After Three Months?

[Jkm7]

On May 28, I will be three months post op and am so grateful how smooth my recovery has gone. Sometimes I hate to even think it let alone say it as I get that pit of my stomach feeling that something can still go wrong.

Do we ever get to a point where we say to ourselves, Whew....the chances of complications are tiny? I know it's a journey for the rest of our lives to do all we can to stay as healthy as we can and infection, a-fib and regurgitation etc can always occur but is there a point where we say it isn't a 'post op complication' if something pops up?

 

[ctyguy]

I know what your feeling. Prior to my surgery I used to get indegestion alot. In retrospect some of those instances may have been heart oriented issues and I didn't even realize it. I hadn't had any instances of it again until about a week ago and again last night. Its hard not to lay in bed and wonder, what if this is a sign something is up ? Now last nights indegestion bout may have had something to do with two beers, a plate of fahitas and chips and salsa but I've also had it when I've been good on my diet. I will be curious to see who else posts to this thread.

 

[khawkk]

I'll be 3 months June 6th.
I'm noticing things that I may have had my whole life
but now with questioning apprehension.
I'm looking forward to my appt with my new cardiologist June 19th.
My original one skipped town but that's another story. good riddance.

 

[Freddie]

Not sure if this an answer to your question, so consider it my 2 cents.
I think during early recovery everyone feels more 'in tune' with their body and questions every burp, pain and among other things what they are feeling is normal. I know I did.
Its one thing to be "in tune" with yourself, but one must try to put those worries aside and recover and live your life to the fullest.
I guess other issues can occur, but for me I'll deal with them if and when they do pop up..........but until then life goes on.

 

[marie]

On May 28, I will be three months post op and am so grateful how smooth my recovery has gone. Sometimes I hate to even think it let alone say it as I get that pit of my stomach feeling that something can still go wrong.

Do we ever get to a point where we say to ourselves, Whew....the chances of complications are tiny? I know it's a journey for the rest of our lives to do all we can to stay as healthy as we can and infection, a-fib and regurgitation etc can always occur but is there a point where we say it isn't a 'post op complication' if something pops up?

I was 4 months out on the 22nd and I have those feelings as well but somehow the further out I get the more confident I get.

I wonder too if we ever get to that point. On the 22nd of June I will come off the sotalol for AFib. I certainly worry about if it will be Ok or if I'll go back into A Fib.

Certainly I have not answered your question only expressed my own fears.
Earline

 

[CThrock]

I am almost two years since OHS. I think I'm more aware of my body. Knowing how I feel and know when to stop going, going. The first year everything seem to be going good then this year had some things happen that lead to another kind of surgery. Then all my feelings started back up again, going to the dr all the time again things seem so complicated now. My heart rate,kidney function, INR, lung issues sometimes get to be to much.
But, on the other hand I do feel blessed and don't want to take life for greated.
I can see how you've got to get on with your life the best you can even though things are sooo different... Thanks for letting me post on this subject because I have been feeling overwhelmed....

 

[Jkm7]

It's a relief to learn others feel this way. Sometimes I fret that I'm looking for things to concern me. I don't sit around and worry all day by any means but these thoughts lurk in the back of my mind and surface from time to time.

 

[cp172]

I am almost four months post op and certainly know your fears.I try not to dwell on them and instead enjoy every moment of life. Sometimes its easier said than done.

 

[ruth]

I chose my 1 year re-birthday to decide that I was no longer "post-op". That was a very emotional day for me, really all for the positive but I kinda relived the whole experience as memories flooded through my mind the entire day. After that I really let myself put it all behind. Perhaps that sounds weird or arbitrary but it helped me to move on. Truth be told I was fine well before then but I think it took that 1 year mark for me to psychologically fully recover.

Peace,
Ruth

 

[duncanjo]

Post op since April 04/08. For myself i try and not to think about it, stick to my meds, look forward towards my excising and getting back to my normal life style. i find if i think about it to much iii start to be a worry bug. And yes i find my self more in tuned with my body.

Joe
Mech valve april 04/08
(ironman) LOL

 

[westie]

what operation

what operation

i will be 3 months out from my operation on 03-06-2008 and much of the time i have forgotten about it; seems there is a disconnect between the operation and warfarin and my home testing. maybe i am a fool, but i have never worried about having post op complications.

sometimes i hear my on-x valve ticking away, but it is very quiet and does not trouble me. best of all, my heart does not start pounding when i walk up the hill to the back of our land, i do not hear my heart banging away when i lie in bed at night and do not get a strange sensation in my head when i bend over.

i do a bit of walking and much of my work is manual, but i have never really followed my post op exercise guidelines.

am just a little bit haunted by the surgeon and cardiologists pre op comments that i should be worried about having an artificial valve because it is a terrible thing. at the time they were 95% certain i would have mitral valve repair but i have no complaints, i like straight shooters and they gave it to me straight between the eyes!

but i feel really great and i have found no restrictions to my living a totally normal life, so what the heck!

 

[WayneGM]

Like Ruth, I think I mentally turned the "post-op" corner on my first anniversary. That said, now over two years out I am still very aware of my body, much more so than I was pre-op (actually pre-diagnosis).

 

[pamela]

Like Ruth, I think I mentally turned the "post-op" corner on my first anniversary. That said, now over two years out I am still very aware of my body, much more so than I was pre-op (actually pre-diagnosis).

God, yes, Wayne. I was in blissful (and dangerous) ignorance pre-diagnosis.

I count myself as beyond surgery by the time I am make my last post-op visit for scar checks, this includes the 3 month echo confirmation. And yep, the concerns and body awareness we experience are a part of healing. Thankfully, life goes on or we'd be stuck in limbo otherwise.

Take Heart and heal!
Pamela.

 

[Kathy McCain]

Hello everybody,

Yes, I am certainly in tune more with my body. I am still having Pericardial inflamation. My effusion is finally gone though, to which I am thankful. I still have the pain from the inflamation, and am on meds. My cardio has tried ALL the standard treatments, and nothing seems to really cure me. If this last round of meds don't to the trick he has referred me to a Rheumatologist. There are also other things I notice from the surgery that I was not aware of pre-op. I call them "maladies". Also, little issues that I believe have gotten a bit worse post-op. (female issues) I just take it, day by day,and try to get on with my life. I really do want to put this behind me, and believe heart patients should NOT let it consume their life! No, you can not ignore the fact that even though your heart is "fixed", that in reality you will always be a heart patient. Oh, I would like to add, I am 3 1/2 mos post-op.

Best wishes to everyone out there! Kathy M.

 

[Smiley2000]

The only thing that I can really add to these posts, is that KNOWLEDGE IS POWER. Before my Echo 3 days ago I was really under the impression that all my post-op troubles that I've had pre-op is due to the valve that is leaking severely again and could "see" with every fast heartbeat that my stitches (mitral valve ring) is tearing loose and that they are floating like boats in my blood

It was such a relief to see that the valve is looking good and that the ring is still in place!

 

[Philip B]

Worries?

Worries?

It would be nice to say that my brush with mortality in March 2007 had little impact upon how I think or live my life post-surgery, but I can't. This said, it doesn't consume me either. All of the elements associated this have become something of a routine.

I still wake-up every morning and listen for my valve clicking. I do my meds around 8:00 pm every night. I carefully monitor my heart rate when I'm engaging in exercise. I check my INR every Thursday morning. I still think about my mortality from time to time.

I don't imagine this routine will change much as I move into the future. It's simply a part of who I am now. Others around me sometimes comment that I seem to have a more positive outlook now and they're probably right.

-Philip