When to return to work?

[The mail man]

First post here. Thank you Hank for the welcome, I appreciate your time. Well, here's my situation. I'm a healthy fifty one year old that was born with a bicuspid aortic valve and also had aortic stenosis. On April 17th I had my aortic valve replaced. The surgery went well and I am doing fine now and am also going through cardio rehab. Thing is I have had so many conflicting reports about when I can return to work. I realize everyone's situation is different. Prior to my surgery, I had no other health issues, am not overweight, am a non smoker etc., in other words, fit as a fiddle except for that valve. the only symptom I ever had was a burning sensation in my chest when I would exert myself. As far as returning to work, when I asked my surgeon who has forty years of experience he said "After six weeks, your sternum will be hard as a rock." Two weeks after my surgery, I went to see my local cardiologist who listened to my heart and told me he didn't need to see me for another year. I asked him the same question and he said "Three months before returning to work". My personal doc says "Six weeks is the norm but since I do physical work, I should be fine at eight weeks. As my handle here implies, I am a mail carrier. I work a rural route and spend about two to three hours standing casing mail in the office and another five to six hours driving my personal vehicle on the route. At this point I am just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. I really don't think if I take off work another three weeks past my return to work date of June 18th that I will feel much better than I do now. On the other hand I don't want to mess something up.

Thanks for the replies,
The mail man

 

[ski girl]

I'd say go with your surgeon's recommendation, the heart isn't holding you back now, it's the sternal healing!

 

[dpalz]

I'm a desk jockey (engineer) and at 6 weeks, although my sternum was healed, I wan't too comfortable going back to work at first. I think this was mostly psychological though as within a few days, I was quickly noticing how much better I was feeling. I think because prior to returning to work, I was (unknowingly) symptomatic. I was afraid I was going to feel like that again back in the office. Now, 8 months post surgery, I am the cliche "a new man". Do what you feel is best for you. Sometimes this is the opposite of what we may want to do, but ultimately it will lead you to the right place.

 

[pellicle]

Glad ya went back. Still, take it easy an follow doctors directions about driving and stuff.

I went back at about that time but my wife drove me in.

 

[ski girl]

I'm a desk jockey too and I was back at work two weeks post op, about half time and then full time after three weeks post op . For me it helpedmy recovery to have something to do! After my second op I was held against my will in hospital for a month and was back at work the next day.

We're all different, no need to push yourself. I was lucky to have a boss who understood my need to get back to normal asap but also he never pushed me!

 

[iheart]

Mailman,

Welcome! We have a lot of similarities. I'm a 50 year old who had surgery one day after you did. I'm also physically fit and and was feeling good just a few weeks after surgery. I'm not doing "official" rehab, but will begin going to the gym again soon.

I've felt so good during my recovery so far that I "overdid" it physically a couple of times. I've lifted heavy things that I shouldn't have. I'm embarrassed to admit I did some other stupid things too while I was home all those weeks, like working on my roof one day, and using my chainsaw to cut branches of a tree that fell in my yard at 4 or 5 weeks post surgery.

Now, at about 7 weeks out I feel great but know I still have limitations. I started back at the office last week but will not be doing the part of my job that occasionally involves lifting of equipment. I'm a desk jockey for now.

From reading the account of your job, I might give it just a little more time before going back, unless you know you can handle five days of doing what you do. I will tell you going back to work this week wore me out. My second day back was esp bad, I overdid it and hit a wall. I seemed to get back into the swing of things after that. I miss being able to take a nap whenever I want to.

Going back is a personal choice, and you should take the doc's advice and see how you feel eight weeks out. You will likely be ready to go back then. Don't be in too much of hurry. Think of all the things you could do around the house!

 

[The mail man]

Thank you for all the replies everyone. I have an appt with my reg Doctor next week. Not so sure what he will be able to tell me one way or the other but I guess I will go just for peace of mind and be honest and tell him what the cardiologist recommended. When I do return to work, there is no "light duty" for me, its sink or swim. So, I think I will go back on a Thursday to get my feet wet before tackling a full weeks work. That's about the best plan I can come up with. iheart, you're an inspiration. Yes, I too did a few things I should'nt have during recovery. They said "No driving" during recovery should I be in an accident, the airbag deployment would be a bad thing....no airbags in my '86 Chevy pickup so away I went at three weeks.

 

[Classtime Sailer]

I'm a 55 year old school teacher who went back after 7 weeks. I was walking 3 miles at a "good" pace by the time I went back in addition to 50 minutes on a stationary bike (different days). I circulated more slowly in the classroom at first, went up the stairs more slowly, and was pretty tired at the end of the day. I would do a simulated work day this week before you go in on Thursday. More for the confidence it will afford you than anything. You are healed but you lost a great deal of fitness over the last 6 weeks.

 

[TheGymGuy]

If it's a desk job and you can comfortably sit, stand, and walk at least a mile - I'd say 3 weeks post OP is pretty safe. Assuming you do not need to drive and someone can drive you in the back seat, till you are cleared to drive yourself.

 

[Protimenow]

If I recall correctly, I went back to work at about 8 weeks -- my first editorial task involved a flight from Los Angeles to San Jose, driving to a conference or a vendor, then flying back. All the while, I probably had a computer in a bag on my shoulder. (This was in 1991, when notebook computers were much heavier).

In your case, the biggest issue may be getting that mailbag into your car. Although it's 'sink or swim', I'll bet that someone at work can help carry it to your car for you. Of course - I won't say anything about ignoring your doctors. (In my case, some of my rehab was one mile walk to Tommy's to get a chili burger, that great cardio-friendly hamburger).

 

[scott.eitman]

I am a desk guy and went back to work at 6 weeks after the first and 4 after the second. There is nothing like getting back into the swing of things to really help you get back to 100%. As long as you can can stand and lift, I would think anytime. You may even want to discuss this with your supervisor so that you might be able to creep into it rather than jump in with both feet.

We have a person at work that had robotic surgery. We told her to come back and we would help with the heavy lifting. That may be a solution for you.

Stay Well
Scott

 

[tom in MO]

I would not ask your personal doctor or your cardiologist when to go back to work. I'd talk to my surgeon. If your heart is working fine, it is the surgeon's job to know when you have healed enough to work. At least that's what they told me. I have a desk job and was told 6-8 weeks. I went in at about 4-5 weeks and he took an Xray to make sure the sternum was healing fine. He then signed the release for work and made it for a full 8 weeks. He would have let me come back earlier (6 weeks) if I had to.

I have a desk job, my surgeon said that if I did manual labor, I would be out for 6 months. He said that it takes 6-8 weeks for the sternum to heal for most things, but for a full knitting together for manual labor it took 6 months.

 

[kimcdougc]

The only thing I would caution about is your sternum. My cardiologist told me 8 weeks is good but 12 weeks is the best chance of you not doing any damage to your sternum. He said he had seen too many people lift, push, pull etc too early only to do damage to their sternum which affected the rest of their lives. What is 12 weeks of not lifting, pushing, pulling etc. in the scope of your life and healing properly? Just my 2 cents. Good luck with your decision.