10 week post op physical fitness report

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Quick facts just to inform any readers:

I am a 26 year old male active duty Marine (due be being on Coumadin, I will be medically discharged this year.) On 15 January 2015 I had my 2nd OHS. This time I received an ATS mechanical and had my ascending aortic aneurysm repaired with a dacron graft. I had my first OHS at 24 years old on 30 July 2012 and I chose a Ross Procedure (it ended up failing due to one of the leaflets in my aortic position becoming severely prolapsed and causing even more severe AI than before, and my aortic aneurysm was becoming dangerously enlarged) .

on 26 March 2015 it will be exactly 10 weeks since I got my mechanical valve. Tonight my goal was run at least 3 miles without stopping. I completed it in 31:33, so roughly a 10:30/mile pace. I am pretty happy with that at this point. I became moderately winded towards the end of the run, but for the most part my breathing felt controlled and not overly labored (weeks leading up to the 2nd OHS I was experiencing pretty severe chest discomfort and inability to achieve full lung expansion during cardio).

I recovered for a couple minutes after the 3 mile mark and finished off completing 3.6 miles total.

Also I can complete 45-50 pushups in one set without rest or breaking form and I can complete 15-17 dead hang pullups.

Although I was still faster before surgery, I am now no longer experiencing the troubling symptoms during cardio which often made me stop or slow down significantly. I was doing slightly more pushups and pullups in a max effort set before surgery, but I am very close to where I was before.

Regarding weight training. I weighed about 205lbs before surgery. I am now about 193lbs first thing in the morning before eating. I have lost 1 1/4'' mass in my arms and about 2'' mass in my chest, and about 1/2" in my neck. So needless to say, I lost some hard earned muscle mass that took me a while to build. I have yet to truly experiment with upper body weight training, but I will update when I get to that point.

My main cardiovascular goal is to get back to sustaining sub 8 min miles for a sustained 3 miles before the end of this year, and hopefully put back on some of the muscle mass I lost during the recovery.

Good luck to everyone in upcoming surgeries and recoveries!
 
Hi

So needless to say, I lost some hard earned muscle mass that took me a while to build. I have yet to truly experiment with upper body weight training, but I will update when I get to that point.

I know how you feel ... I regard my fitness as "hard won" and fought to get it back in 1993 after my december 1992 OHS ... I was 29 then and that was way easeier than returning to "fitness" after the long and bumpy recovery after 2011 .... Fight the good fight ... the fight to stay strong as long as you can

"
Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
[FONT=founders_grotesk_textsemibold]Dylan Thomas[/FONT]
"
 
Hi, That's an awesome fitness report. Would you know how Hi do you keep your heart rate? How do you feel after a hi intensity training? I am interested to know how do athletes with mechanical aortic valve feel after hi intensity training.
Regards
Adrian V.
 

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