Recovery time

[rvrkumar]

I have couple of questions on the recovery time. I am trying to understand how much time I need to take off from work, when can I start working from home and when I can go to my regular work routine.

1) I will be going with full-sternotomy. Based on your experience, How long it takes before we feel comfortable enough to work 8-10 hours/day of desk job.

2) I fly frequently for work. What is reasonable time-frame to start that routine again.

Thanks,
Kumar

 

[camgough]

Hi Kumar,

As you will hear it is different for everyone. Working 8-10 days, even at a desk will likely take you 6-8 weeks or more to have that kind of energy. Maybe start 1t 4-6 hours after a month or so to see how you feel. It won;t be the pain from your chest that will limit you after a couple weeks, it will be the lack of energy.

I don't think there is much restriction on flying, again just the energy level will be low and flying can be hard and stressful on it's own.

If I were you I would say after about 4 weeks you could start a very limited schedule of home work, and by 8 weeks might be able to start a limited schedule of flying, etc...

 

[Jkm7]

We all heal at our own rate but it isn't uncommon for people to be back at work full time in 8 weeks. We have certainly read of many who return sooner but it may depend upon what kind of disability insurance they might have etc. It is almost impossible to predict in advance.

After my first OHS, I didn't feel secure driving until about 9 weeks. My second surgery four years later, I felt safe and had permission to drive at barely 3 weeks.

The most important thing to be careful of is no heavy lifting. You say you fly and that means carryon/suitcase. No luggage lifting or pushing or pulling until your sternum heals. You cannot plan to lift a carryon into an overhead bin for a minimum six weeks or until your doctors say your sternum has healed and clear you for lifting. You also have to keep in mind the possibility of standing in lines to clear security and the amount of time added to actual flying time in order to navigate airports these days. Even the heartiest of us can tire greatly from the rigor of air travel as it exists these days. My stamina was definitely diminished for months post op.

 

[Marguerite53]

Hello and welcome to this wonderful community!

As you will continue to hear, everyone heals at their own rate. My surgeon pronounced my sternum healed at about 5 weeks (placed his open palm gently over the site and had me turn my head a full 180, shoulder to shoulder) but I still felt uncertainty (wish I hadn't reached over the kitchen sink to slide a heavy window shut..... click, click, tweak, ouch went the sternum) so I babied myself and avoided lifting or stretching out like that (as in lifting a suitcase up into the overhead bins -- wouldn't want to rush that) as long as I could. Perhaps checking your bag is an option?

For me it was the lack of resiliency. You start off on whatever small enterprise it is, then, so much sooner than you want, you run out of energy. There is no reserve. It's the darndest thing! You simply must listen to your still-healing body and take a nap! or at least stop for awhile. I don't think we really know if it's the healing body or the residual drugs (and oh, it's a very long list of drugs they give you during your surgery and hospital stay) that cause this effect. Apparently, the body does not fully cleanse itself of the drugs for almost a year (hard to believe). So I was able to devise a healing lifestyle by doing things in small spurts. That is what worked for me. Because of that, I would highly recommend that you work from home as long as possible. You may find you can work from home fairly soon! (be sure to have some checks and systems in place to monitor the accuracy of your work, though..... you will think you're thinking fine, but you will be pretty spaced out for awhile!)

Most of us think that the pain will prevent us from doing things. In fact, many of us find that we experience very little pain! But try to remember the worst bout of flu or fever that you ever had --you ached all over, not really painful, just soooooo tiring and uncomfortable. THAT's what this is like. It gets better every day, but then sometimes, out of the blue -- wham! you're back to feeling it til you stop and rest. I think it's our body's way of telling us we're not letting the healing process occur. You really have to honor the healing process. In the long run, I think it helps to kind of give in to it.

I know you asked for numbers, but I thought these descriptions might be helpful.

Best wishes.
Marguerite

 

[neil]

agree with all above, take it at your own pace,dont overdo things, it was 3 month before i was feeling anything back to normal, but then am a big baby

 

[Mentu]

Hi, Kumar, I just sent a note to another of our compatriots about recovery time so here is my experience.

My business partner and I make our living through our 2 man company and time away reduces our income. Our working day tends to be in the 8-10 hour range. I followed my surgeon's orders and stayed home until my follow up appointment with him at 4 1/2 weeks after the AVR. He then told me I could start driving in town and said I could consider returning to work part time after 5 weeks for a couple of weeks. We all heal differently and your progress may well be different from my own but this might give you some idea of what kind of minimum time you may expect to be away.

It was quite fine to be able to drive again. My friends were really great at picking me up when I needed to go somewhere but we are people of our time and place and driving can be important to our sense of independence. Also, I did work part time for two weeks. During the first week, half a day at the office was exhausting. I started my Cardiac Rehab at 6 weeks and I returned to work full time after 7 weeks.

