slow recovery

H.E.pumper · Jun 18, 2012

escargome said:
Tom,
Yes you did have to give up your summer sand volleyball, your hiking club trip, etc. But....you are still here on the flower side of the daisies. I know, to you 6 weeks is a lifetime before cardiac rehab, but your body doesn't think so. Give you muscles (particularly heart) time to get over being hit by that darn train...
While patience is not a virtue for some of us old people (me included) just go slow, yes you can't play volleyball, but you can walk around the block an extra few times. Can you go to a pool and just walk back and forth through the water and do laps that way it keeps your legs in shape. Hang in there...

:thumbup:

Thanks for the advice, this is really a mental challenge.

Tom

epstns · Jun 19, 2012

Yes, Tom, for valvers, life is full of challenges. You took up the challenge when you chose to live, as you must know that had you chosen not to have surgery your life would have been shortened significantly. Look at it this way -- you are giving up some fun this season in return for having more seasons to enjoy life once recovery is farther along.

And, a side note - I was not cleared for cardiac rehab for 12 weeks after surgery. Too many complications. Started out barely able to walk a 15:00 mile. 12 weeks later I was back to jogging 11:30 miles. Other than some knee pain, I haven't looked back. Life is good - and it will likely stay good for longer now that my valve has been replaced.

Jkm7 · Jun 30, 2012

H.E.pumper said:
I'm starting to resign myself to a long period of pathetic inactivity (relatively speaking). I called the Cleveland Clinic post-surgery help nurse asking about cardiac therapy and she was sorry to tell me that I won't be approved for therapy for 6 WEEKS after surgery. For this OHS I gave up my summer sand volleyball league, my yearly trip in July with my hiking club to Colorado to hike up 14,000' mountain peaks and a volleyball cruise to Bermuda in August...oh well, thanks for the information and encouragement, it is greatly appreciated.

Tom

Yes, you gave up a lot for this surgery but......

this surgery gave you your life.

Good trade off.

IMO

H.E.pumper · Jun 30, 2012

Jkm7 said:
Yes, you gave up a lot for this surgery but......

this surgery gave you your life.

Good trade off. IMO

:thumbup:

I gotta keep telling myself that cause it's true dammit!

Tom

SheldonGrunwald · Jul 14, 2012

It's been about five weeks since this post and I'm doing a lot better. thank you all for your comments and support. I did a mock triathlon today and I was feeling pretty good. I even did more running than walking. If you want to look at the details you can check them out here: swim http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199200995, Bike http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199201005
run http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199201008

H.E.pumper · Jul 14, 2012

SheldonGrunwald said:
It's been about five weeks since this post and I'm doing a lot better. thank you all for your comments and support. I did a mock triathlon today and I was feeling pretty good. I even did more running than walking. If you want to look at the details you can check them out here: swim http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199200995, Bike http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199201005
run http://connect.garmin.com/activity/199201008

That Garmin 305 is pretty slick, and you are definitely doing well. Eventually you will have real fun when you start conquering hills then mountains.

I use an old Garmin 60CS hiking gps to track our crazy-hilly, off-trail hikes in our local national park but it doesn't track heart rate. I bought a Polar hrm and tracked my heart rate on bike rides and hikes so I'm anxious to compare numbers with my new heart.

Tom