific and were impressed by my progress and incredibly surprised to see me! My cardio and I are working on getting me consistently in my desired INR range 2.0 to 3.0. I am educating myself on what foods in-house I need to avoid and learning what to look for on food labels so I do not purchase and consume foods that will negatively impact my desired INR range. Cardio says just keep on doing what I am doing. Next appt. with him is on July 9th. I will get an echo done just before this to review at this appt. I am walking at least 3 (4/10 of a mile- in 20 minutes) walks everyday sometimes 4. I am being very conscious to breath deeply while walking. This seems to help dissipate some of the lingering chest congestion. This has gotten much better since Easter Sunday.:thumbup:

 

[pellicle]

Excellent news

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

Day 18 post-op. I am now up to (4) .5 mile walks per day. They take me 20 minutes. However, the last one I did in 15 minutes and my post walk specs were 115/78 pulse 98. Nice to see my pulse lower than 100 especially after a walk. Just heard from my cardiologist the latest number has me inside the desired INR range of 2.0 to 3.0. I am at 2.2.

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

My recovery continues smoothly. I am walking at a faster pace now. My (4) twenty-five minute walks per day are now taking considerably less time to cover the total of 2 miles. Slept real well last night with no chemical assistance- at least 7 hours. Follow-up with family doctor tommorrow morning. Feels great to be fixed and recovering smoothly and ahead of schedule. Today is my 3 week anniversary! :angel: :thumbup:

 

[pellicle]

good one, glad to see good progress

 

[ski girl]

Happy anniversary!! You're smashing it. Do you look back at some of your original posts when you were in freak-out mode and just wonder 'what was I so worried about'?

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

ski girl- Yes I have reviewed some of my original posts during my freak-out mode. I contribute some of it to career conditioning. For over 20 years I worked in the 7/24 world of live broadcasting as a broadcast systems engineer. Many years of planning and designing for failure. Pre-determining possible catastrophe failures and already knowing smooth opetational work-arounds for serious problems. I am enjoying the more placid world of Standardized Patients and Medical Simulation. I work as a system design engineer for a software company. I now work M-F, 8 to 5. holidays, nights and weekends off. No Beepers or company cell-phones! Karen also has a similar schedule and now works from home. This was after many years as a ER Nurse with all that stress and crazy schedules. Needless to say it is nice to be able say..."you mean a holiday is coming up and neither one of us has to work?":thumbup:

 

[pellicle]

Hi

ski girl- Yes I have reviewed some of my original posts during my freak-out mode. I contribute some of it to career conditioning. For over 20 years I worked in the 7/24 world of live broadcasting as a broadcast systems engineer.

I understand, I used to work in the world of trading. However its important to see things as they are. People discuss "life returning to normal" after a situation like this.

I can only say that such is wasted opportunity. Seldom are we given such excellent examples of the truth of such wisdoms as:

* life is too short for that sort of stuff
* you can't take it with you when you go
* money can't buy me love
* your body is a temple

to ever consider returning to 'pre wake up call' life as it was

live every moment of every day, never fail to tell those you love that you love them, there are no good trade-offs

my wife and I lived every day, some of my friends thought I wasted a good career. I am so glad of that I did.

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

My follow-up this morning with my family doctor confirmed what I already knew. Keep doing what I am doing. My recovery is right on target...maybe a little bit ahead of schedule. Lungs are clear, no significant pain, my heart sounds strong with its new ON-X valve. Feels great to be well on my way to a full recovery.:thumbup:

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

Keep getting stronger everyday. Raining earlier today. So, I did my walks all after lunch. Did my first walk of 1 mile. I did it in 22 minutes. Pre-surgery this was 16 minutes.I feel my lungs are finally fully inflating. No more pain when breathing deeply. Not bad for day 25 post-op!:thumbup:

 

[Heart Of The Sunrise]

This week I began walking 4 miles per day. I am sleeping well. I lost 9 pounds after surgery. I have only gotten back to my pre-surgery weight once or twice. This morning I was still 3 pounds below my pre-surgery weight. My appetite is great in fact I eat constantly. Anybody else have trouble putting weight on post-surgery? I guess it is a good problem to have?

 

[epstns]

Trouble putting weight on? Who are you kidding?

Truthfully, immediately following surgery I had some complications. I had some fluid retention that confused any analysis of my weight. Eventually the lasix took care of that. Then I had such severe digestive dysfunction from the anesthesia and pain meds that I was afraid to eat. Finally about a month and a half out, we got it all settled down. At that time I may have been a couple of pounds shy of my pre-op weight, but I pretty much just ended up back where I started. Over the past 2 years we have adjusted my meds (beta blockers) and I have been able to drop 3 or 4 pounds, but not much of a change. I still want to lost about 10 pounds, but it is a battle.