still no energy

[Sharlea]

Hi,
I know I am only 12 days out from my surgery, but ready to get some energy and feel good. My sleep is improving, It seems I always wake at 2am, and then around 5. I am only on Aleve for the discomfort of right chest.
I guess I just expected to wake-up and be ready to go. Well, not happening yet! I still get SOB after shower and drying my hair. Is this typical after this type of surgery? Just wondering. Have a Dr. appt. Tues.

Sharlea
MVR 10-20-09 with the devinci robot

 

[Nancy]

It's absolutely typical. 12 days is very, very early on for this type of surgery. It will take a good 6-8 weeks before you feel fairly well and have some more energy. It can take 1 to 2 years to completely recover to where you feel extraordinarily well.

You've got to take it one day at a time. There will be some days when you make great progress, and others when you will not make any and may backslide some. So do not be impatient.

Also remember your lifting restriction that your surgeon surely gave you. That is to make sure your sternum and other operated on things make a good strong healing.

 

[Danny]

Sharlea, dont try so hard...lol. You will get there, take it easy on yourself. Im about 3 weeks out, and cant wait, but i dont want to push it. I usually dont like anyone doing anything for me, but right now, im just gonna go with the flow. Sleep is still an issue here as well, but from what im reading here, its an issue to most after surgery. Give yourself a break, and relax, and recover!

 

[Mentu]

Nancy is right! You have not yet been home for even 2 weeks and need to be gentle with yourself. I found early on that one of the most strenuous things I could do was take a hot shower. It felt good but left me drained. I also didn't pay enough attention to either lifting things or to repetitive motions such as chopping vegetables for soup. Both left my chest sore for several days until I really backed off so listen to Nancy.

I ended up getting scolded by my Doctor and reminded that recovery is a matter of months not days or weeks. Now at 6 weeks walking is easy and a hot shower doesn't leave me feeling limp. Still, my chest muscles are touchy.

There are other cautions that one needs to observe and, yes, I got zapped by these, too. Staying at home and spending a lot of time around the house can cause one to neglect two very basic things. Be careful to stay properly hydrated. Dehydration can initiate any number of odd symptoms and none of them are good for you, especially, recovering from OHS. On the other hand, water retention is also a problem and needs to be monitored daily by weighing yourself. I was shocked one day to see that I had mysteriously gained 5 pounds...it was all fluid. Finally, eating properly is really important to feeling well and having energy. This is a time that one needs pay extra attention to good nutrition. Give your body the time it needs to heal after all this is healing you need to get back to your normal life.

 

[deano89]

i am 10 days post op i am taking it easy not pushing to hard i can walk up stairs once fine but twice in quick succession is harder ,i walk a short distance twice a day which s arund our village green this is what i was advised to take thingss slowly and grdually build up and was told to stop and rest if at any time i was getting out of breath
so i think the key is do what you can reasonably acheive and build from there.

 

[Tom F.]

Twelve day is nothing. If at 12 weeks you are not getting better you have an issue. Now, if you push yourself too much you will pay for it. Take you time, be gentle with yourself.

 

[Bill B]

The main reason I have SOB and poor energy at times is anemia from surgery. Prior to surgery my HCT was 43. I left the hospital with an HCT of 28. So, that's like losing more than a quarter of my red cell mass and oxygen carrying capacity. I figure it will be 2 months before this corrects. You may have that as well. And everyone else has mentioned that even without anemia, this operation knocks you back and it will be quite some time before things even out.

To some extent I do believe you have to work against this fatigue to get some exercise. However, if you have SOB with light movement such that walking is still out of the question, then I would talk to your cardiologist about that on Tuesday.

At least you are sleeping much better than I am.

Best of luck.

 

[Cris N]

Oh, my - only 12 days out. You need to give yourself more time. Do you have any cardiac rehab scheduled? I found that this safe environment for exercise really helped me... I was able to push myself a bit more than I would have at home, yet I didn't need to fear doing too much. I think I started rehab around the 3rd full week after surgery.

 

[Eva]

Sharlea,

12 days is nothing....I went out of hospital on the 12th day! Reat assure that you shall start improving from now on. Do not forget, waking up twice during the night takes some of your energy away. Good luck.

Keep us posted.

 

[Kathy McCain]

Sharlea,

That sounds completely normal to me! Everyone is different. I had some complications, and a pericardial window, but it took me 18mos, to feel normal!

