Tirdness

[RunMartin]

I had an AVR and root replacement three weeks ago and was wondering how others felt at this stage. I feel worse than I did before and seem to have good and bad days (I felt well on the day of the operation). I do not seem to have lots of energy and can get out of breath quite easily and have a slight irritation in my lungs. I am only walking a bout a mile a day. I have had my chest listened to by a doctor two days ago and it was clear. Is it normal to feel a little short of breath if I exert myself?

Thanks
Martin

 

[Johan]

Martin
I had my AVR 8 months ago today, and I can honestly say that I am now as close to totally healed as it will probably get. We are all different but I can relate to your post. At 3 weeks I could only walk short distances and had difficulty with my lungs, a lot of wheezing sometimes keeping me awake at night. My lungs caused problems right from the start, they had to assist my breathing for 2 days in ICU. I often felt faint and dizzy.
I had no appetite and lost about 7kg from 80kg down to 73kg. I was also a bit depressed.

Everything however cleared up slowly and at 8 weeks I was back in the gym at cardio-rehab and now I can keep up with the fittest of them! I would say that from my experience you are progressing normally and that soon you will have it all behind you.

 

[RunMartin]

Thanks Johan,
That sounds very similar to what I am experiencing
Martin

 

[neil]

johan........yep you sound to be doing just fine,3 weeks is still very very early,its a slow process,take it easy ok,

 

[Cooker]

Be patient and try not to get discouraged ... everyone is different but many agree that it takes about a year, give or take a few months to be at 100% ... I think at three weeks what you are experiencing is normal and a mile walk at three weeks is great ... don't gage you recover speed on others ... it will and you will get there

 

[nngbwh]

I agreed with the others. It's takes time to heal. Just hang in there.

 

[AgilityDog]

3 weeks? Heck, some of us were barely out of the hospital at 3 weeks. 8-12 weeks to feel pretty human again, 12 months to really recover, especially if you have lots of new meds to adjust to.
Make haste slowly, my friend.

 

[catwoman]

Martin:

You're normal.
I was a weak puppy at 3 weeks post-op. I spent 1 week in the hospital, another 2 with my parents and then my husband took me home 60 miles away. I had a viral infection that lasted for about 3 days right after I got home.
It was just a gradual process of getting back into condition. At 8-9 months, I was starting to feel somewhat "normal" -- if I didn't overdo things. At one year, I was consistently "normal."

 

[Duffey]

Martin,
You might ask them to check your iron level and make sure you're not anemic. I had trouble with that, and you will definitely feel short of breath if your numbers are low.

 

[olefin]

I had an AVR and root replacement three weeks ago and was wondering how others felt at this stage.
Thahks
Martin

Three weeks had been one day since I was released from the hospital and only had AVR. I was still running temperature and still pretty sick. Didn't began to feel like living for a couple more weeks. Most people went home from having AVR in 5 days, even back then. I had jogged daily for 15 years right up before surgery and was in excellent health with no symptoms of stenosis.
To me, you sound like you're doing excellent.

 

[Mentu]

Martin, around 3 weeks I began having some fluid retention problems which left me feeling sluggish at times. Fluid retention needs to be reported to your doctor. Mine had me start taking lasix as needed based on what I observed. At 5 months, I still have some issues with it...today, in fact, I could not put a ring on my right hand which is one of my indicators that appears before swollen legs and feet. AVR is a big event for one's body and it takes awhile to adjust.

Larry

 

[LL_beanie]

I had OHS on 25 Aug 2009 with an On-X valve implanted in the pulmonic position, so I'm just past the 6 month point. At three weeks, I was still really tired and hurting, especially when trying to sleep. I walked every day but was still fatigued quite easily, and was still retaining a lot of fluids at that point, so the Dr. gave me a short dose of Lasix to help - about 10 days worth. I felt like I should have been doing more at that point, but like other people have said, listen to your body. If you feel tired, rest. Rest is the best prescription for healing. I remember at three weeks I was still having short intakes of breath and hating the spirometer to increase my breathing ability.

A good tip I read (can't remember where) was that a really good way to chart your progress is think about where you were one week ago, and then compare it to how you felt two weeks ago. Instead of seeing it as day-to-day improvements, which are so small to identify, it was giving myself a longer timeframe to compare. That helped a lot. Another thing that helped is I was using facebook to update my friends and family about my recovery, just short entries and usually a family member did it for me since it hurt to sit at the computer. I'm glad I did because almost the first 2 or 3 months after my surgery are a complete haze to me. By having those little updates - even if they were short (slept 4 hours), it helped me keep a record so I can see the progress I've made (now sleeping more, maybe 6 hours, which is low for me, but the most I've been able to get bc of soreness in my chest).

Lots of good thoughts!

 

[mainframe]

I was still in the ICU at 3 weeks.

My first AVR though I was out of the hospital in 4 days and I remember it took longer than 3 weeks to overcome being tired. Give it time.

 

[BlindFaith]

Sounds like you had Open Heart Surgery... this is par for the course.

 

[Philip B]

Recovery

Recovery

As others have commented, recovery stuff just takes time and a willingness to keep working towards getting better.

-Philip

 

[RunMartin]

Thanks for the replies. I saw a cardiologist yesterday and he said it was normal. I told him about my tickly chest and he said it was probably one of the drug I am taking (Ramipril). He took me off several of the drugs I have been taking (including Amiodarone). I now take Bisoprolol, Lansoprazole, Ramipril and Warfarin. He did not say how long I would be on the others, except for Warfarin which is for life.

I have been for a few more walks of about 1.5 miles and it does seem to be getting slightly easier. It is very difficult to know how much I can do without doing damage to the sutures. Does anyone know what the general rule is for this and what to avoid?

Thanks
Martin

 

[nngbwh]

Avoid lifting anything heavy.
More walking...

 

[DebbyA]

Martin--I hope you're feeling better now, but any time someone reports feeling worse over time, rather than better, I worry about fluid (echoing Mentu). At 3 MONTHS, I saw my cardiologist, 2 nurses, a tech, took the treadmill test for rehab, and nobody caught that what I was describing was effusion. A week later I spent 3 days in the hospital getting 2 liters of fluid drained from heart and lungs, with a new scar and a window in my pericardium.

Now that I have your attention, Are you still weighing daily? That is a good clue for fluid retention. If you gain two pounds in a day, or more than 5 pounds a week, get your doc to do more than just listen. An xray or echo might be needed.

I hope this doesn't apply to you at all, but since the forum seems to have temporarily lost its history, maybe it will help someone else.

 

[Luana]

The first week I got home from the hospital, I felt pretty good, but really did nothing in the way of exerting myself. Exactly one week after being home, I started getting short of breath, doing things like, oh, walking to the kitchen. Pretty much alarmed me, though I knew it had happened to others. Several days later SOB was even worse and I did go to the ER. I didn't have a PE or pneumonia and other than a small pericardial effusion, could not figure out what was causing SOB. It did go away, though it took a while.

I'm a bit past 3 months out now and have just started feeling kind of like myself again. I didn't think it would take this long, as I know it's been quicker for some. I still don't have the energy level I would like and hope to see that improve.

Luana
AVR November 20, 2009

 

[Nicholas288]

Martin,
My Doctors said as far as walking, to walk as much as I was comfortable with. There was no limit to walking in regards to the sutures. I was walking 5 miles at a clip ( on a treadmill) within a week of being home. I would get tired and have to rest but I wasn't gong anywhere anyway!
The only thing I had was that after a walk, my hands would get white and ice cold. The doctor said it could have been the beta blockers. It has since stopped.
Nick