Cardiac Rehab required about two hours from the time I left work, drove to Rehab and completed the session. I was able to schedule it so that it was always at the end of the day (Mon, Wed, Fri). For me it was worth the time and when I finished the 12 weeks of Rehab I was four and a half months past the AVR and able to do everything including riding my bicycle again. (My doctor had asked me to stay off the bike until the sternum had healed.)

You are a different person so you may follow a somewhat different schedule but your expectations need to be realistic. Only you and your surgeon can decide what is needed for your best recovery. Why bother with all of this if you are not going to commit yourself to the "Best Recovery". As you plan try to keep in mind that the early period of recovery - that first four months - will effect your life for years to come. My family doctor told me "recover best by only recovering once". It worked for me.

Larry

 

[piglet]

"recover best by only recovering once" Excellent advice!! I'm going to remember that one.

 

[Julian]

I'm sure we all know its tough not to be as independent as we liked to be the first months following the surgery. I wanted to get off the table and start running but this isn't the way it works. One thing is true is that the vast majority of people start to feel pretty darn good somewhere between week 4 and week 24. I know thats a broad brush but to feel well enough to work a full time job after only a month to 6 months after a huge surgery is pretty miraculous.

I personally have to get over the fact that everyday in recovery is not going to be roses. I need to learn how to do the time in recovery and not let the time do me. I kinda frown when people jokingly say its like a long vacation. This is not what I would have in mind, but we can complain the whole way or we can grow the whole way. Get busy living or get busy dying. We all chose to get busy living, let's do this man!

 

[rvrkumar]

Thanks for all your replies. My takeaway - A minimum of 4 weeks time off is a must. Can plan on working part time (4-6 hours) after 4 weeks, evaluating the progress each week. 12 weeks seems to be a reasonable expectation to get back to pre-surgery work routine (as long as no other complications show up and work doesn't involve strenuous activity).

 

[enkaynj]

Kumar,
Check this link out. http://www.sts.org/documents/pdf/whattoexpect.pdf
It is also a permanent sticky in the post-surgery forum about 3rd or 4th from the top.
Good luck.It gives you guidelines for recovery and what you can or can not do. You should check with your surgeon to be sure for your particular case.

 

[catwoman]

All recovery is individual. Pre-op condition greatly affects your recovery, and sometimes those speed bumps you encounter the first few weeks post-op will also affect how well and quickly you recover.

I went on short-term disability about 2-3 weeks pre-op. My surgery was 6/24/2003 and I went back to work on Aug. 11, 2003, but only at half-time. I had planned to go back and just work however many hours each day I felt like it until I built back up to 40 hours and let my STD insurance cover the hours each day I wasn't at work. However, I wasn't allowed to do this; the STD insurance carrier had to be notified ahead of the end of payroll periods how many hours I was going to work the next week or two weeks. So ... I settled for working 20 hours a week for 4 weeks. Then I went back full-time on Sept. 9.
I really did need the extra rest during those first 4 weeks back at work -- I still needed a nap in the afternoon! And when I went back full-time, it took me several days to settle into being deprived of a daily nap.

As far as flying:
I had a short flight (from Dallas-Fort Worth to Tulsa, OK) on Aug. 8. Checked the bag I normally carry-on and hand-carried a show cat. Getting my luggage off the carousel took a little doing. I stayed with a friend, who had 2-story house; her husband carried my luggage upstairs. I slept on the drive from Tulsa to Joplin MO the next morning and that evening after the cat show.
I flew again 3 weeks later, from Dallas-Fort Worth to Kansas City MO. My flight was to have left @ 7PMish, but we had flight delays of about 3 hours, I think, due to weather so I didn't arrive in KC until 11:30 - midnight. It was 1 AM when I arrived at my hotel. I felt pretty beat by then, because I had to be somewhere by 8 AM, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

I had problems with having consistent levels of energy for 7-8 months, and I travel a lot on weekends, sometimes driving, sometimes flying. I learned that I needed more sleep on Wednesday & Thursday nights to build a reserve against any schedule snafus on Fridays. I also needed to go to bed early on Saturday nights when out of town -- get an early dinner with only one or two other friends instead of going with a large group of friends and turn in early.

 

[drivetopless]

Hi, Kumar-
I thought I would be one to get back to work full time at 8 weeks because I am relatively young at 47. However, I had a complication with afib and that made my recovery slow WAY down. I was out 12 weeks. I fly a lot, too. I did the best I could to minimize trips the first month back at work.

Plan for 8 weeks but have a plan B in case you need more time. If you need more time, take it.

Now I am 7 months from surgery and flying/hauling luggage with no problems. I don't even think about the sternum any more.

My energy level has been good, but like Marsha not as consistent yet. Some days I feel more tired than others. Extra sleep cures that.

Good luck with your surgery.

 

[rvrkumar]

An update: Returned to work (part time) 3 weeks post op. My job involves mostly desk work, so doc is open to clear me early return to work.

 

[enkaynj]

Hey Kumar,
Glad to hear everything went well and you are already back at work. That is great. Take care.