Try to be patient. I know it is difficult. It DOES GET BETTER!

 

[Lynlw]

Sharlea, I was wonderring, if you expected to be feeling better now, because you had a robotic surgery? I know sometimes people think if they have robotic or min invasive, that they will feel better much sooner, and then are worried or disapointed when they are recovering since it is a bigger assault to your body then they realize.

 

[MaryC]

I had minimally invasive port access mitral valve repair and your recovery sounds normal to me. Regardless of how your surgery was performed it was still heart surgery. It took me a while to get past the tiredness. I did get a-flutter around 3 weeks after the surgery. That slowed down my recovery.

Good luck on your continued recovery.

Chris

 

[Sharlea]

Thanks all for the encouragement! Lynlw, I think you are right. Since my repair was done robotically and what I read and the Surgeon also said, "the recovery would be 2-3 weeks and back to work" I expected to be just up and ready to go in that amount of time. It does sound unrealistic though, huh? My hmg was 8 something when I left the hospital and was told it would take a mo. or so to recover. Also, was told that it would take my heart about a month to figure out it doesn't have to work so hard anymore. So, all things considered, I should just chill and let my body heal!

Thanks alot for everyones helpful hints! This board truly helps to be able to talk with someone that has been therer. Have a great day all!

 

[catwoman]

Sharlea:

My husband had MV repair via a side incision. His recovery was faster than mine, but he still took off about 8-9 weeks for sick leave, mainly because he had that much time.
He was able to walk for longer & more frequent periods than I could.

You will probably do what most of us have done following surgery: When you feel really great one day, you overdo it and pay like heck the next day or even several days. One step forward, sometimes five steps backwards.

If I had to go through surgery again, I'd keep a steady, even pace of activity. I'd also go through cardiac rehab. (My surgeon said I really didn't need it, just to do "a little more" each day. That's easier said than done. Easy to avoid doing it when no one's pushing or monitoring you.)

 

[njean]

Absolutely!!! Don't despair if your energy is not back yet or feel that something's wrong because you still get out of breath at some of the slightest activities. All normal!!!

After my 3rd OHS, it took me months to get some of my energy back.

Just take it easy on yourself & don't get depressed. All will come back eventually.....you just have to be patient & take each day as it comes!

Best wishes to you!

 

[Bear72]

Thanks all for the encouragement! Lynlw, I think you are right. Since my repair was done robotically and what I read and the Surgeon also said, "the recovery would be 2-3 weeks and back to work" I expected to be just up and ready to go in that amount of time. It does sound unrealistic though, huh? My hmg was 8 something when I left the hospital and was told it would take a mo. or so to recover. Also, was told that it would take my heart about a month to figure out it doesn't have to work so hard anymore. So, all things considered, I should just chill and let my body heal!

Thanks alot for everyones helpful hints! This board truly helps to be able to talk with someone that has been therer. Have a great day all!

I wouldn't agree at all with the 2-3 weeks out of work. Six weeks is a little more like it when it comes to mitral repair via Da Vinci. I had my surgery at the beginning of September and the surgeon thought 6 weeks is more practical. Thinking back a week or so, he was right. You are only 12 days out, but give it a couple weeks or so and you will be making bigger strides. I'm 7 weeks post op and doing 4 miles in 40 minutes 5x a week. Don't worry, it'll come back. Still have a few palpitations here and there, but the days get easier.

 

[Alex B]

My energy came and went in the first few weeks, sometimes I felt like I could start jogging, other times just walking downstairs for lunch was laborsome. After about 6 weeks though I stopped having the SOB and low energy, I was raring to go, I started jogging week 7, and have improved energy every week. I feel great now at 3 months, running every couple of days. It sucks that the weather has turned now here in Portland, because running outside is quite dreadful and my Jack Russell is pissed because I run at the gym instead of with her

 

[duncanjo]

i agree with Nancy I'm almost up with my 2 years i would say im at 80% before my surgery. As i remember the first year was hard it was up and down one day i felt a bunch of engery felt awesome ready to tackle the world then, a week later what hell is wrong with me felt out of engery and poop out even walking up stairs overall it takes time and how much time you invest walking and taking care of ur self. It takes time to recuperate from this surgery and exercise, don't expect a miracle recovery and don't start planning to run a marathon next week.LOL