Some success

[Paleowoman]

Last night I didn't have to sleep on the sofa in the living room ! Nearly six weeks post surgery and I moved back upstairs !

I am still getting sternal pain when upright, sitting or standing, which increases as the day wears on (tiredness ? mpact of gravity etc puling on chest ?) but the cardiologist says that everyone's bones are different. His wife had a rib op once and she went back to see her surgeon three times subsequently as she thought he must have left something in there causing her continuous pain. There is nothing I can take for the pain as tramadol, codeine and morphine cause unacceptable stomach/gut problems, and paracetamol doesn't work at all. Can't take ibuprofen as I have a history of duodenal ulcer. But cardiologist is referring me to one to one rehab - I'll see if my insurance company will pay for it…. Another consultant told me that sternal pain can last up to 18 months ! And I've read posts on the forum to suggest that happens to some…fingers crossed that doesn't happen to me. I'm really tolerant of pain normally - for example, when the chest drains were removed I found them fine, no pain or discomfort.

I've also had a further echo and just finished 24 hour ECG to check on heart palpitations. Cardiologist thinks they're probably due to low haemoglobin levels (due to surgery) and that as they rise the palpitations will get less - he said the heart has to pump harder when a person's haemoglobin is low to get the blood around the body faster. He said he may also take me off the beta blocker when he's read the 24 hour ECG.

 

[clay_from_nj]

Hi Anne!
It's great to hear that you are doing well. As to the pain, can you take acetaminophen, or even oxycodone? Maybe even Percocet? It's about all I was allowed to take after my surgery, what with my heart condition, warfarin, coreg, and lisinopril. As to the palpitations, if they turn out to be PVCs, it's a normal part of the OHS recovery and they should diminish over time as you recover. And if I remember right, I read in past posts that you have spent some time in the gym and kept yourself in pretty good shape. That can only make your recovery easier.

 

[Paleowoman]

Thanks for the suggestions Clay - I'll have a look at them and discuss them with my doctor….whoops, I see that acetaminophen is paracetamol in the UK - I've had full dose of that everyday like you're supposed to have, it doesn't touch me I will ask the doc about oxycodone….

I'm really not sure what has happened to my thred 'Getting there……' - it has now disappeared and had important things in it. I have contacted the moderator, Hank, but he doesn't seem to be there - I emailed him two days ago and yesterday.

escargome replied to me on the "getting there…." thread and so did others regarding post op rehab and now the thread has gone !!!!!

 

[Duffey]

Thanks for the suggestions Clay - I'll have a look at them and discuss them with my doctor….whoops, I see that acetaminophen is paracetamol in the UK - I've had full dose of that everyday like you're supposed to have, it doesn't touch me I will ask the doc about oxycodone….

I'm really not sure what has happened to my thred 'Getting there……' - it has now disappeared and had important things in it. I have contacted the moderator, Hank, but he doesn't seem to be there - I emailed him two days ago and yesterday.

escargome replied to me on the "getting there…." thread and so did others regarding post op rehab and now the thread has gone !!!!!

Anne, glad to read you're able to sleep in your bed again.:smile2:

Regarding your missing thread, I had trouble accessing it myself so I sent a message to Hank. I see in today's Technical Forum he has replied that he was unable to fix the thread and had to delete. For what it's worth, in The Throwdown forum, we have had similar problems periodically. Some people could access a particular thread, depending upon which browser they used, while others got the page error message you reported. We found that the problem lay in the title. The thread starter sometimes used Roman numerals in the weekly title, sometimes not, but when he did, we had similar issues. I'm hazarding a guess that it was your use of . . . . . at the end of Getting There that caused the difficulty. It's just a guess based on previous experience. I hope you will restart the thread if you so desire, perhaps leave off the ellipsis, and see if that doesn't solve the problem.:smile2:

 

[Paleowoman]

Ah, maybe that's why Duffey ! This thread "Some success" is virtually the same as the "Getting there" thread except I left off some words which I thought might be causing the problem.

I've had a couple of good responses to the "Getting there" thread though, a couple encouraging me with the rehabilitation which I wrote further about. Luckily I have a copy of what I wrote, here: My cardiologist has referred me for one to one rehab because of my other health issues as the group one on the NHS wouldn't be appropriate for me. Bupa won't cover it But I spoke to the cardiac nurse who does the one to one and the cost is reasonable considering all I've been through and I don't want to go backwards - too many other issues such as my osteoporosis to consider along with this valve surgery - it would be catastrophic to get osteoporotic fractures now - so I'm going ahead with self pay and the nurse says that we can tailor it to my needs and pocket. I was very fit before surgery going to the gym twice a week to do weights, and have a lot of equipment at home: weight lifting bench, free weights, Power Plate and stationary cycle so should be able to devise a program.

Thanks for al the encouragement !

 

[mbeard]

Thank you for letting all of us know that the thread wasn't functional. I also alerted Hank. Anyway, I am very happy to hear you are progressing, and finally feeling better. I had hated to hear that you felt so poorly in the beginning. Surely it can only keep getting better. And your fitness level will be a huge part of this equation. Take care and keep updating.

Ah, maybe that's why Duffey ! This thread "Some success" is virtually the same as the "Getting there" thread except I left off some words which I thought might be causing the problem.

I've had a couple of good responses to the "Getting there" thread though, a couple encouraging me with the rehabilitation which I wrote further about. Luckily I have a copy of what I wrote, here: My cardiologist has referred me for one to one rehab because of my other health issues as the group one on the NHS wouldn't be appropriate for me. Bupa won't cover it But I spoke to the cardiac nurse who does the one to one and the cost is reasonable considering all I've been through and I don't want to go backwards - too many other issues such as my osteoporosis to consider along with this valve surgery - it would be catastrophic to get osteoporotic fractures now - so I'm going ahead with self pay and the nurse says that we can tailor it to my needs and pocket. I was very fit before surgery going to the gym twice a week to do weights, and have a lot of equipment at home: weight lifting bench, free weights, Power Plate and stationary cycle so should be able to devise a program.

Thanks for al the encouragement !

 

[Paleowoman]

Yes things are progressing now I feel. I'm beginning to regain some weight and I just got the results of the 24 hour ECG "normal rhythm throughout - a few non-pathological extra beats" - so that's good news. Also I can cut down the Atenolol beta blocker to 12.5 mg per day so more good news as I've started to get brief episodes of double vision and light headedness which I feel is related. Only thing is the continuing sternal pain, but when I tell my cardiologist or GP or the cardiac nurse that the pain is getting me down they say it's still early days ! I feel optimistic that doing more exercise when I can will help the pain. And time. I'm walking a few miles every day - indoors as the weather is not good yet, but it still covers the distance

 

[Duffey]

Anne, I wish the GP, the cardiologist, and the cardiac nurse had to walk in your shoes for a few days and live with your sternal pain. I bet that would put a quick end to their "it's still early in recovery" advice. I honestly don't remember any pain after the first week. I hope it resolves soon. You sound like you are making much more progress this week than last so that's a real positive.