ChouDoufu's Indian Adventure Post Op

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Your updates, and how great your doing really give us who are waiting for surgery a real boost. You let us know it is going to be sunny on the other side of the mountain. Glad to hear your recovery is going so good.
 
haha, got a couple minutes on a hotel computer. recovery going great, but the
resort sucks. long story will give sad details later. damn squirrels in the bathroom!!

anyway, doing 3-4 walks on the treadmill daily, 1.5-2.0 mph. anywhere from 20
minutes to one hour long. max bpm 100 @1.5 mph, 108 @2.0mph. also got in a
few long walks on the medical-waste strewn beach (just like new jersey!)

only dooing very light work with 1-2 kg barbells, mostly light stretching.

INR was 2.41 doc wants to stay in 2-2.5 range. next test will be jan 31 the
day i board the plane back to china.

later all. hope to sign in tomorrow from a new hotel.
 
Sounds like you are doing great. Hope you get the hotel changed today- doesn't sound too sanitary for a recovering patient!
 
hello everyone!

things are looking better, i've left the old resort behind and now have a nice comfy
seaside villa at a new resort. three buffets a day, internet lounge, and a pizza stand
on the beach. this one has a nice clean beach, and much nicer grounds. only thing
missing is a fitness center. would be nice to track my progress on a treadmill with a
BPM sensor. guess i'll just have to make do with long walks on the beach with my
pedometer, and try to take my pulse occasionally.

did a mile on the t-mill this morning before checkout. will be all for today, as i'm
taking a day off. yesterday got in six miles of walking.

got a couple pictures taken, but with old-fashioned film. will have to wait until
return to china to have developed. will scan in a nice shot of the scar, a lovely
shirt, and a pair of speedos.

***
PS: they put me on three months of ACITROM rather than warfarin. same
restrictions on foods. avoid greens and cabbage and soy beans and soy sauce,
which pretty much eliminates chinese food.
 
acitrom

acitrom

hello everyone!

PS: they put me on three months of ACITROM rather than warfarin. same
restrictions on foods. avoid greens and cabbage and soy beans and soy sauce,
which pretty much eliminates chinese food.

hello choudoufu

Great to hear you are doing so well.

what on earth is ACITROM?

did you go to india by yourself?

westie
 
yes, came to india all alone. too much trouble to bring an attendant/helper/family
member. parents too old to travel this far, and difficult to obtain a med assistant
visa for a chinese national not a family member. anyway, i'd be more worried trying
to keep my assistant entertained than working on recovery. and this way i can
have all the deserts at the buffet i want without getting nagged at.

here's a bit of data on acitrom:

http://doctor.ndtv.com/faq/detailfaq.asp?id=8084

Acitrom is the brand name of a medicine called nicoumalone. Coumadin contains
warfarin. Both nicoumalone and warfarin are quite similar and belong to the coumarin
group of drugs. In Canada and UK, nicoumalone (sold under the brand names of Sintrom
and Sinthrome) is widely used while in USA, warfarin is in vogue. You can use any one
of the two agents.

(nicoumalone --> acenocoumarol <chemical> A coumarin that is used as an
anticoagulant. Its actions and uses are similar to those of warfarin.
Chemical name: 2H-1-Benzopyran-2-one, 4-hydroxy-3-(1-(4-nitrophenyl)-3-oxobutyl)-
 
rubbish!

rubbish!

hello everyone!

restrictions on foods. avoid greens and cabbage and soy beans and soy sauce,
which pretty much eliminates chinese food.

hey tofu man

this is rubbish! my chinese wife does all our cooking and it is 99% chinese; greens, soy beans, soy sauce, miso soup etc etc.

i have a mechanical valve and take warfarin and i have no problems. currently i take 8 gms of warfarin daily, which i guess is reasonably moderate. my chinese girl is a maniac gardener, so there are some spectacular spikes in the amount of greens on the table, but my inr fluctuations are not too extreme.

mate, you can go back to china and eat heaps of them chinese foods, just test the inr regularly and adjust your dose etc


and frankly mate, if you think you can get your chinese sheila to cook anything else but chinese food you are simply flogging yourself
- apologies to everyone for the use of kiwi/aussie slang (it may not mean what you think)
 
strangely enough, i've found the chinese sheilas pretty much all can't cook.
sure in the villages, but not them city sheilas. usually wind up i do the cooking,
either chinese or western, and they do the clean up. this won't be too much
trouble--i've only got to take acitrom for another five weeks after i get back.
i can live without fried pig penises that long, i suppose.
 
