Some good news and some other

[kimcdougc]

Canon, I am 7 weeks post op today. I run a low grade fever every night. 99.5 or so. I get hot then cold. They say all of this is normal. You have had more than your share of bad things happen to you post surgery. I started coughing yesterday and think I might go to the Dr. tomorrow. Some kind of URI I think. You will get better a little at a time.

I can give you some of my fluff from my body if you need some meat on your bones! lol

Take care of yourself and keep us informed of your recovery. - Kim

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AVR May 23, 2013. On-x 21 mm valve. Dr. Glenn Barnhart, Swedish Medical Center, Cherry Hill location, Seattle, WA. In the waiting room 10 years. 53 year old female.

 

[Agian]

Have a hamburger mate.

 

[canon4me]

Feeling better day by day, little by little. Trying to kick a nastly cold with antibiotics. Rehab is going good. Sternum and chest pain is still there and sometimes, more often than not, I still pop a couple of tylenol at night to get a good nights sleep. Will this sternum pain more than likely last six months or longer? I only have the sternum pain when I inhale. Oh, then of course, almost forgot to mention....night sweats are still with me. They just will not give up. I get to start driving again this coming Friday, six weeks after surgery. Not having the terrible chills I was having. My appetite is gradually coming back and I put on about three pounds late last week and through today.

 

[epstns]

The sternum pain will gradually subside. Mine probably lasted about 6 to 8 weeks, then became painful only if I tried to do something I shouldn't have done (like push-ups). Eventually I noticed that the pain was just gone, so I went back to my full routine of morning exercises. Rehab will help you to regain flexibility and some beginnings of muscle strength. You can take it from there to wherever you wish, limited only by your own situation (fitness level, etc.).

 

[canon4me]

I've been having some atrial fibs late this afternoon and this evening. Not constant but maybe a few every few minutes. I broke half an Amiodarone and took it. This would be in addition to the whole one I take once a day. The cardiologist allowed me to do this about three weeks ago when this happened. I didn't have any chocolate, tea or coffee today. I'm just wondering is this something that does occur from time to time for a post op patient as far out as me? 6/5/13

 

[TheGymGuy]

It's been less than 2 months. Soft tissues are still healing, and my bet is that not all numb spots from surgery (around scars, incisions) have all the feeling back yet. Why am I sharing this? Well, to let you know that it will take time for all to go back to normal. Once all the soft tissue really heals, and once all the nerves connect and lots of numbness around all the numb spots go away, the a-fib will be a thing of the past. Meanwhile, walk/speed-walk/exercise extra, put some load on that heart with all the new parts and see the progress speed up.

 

[canon4me]

Thanks for the encouragement gym guy! I will take your advice and start pushing myself a little bit harder day by day.

 

[canon4me]

Just starting to finally feel human. I'm on my second round of antibiotic and cough supressant with codeine to knock down this URI. I feel like this stuff is going to work unlike the first antibiotic. I slept last night from 10 pm to 4 am. The longest I've slept without waking up since I had surgery. Food still doesn't taste the same as pre-surgery but hopefully that will get better if I can shed about three of the medications I'm on. Also, I can't eat as much before I feel full either. But thankful nonetheless that I'm finally shaking this URI! Now I just need to build up some stamina physically. I've been walking at a 3.8 pace with a slight incline on the treadmill and I hope to start running. My wife told me not to until the Dr. clears me for it but I think there is more old heart patients than old Drs. Also, I've noticed the night sweats are getting to be fewer and less intensity than they were. I count each blessing

 

[TheGymGuy]

great job. every little thing, every little improvement is a victory. look for them, sniff them out, test for improvements daily. If you are not ready to run, do interval speed walking. you can walk up a steeper incline for several minutes (or just 1 minute) and then walk up lesser incline or flat for several minutes, also you can vary speeds for speed walking to get your body to adapt to more load, but also giving it a break every so often with less load be it speed or incline or BOTH. This sort of thing puts your body through decent load and endurance and is still not running. Most importantly - have fun!