Staying in shape during recovery from open-heart surgery.

[Deerhunter3]

I am 35 and had open-heart surgery for a new pulmonary valve three weeks ago (August 4th). Before the surgery I enjoyed lifting weights. I know that I cannot (doctor's orders) lift anything over 5 lbs., or even jog, but is there anything that I can do to continue working out? My wife and I talked about me doing curls with 2.5 lbs. weight (alot of curls), but is there anything that I can do for my chest/shoulders/back, or am I pretty much stuck waiting to be cleared by the Doctor? Thank you.

 

[pellicle]

Try recovery...

When it's safe to go back ro exercise then do that ... exercise can become an addiction, but keep in mind we keep fit to beneft our health. So, benefit your health by following recovery recommendations.

Walk, do your breathing and let that bone heal. The sternum is not only the keystone to your chest, its a remarkably slender and flexible bone.

Be patient and in six months time this six weeeks will seem insignificant.

Small steps forward no slips back should be your motto

Pull down this movie and watch it

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1125849/

Best Wishes

 

[epstns]

I'm an old gym rat, but I'd agree with pellicle on this one. When I had my valve replaced, my mind was chomping at the bit to get back to exercise. . . but my body wasn't all that interested. In fact, I had so many complications after surgery, I was not cleared to enter cardiac rehab until 12 weeks post-op. After that time, I had to take it gradually, to say the least.

Fast forward about 6 1/2 years, and other than the bump on my upper chest for the pacemaker, you would never know I had open-heart surgery. I'm no kid, either, as I am nearing 70 years old now.

I relate this to you so that you can realize that pellicle is right. You may feel the emotional pull back into exercise now, but it is probably best to resist that tug. Let your body hear properly and fully, and it will reward you with a lifetime of good service. I am doing as much now, and more, than I did pre-op. It took a while before I felt up to pushing hard, but when it felt right, I did it. I "got it all back" and then some. Just let nature take its course for a while. You will get back to where you were, and then some.

 

[SumoRunner]

Too late to second what Pellicle said, so I'll third it. Wait the requisite 6 weeks. I was itching to get back to it after 4-5 weeks but my wife threatened to club me if I didn't get the Drs clearance. He said it was good that I felt so well but wait the friggin' 6 weeks. I was amazed at how much it actually hurt to run when I did start up again and it took another whole 6 week period to run a full mile non-stop. By 6 months I was back to normal. 26 years for me now.

 

[RunMartin]

After my AVR in February 2010 all I wanted to do was to get back to full fitness. I had seen some posts on a forum by people who had just had valve replacement and they were exercising hard on exercise bikes 3 weeks after surgery (probably bravado!!!). I now know that trying to exercise hard soon after surgery is not the right way to do things but at the time no one questioned these guys. I found I could not do this and thought there was probably something wrong. My recovery took much longer than that and the notion of others exercising hard after 3 weeks probably did not help.My lungs were the last thing to recover due to the deflation of my lungs whilst on the heart lung machine. I remember posting about it at the time on this forum.

The problem I had at this time was knowing when to take it easy. I found that my idea of taking it easy did not equate to the doctors idea of taking it easy. Because of this, my recovery seemed to be two steps forward one back.
Recovering from heart valve replacement surgery was totally different to recovering from a sports injury. One day I would feel good the next day I would feel drained of energy. I now know that what I should have done was to Improve gradually in little steps and holding at each step for several days/weeks even though I thought I could do more. If things were not feeling right then take a few steps back.

I have been a keen runner, swimmer and cyclist most of my life but the best thing I did was to join in with a beginners group at my running club.
The running intervals were much shorter than I would have chosen to do and this allowed me to learn to run again as a “new” runner i.e. start running again from scratch. After a short while I started to feel "normal" again.

 

[almost_hectic]

Remember it's not only about your sternum healing, it's your heart. So the lifting restriction is also about blood pressures that rise when lifting. My sternum was slow to heal. Even after being cleared from 8 weeks of restrictions, just driving my car would leave me incredibly sore that would last a few days, and wondering if I had done too much too soon. As was said, it was often two steps forward, one back. After 4 months I slowly started doing push-ups, and again it was painful and slow to progress. Often taking a day or two for soreness to subside. Too much too soon and you could risk not healing correctly and be left with an inability to recover full strength because your sternum could be unstable. its not only bone that needs to heal but the connective tissue around it that gets crushed when they force it open

 

[spartangator]

Just want to support all the wisdom already shared above. There's so much happening on so many levels that it really is wise to focus on recovery. The activity will return, but right now is time to take things slowly and perhaps focus on other challenges.

 

[Homeskillet]

After my AVR in February 2010 all I wanted to do was to get back to full fitness. I had seen some posts on a forum by people who had just had valve replacement and they were exercising hard on exercise bikes 3 weeks after surgery (probably bravado!!!). I now know that trying to exercise hard soon after surgery is not the right way to do things but at the time no one questioned these guys. I found I could not do this and thought there was probably something wrong. My recovery took much longer than that and the notion of others exercising hard after 3 weeks probably did not help.My lungs were the last thing to recover due to the deflation of my lungs whilst on the heart lung machine. I remember posting about it at the time on this forum.

