Echo today revealed pericardial effusion is all but gone. The other news is I have dizziness, losing weight still after 5 weeks and my blood pressure is 80/40. No blood pressure meds or diuretics. On antibiotics since yesterday for sinusitis, uri or bronchitis I developed.
Some good news and some other
- Thread starter canon4me
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SuzanneSLO
Well-known member
I have been thnking about you so I really appreciate the update. Sorry to hear that as soon as one thing seems to be resolved, another pops up. Take care. -- Suzanne
Agian
Well-known member
The dizziness may be due to your low BP. What do they think is causing it? Are you dehydrated?
ski girl
Well-known member
Canon4me: EAT. Treat nutrition just like you do a walking schedule - make a schedule, make a meal plan, stick to it. Even if you're not hungry. You need the calories, not to mention minerals such as calcium, to rebuild your sternum.
Ski girl, everything you mentioned is giving me difficulty. I'm on a medication for the pericardial effusion (Dr. Chose to leave me on it for another three weeks) that is making me nauseas and nothing taste good. I never eat fast food but lately I have turned to that just to get calories in me. I now have a chest cold for which I'm taking antibiotics and coughing really hurts. I need to clear my lungs of mucous so I take the pain hit and work through the pain of coughing. My sternum seems REALLY slow to heal. I am constantly cold. I sit on my deck in 85 degree heat with a fleece jacket on. That might be due to me losing all the weight and yet I have night sweats and day sweats each day. If I turn or bend a certain way I have a pain I can't describe other than like the pain people describe when they are having a massive heart attack even though I'm convinced it is musculoskeletal in origin. My back pain after back surgery pales in comparison. Ok enough of me whining other than to say it has been one heck of a slow process as compared to others. Hopefully my luck will change soon. Thanks to all of you for being supportive.
ski girl
Well-known member
Geez you're a bit in the wars! Are you able to do your walking?
Agian
Well-known member
Thinking of you buddy.
Gail in Ca
Well-known member
I'm so sorry. At 5 weeks you should be feeling so much better, like asking the doc if you can drive because you feel like you can better!
I understand the weight loss from nausea. At this point, it's good for you if it has lots of calories, like butter, whole milk, ensure. If you want it, eat it.
The blood pressure seems low. Have you called your surgeon? I'm a bit worried for you and hope you get a turn around very soon.
Have they given you anti-nausea meds? I know sometimes they don't work. Can you take rx cough syrup?
Trust your instincts. If you feel like something's wrong, act upon it.
I understand the weight loss from nausea. At this point, it's good for you if it has lots of calories, like butter, whole milk, ensure. If you want it, eat it.
The blood pressure seems low. Have you called your surgeon? I'm a bit worried for you and hope you get a turn around very soon.
Have they given you anti-nausea meds? I know sometimes they don't work. Can you take rx cough syrup?
Trust your instincts. If you feel like something's wrong, act upon it.
I've had appetite problems due to emergency susrgery and subsequent readmission to the hospital due to complications.
Hospital food was the pits. A neighbor brought over a meal -- smoked chicken, corn on the cob, cornbread and cantaloupe, strawberries & blueberries. It was great.
I've bought chunky peanut butter & whole grain crackers, apples, applesauce, whipped yogurt, watermelon, cantaloupe, cocoa roast almonds (Emerald brand), lots of iced tea, orange juice and a few other things. I am not eating much at one time, so I tend to need to eat every 3-4 hours.
As with my MVR 10 years ago, casseroles and a blend of flavors are not appetizing right now. My husband brought me a Whataburger Junior meal from our favorite burger chain, and I only ate about half of the burger and fries -- very unusual for me.
While I was in the hospital for 15 days, the nurse techs often asked if my husband & I wanted ice cream in the afternoon. It was just vanille (Blue Bell no sugar added), but it tasted great.
Do you have any Zofran for the nausea?
Hospital food was the pits. A neighbor brought over a meal -- smoked chicken, corn on the cob, cornbread and cantaloupe, strawberries & blueberries. It was great.
I've bought chunky peanut butter & whole grain crackers, apples, applesauce, whipped yogurt, watermelon, cantaloupe, cocoa roast almonds (Emerald brand), lots of iced tea, orange juice and a few other things. I am not eating much at one time, so I tend to need to eat every 3-4 hours.
As with my MVR 10 years ago, casseroles and a blend of flavors are not appetizing right now. My husband brought me a Whataburger Junior meal from our favorite burger chain, and I only ate about half of the burger and fries -- very unusual for me.
While I was in the hospital for 15 days, the nurse techs often asked if my husband & I wanted ice cream in the afternoon. It was just vanille (Blue Bell no sugar added), but it tasted great.
Do you have any Zofran for the nausea?
canon4me- I have most of the things you spoke about but my only concern is your BP. Did you talk to your doc? maybe it could be because of the pericardial effusion meds? the pain when in one position is something i face as well, it is like some1 stabbed a knife into your sternum or around it but the pain subsides in may be a min or so. back pains is because of the sleeping flat and stiff. Just one question for you. Are you doing your walks and exercising well? i think you should take up on walks and a little stretching exercises (just the basic shoulder movements, your arms, neck and wrist) cause these pains are because of stiff cold muscles. cold feeling could be cause of your weakness. Sinusitis and cold is annoying in between i am talking meds for sinusitis too. Stay positive start working your body a little little and do talk to your surgeon about your BP. Will be waiting to hear some good news from you. Positive vibes your way. All the best.