recovery is going well. have completely stopped pain pills, no discomfort except for
the occassional 'tickle' in the scar area along with a little tightness. i feel as though
i'm fully recovered except for the yet-to-be-healed sternum. i'm really amazed how
good i feel only two weeks to the day after surgery.

this morning, walked 4 miles in one hour before breakfast. no tiredness or soreness,
only stopped because i didn't want to overdo it, and i didn't want to miss the
breakfast buffet.

for the next several days, i'm planning on doing a 4-mile walk on the resort grounds
before breakfast, and a 3-mile walk on the beach before lunch. may do a bit of
stair climbing and some light weight/resistance training as well. once i'm sure of this
level, i'll bump up a bit.

return to china on the first (finally got my e-tickets yesterday!), and thinking maybe,
just maybe, can start jogging....slowly and short distance....on feb 10, one month
anniversary.
 
....

walked 4 miles in one hour ..... no tiredness or soreness, only stopped because i didn't want to overdo it,
......
stair climbing and some light weight/resistance training as well. once i'm sure of this
level, i'll bump up a bit.

Congratulations on feeling so well. I am amazed....walked 4 m/hour and will do stair climbing and weight training?!! I am curious: was this cleared with the surgeon?! Am I missing something here....I was not supposed to take the stairs up and down more than once a day for the first two weeks, unless this was because I had two valve replacements!? :confused:

Good luck.:)
 
You are going remarkably well but please be careful about doing too much. Though you fell well, walking 7 miles per day really is quite a lot two weeks out from surgery. Walking is excellent for you but moderation is the key.

Happy you are more comfortable with the new place you are staying.
Continue to feel good!!

I'm sure Ross or someone will be along to talk with you about limiting your diet to fit your dose rather than dosing your diet for your form of warfarin.
 
Hello chou, it sounds like you are doing very well. Alot of the initial recovery phase is related to the level of condition the heart and body were in before surgery; but it's still wise to pace yourself a bit to avoid the nasty speed bumps of recovery.:)
 
I'm glad you are doing so well. I would ask your doctors before starting light weight lifting so soon since the sternum hasn't had time to heal yet.
 
it may not sound like it, but i am being careful. listening to my body for any signs
of doing too much. before surgery, i was walking 5-10 miles per day, running 2 miles
3 times per week, and cycling 20-30 miles in the hills at least once a week.

the doctors have all agreed that i can do this (since i was gonna do it anyway,
with or without their permission). they said moderation - and this level for me is
moderate - and just use common sense, be aware of what my body is telling me.
just finished this morning's four-mile walk, feel comfortable and energetic.
final bpm was about 114, so no extreme exertion yet.

stair climbing will begin slowly. no feeling of tiredness, breathlessness, or even
exertion after two flights, which according to the hospital website now clears me
for sex. but if i can easily climb four flights, does that mean.................??????

i guess i didn't explain my idea of light weight training. i'm not doing any kind of
weight lifting, not putting any stress on the sternum. since my new resort doesn't
have a weight room, i'm using soda cans or water bottles to add a little weight
when i do range of motion type exercises. like doing flexing exercises with 1-2
pound weights to add a small amount of resistance.

i'll be seeing the docs again on saturday for a checkup and a 'fit-to-fly' certificate.
will ask again then about my training regimen.
 
probably the final update in indialand....

yesterday and day before walked 9.5 miles, on road surface and on beach.
this morning did 6 miles in 90 minutes with a consistant heart rate of 108.
resting heart rate is now about 85, guessing that will go down as i recover.

was unable to book at the beach resort for the final two days, so will be
moving into a downtown business hotel. actually much more convenient
to the hospital and the airport, and it has a fitness centre.

saturday have another INR test, and a final checkup before flying back to china.
hoping the doc will give the green light to starting jogging on the 10th.

recovery going well, but my sternum reminded me today to be careful. really felt
it as i carried my luggage to the front desk. fortunately i packed light, just a small
backpack at 5kg and a bag of x-rays.
 
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