The problem I had at this time was knowing when to take it easy. I found that my idea of taking it easy did not equate to the doctors idea of taking it easy. Because of this, my recovery seemed to be two steps forward one back.
Recovering from heart valve replacement surgery was totally different to recovering from a sports injury. One day I would feel good the next day I would feel drained of energy. I now know that what I should have done was to Improve gradually in little steps and holding at each step for several days/weeks even though I thought I could do more. If things were not feeling right then take a few steps back.

I have been a keen runner, swimmer and cyclist most of my life but the best thing I did was to join in with a beginners group at my running club. The running intervals were much shorter than I would have chosen to do and this allowed me to learn to run again as a “new” runner i.e. start running again from scratch. After a short while I started to feel "normal" again.

Wow - can I identify w. this post. Have been a gym rat for years & years now. I'm currently 4.5 months post-op. & I've been back in gym for 3.5 months lifting light weights. Was slowly gaining my strength & size back until all seemed to go south & my body seemingly revolted.

What has it cost me? The top of my sternum gets red & swollen. I have a lung herniation from the first surgery (had 2 OHS w.in a year & 1/2) that sends me into orbital pain at night after working out during the day. Also have costochondritis around ribs, and connective tissue seems to never make progress. Simply, in my quest to return to my pre-op. condition - I suspect have actually slowed my progress.

Hardest thing for me to do is watch others workout hard while I have whittled away 15 lbs. of muscle due to not being able to workout. Was trying to do incline the other day & a lady next to me was doing far more than I was! Absolutely had to tell what was up (she cracked up laughing)!

Have been wondering why I'm hurting so much still - and I think this thread has confirmed my suspicions that I'm simply doing too much too soon (?). Was actually laying in the bed hurting when I read this. Good & helpful posts on this thread.

 

[Homeskillet]

Remember it's not only about your sternum healing, it's your heart. So the lifting restriction is also about blood pressures that rise when lifting. My sternum was slow to heal. Even after being cleared from 8 weeks of restrictions, just driving my car would leave me incredibly sore that would last a few days, and wondering if I had done too much too soon. As was said, it was often two steps forward, one back. After 4 months I slowly started doing push-ups, and again it was painful and slow to progress. Often taking a day or two for soreness to subside. Too much too soon and you could risk not healing correctly and be left with an inability to recover full strength because your sternum could be unstable. its not only bone that needs to heal but the connective tissue around it that gets crushed when they force it open

Excellent post.

As mentioned above, in my quest to push the envelope (I'm 4.5 months post-op. my 2nd OHS within 1.5 yr.) & "get it all back" I suspect I have actually impeded the progress I was making. Was feeling really good about 1 month ago & started pushing a bit - then, Boom! - seems like I reversed my course & went backwards! Hurting worse now than I was 1 month ago. Your point about the connective tissue is soooo on point - and something I really did not emphasize since all of my attn. was on the sternum.

I also find that driving for long periods seems to really hurt the top of my sternum (it's still swollen & red). I met w. my surgeon a few weeks ago & he told me I was doing too much too soon. I thought that 4 months was plenty of time to recover & start pushing it a bit though (?).

These posts have really helped me to put on the brakes again in hopes I can get back to making progress.

 

[epstns]

I think we're all underscoring the adage that "We all heal at different rates" and that we have to continually listen to our own bodies and do what they tell us we can do. Attitude is also a major element in recovery. I took the approach that even if I progressed slower than I wanted to, if I continued making progress, then I would eventually get to a satisfactory level again. That "sorta" worked for me. I'm not the picture of perfection, but I'm a long way ahead of most of the men my age at the gym.

 

[almost_hectic]

Excellent post.

As mentioned above, in my quest to push the envelope (I'm 4.5 months post-op. my 2nd OHS within 1.5 yr.) & "get it all back" I suspect I have actually impeded the progress I was making. Was feeling really good about 1 month ago & started pushing a bit - then, Boom! - seems like I reversed my course & went backwards! Hurting worse now than I was 1 month ago. Your point about the connective tissue is soooo on point - and something I really did not emphasize since all of my attn. was on the sternum.

I also find that driving for long periods seems to really hurt the top of my sternum (it's still swollen & red). I met w. my surgeon a few weeks ago & he told me I was doing too much too soon. I thought that 4 months was plenty of time to recover & start pushing it a bit though (?).

These posts have really helped me to put on the brakes again in hopes I can get back to making progress.

I would say I wasn't fully recovered until 9 months to a full year after surgery. Every time I thought I was I'd push myself and feel a setback afterwards. I remember being told it could take as much as a full year to recover and thinking at the time that sounded ridiculous to me. Boy was I wrong.

 

[user 16827]

Hello all

I'm new here but pre surgery i was a fitness fanatic ( I still am )

After surgery for a AV root replacement i thought ; what can i do to keep exercising, looking back i should of just rested.
Your body is trying to heal.

your loved ones will be concerned about you doing anything.

I wouldn't of accepted the " Rest " option myself at the time but in retrospect its the better option.

Best of luck with your recovery Deerhunter