I'm going to push myself a little bit more this week to eat stuff I really like. That is few however. My wife has been great about catering to my needs and wants though. The last few nights I had been waking up and going out to the kitchen to get some cranberry juice (only thing I can drink that tastes good). I'm diabetic so I have to be careful. Anyway, upon rising, I would get about 20 paces into the kitchen and I would feel so light-headed I would have to grab out kitchen island and lay my head down on it until I got my bearings back. Had a coughing spell about 1/2 hour ago and I was coughing up stuff from my cold and strangely, the coughing didn't hurt that much and something good that happened is I can take deep breaths without a severe chest pain. I don't know what that means. I do know after taking only 4 antibiotic pills, it must have started working for my chest phlem to be loosening up. Since my coughing spell, I do feel better. So, I will push myself a little on the treadmill this week, take plenty of naps, and make a concentrated effort to try to find things to eat that seem pleasing to me. I have had a couple of periods of apnea whereby I have quit breathing and if my wife notices it she will yell at me out of fear I guess and then I take a giant gasp of breath. When I was at Cleveland, in front of the nurse and my wife I quit breathing for about 8-10 seconds and I could hear all the activity going on but was unable to respond. Wierd. Maybe once I get through recovery, I should see if my Dr. will prescribe a sleep study for me. I think that coughing spell tonight was the best thing to happen to me in quite a while if that makes any sense to you.
Agian
Well-known member
Sounds like you got the flu. Drink lots of water.
I know this sounds crazy but going from what was one of my worse days yesterday to in the middle of the night/ this morning early, the coughing spell I had seems like it almost worked a miracle. I don't even have sternum pain right now!!! That is frigging unbelievable. I can't explain any of this unless this infection in my lungs had been harboring for several weeks and the antibiotic finally started working. But, I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. I still have positional rib pain when I do certain stuff like pull on my socks but tht pain is largely unavoidable if I take care to avoid certain positions. I almost seem a little giddy because I have not known freedom from pain like this since before my surgery. Now if I can get my appetite and love of food to come back
canon - I'm glad you coughed out that demon! Maybe the antibiotics are really working, and that was the root of the problem. Hope so.
Another thought on constantly being cold - have they checked you for anemia? That's what they said was the cause of my being constantly cold for the first couple of months.
I remember the middle of the night waking up times. I would be tired at bedtime, get to sleep normally, but then I would wake up at 1 or 2 AM, and would be awake for a couple of hours. I kept a notebook computer in the kitchen and would have juice and cookies while surfing the web in the middle of the night. Then when I felt tired enough, I could go back to sleep for the second half of the night.
Another thought on constantly being cold - have they checked you for anemia? That's what they said was the cause of my being constantly cold for the first couple of months.
I remember the middle of the night waking up times. I would be tired at bedtime, get to sleep normally, but then I would wake up at 1 or 2 AM, and would be awake for a couple of hours. I kept a notebook computer in the kitchen and would have juice and cookies while surfing the web in the middle of the night. Then when I felt tired enough, I could go back to sleep for the second half of the night.
Steve, I was anemic while I was still in the hospital. I don't know what my blood work would reveal now though. I have a couple of nodules in my thyroid gland they are monitoring and that could have something to do with it AND losing so much weight, I don't have any fat on my bones to keep me warm
canon - At the time of my surgery, I didn't have any fat on me, either. A year on a high dosage of a beta blocker took care of that, but I've been fighting it for the past year or so. I convinced my cardio to gradually reduce my beta blocker dosage (from 100 mg/day to 50, then to 25). As long as I have no rhythm issues and echo shows normal ejection fraction, we can leave the dosage low. After reducing the dosage, I've lost over 10 lbs., as well as an inch or two from my waistline. I was never "big" but I did feel bloated with the higher dosage. Much better now. Keep watching all the meds for side effects and be your own advocate with the docs, as I'm sure you've been thus far.
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The mail man
Member
Hang in there Canon. Am glad your doing better. Sometimes its easier to drink than eat. After my surgery I had no appetite at all. I thing those drinks like Ensure brought me around and helped me to keep going. You can drink them warm and they still go down well. Like you I was so cold the last thing I wanted was a chilled drink.
You are going to be ok.
Mail man
You are going to be ok.
Mail man
TheGymGuy
Well-known member
canon, I was pretty cold post surgery as well, and I was not anemic at all. As time passed I was less and less cold, and then back to normal. Great job hawking up that lung monster. Hope to hear better updates from here on out.
As I type this I'm laying in bed with three layers of blankets on me AND a heating pad. I can deal with being cold though, by just dressing warmer. The other day I was sitting on the deck in bright sunlight, 85 degrees and required a medium heavy fleece jacket.
Tonight when I cough, it hurts like the dickens. Is this typical for having surgery on 6/5? I think I will pop a couple of Tylenol. Last night I got the most uninterrupted sleep since before surgery. I slept from 10 to 3:45 am. Could not believe it!
