BertTheRunner
Member
I wasn't sure where to post this so I'll try in the "post surgery" topic.
I'm happy to report that after about 5 months of seemingly very little improvement in my ability to be physically active (for me that means mostly running and some cycling), I've now seen some significant improvements in just the past month.
I had mitral valve repair (not replacement) back in Nov of 2013 and I posted a note in the "active lifestyles" topic about my struggles to overcome inflammation problems and rounds of AFIB following my procedure. The word "frustrating" doesn't do it justice. It was every day waking up and feeling a tight chest and off and on shortness of breath that I couldn't do anything about. I really couldn't do more than a brisk walk for the first 5 or so months. I could work in brief, 1 minute bouts of very slow jogging, but my HR would spike and I'd feel very tight and often have pain during and afterwards. It was just not possible. Getting around the house was ok and I could do light chores but lifting anything was very difficult and I needed to take frequent breaks.
I don't know if the healing process normally stagnates and then suddenly accelerates but it seems like mine did after about 5 months (soon after I posted on the forums). I'm not 100% (far from it) but all the symptoms have reduced enough that I'm now back to running again. My paces are slow but my HR has come down enough that I can run continuously and without major symptoms. I've even had these rare "bursts of speed" where I find myself running much faster than I thought I was, with little effort. I'm excited now, finally, that I might be over the hump and starting to really improve.
I'm not sure if this has helped or not (it might just be "time healing all wounds") but I've really been more careful in my workouts to push less hard these past two months. I keep my HR well below the point where symptoms start to creep in. I'm very competitive with myself and want to always push the envelope but I've learned to scale things back a lot from the pre-op mentality.
I thought I'd also post a link to my blog, in case anyone is interested in seeing the blatherings of a post-op guy trying to run again! I comment on symptoms and keep track of my progress. I was posting to it long before surgery (and then it was all about running or cycling accomplishments) but now I use it as a place to keep track of post-op milestones. http://bertshealth.wordpress.com/
If anyone else has a similar blog, please let me know, I'd love to follow you as well. I see a blog feature on this forum but I'm not sure how to use it (seems I'm missing a plug-in or something).
Good luck to all,
Bert
I'm happy to report that after about 5 months of seemingly very little improvement in my ability to be physically active (for me that means mostly running and some cycling), I've now seen some significant improvements in just the past month.
I had mitral valve repair (not replacement) back in Nov of 2013 and I posted a note in the "active lifestyles" topic about my struggles to overcome inflammation problems and rounds of AFIB following my procedure. The word "frustrating" doesn't do it justice. It was every day waking up and feeling a tight chest and off and on shortness of breath that I couldn't do anything about. I really couldn't do more than a brisk walk for the first 5 or so months. I could work in brief, 1 minute bouts of very slow jogging, but my HR would spike and I'd feel very tight and often have pain during and afterwards. It was just not possible. Getting around the house was ok and I could do light chores but lifting anything was very difficult and I needed to take frequent breaks.
I don't know if the healing process normally stagnates and then suddenly accelerates but it seems like mine did after about 5 months (soon after I posted on the forums). I'm not 100% (far from it) but all the symptoms have reduced enough that I'm now back to running again. My paces are slow but my HR has come down enough that I can run continuously and without major symptoms. I've even had these rare "bursts of speed" where I find myself running much faster than I thought I was, with little effort. I'm excited now, finally, that I might be over the hump and starting to really improve.
I'm not sure if this has helped or not (it might just be "time healing all wounds") but I've really been more careful in my workouts to push less hard these past two months. I keep my HR well below the point where symptoms start to creep in. I'm very competitive with myself and want to always push the envelope but I've learned to scale things back a lot from the pre-op mentality.
I thought I'd also post a link to my blog, in case anyone is interested in seeing the blatherings of a post-op guy trying to run again! I comment on symptoms and keep track of my progress. I was posting to it long before surgery (and then it was all about running or cycling accomplishments) but now I use it as a place to keep track of post-op milestones. http://bertshealth.wordpress.com/
If anyone else has a similar blog, please let me know, I'd love to follow you as well. I see a blog feature on this forum but I'm not sure how to use it (seems I'm missing a plug-in or something).
Good luck to all,
Bert
