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mtkayak

mtkayak

Well-known member
Joined
May 1, 2006
Messages
281
Location
Smynra, GA
I'm a little nervous as I have my 6 month check up on Wednesday the 11th. I'm like Ross, I would be happy if I never saw a Dr. or hospital again. Overall, I feel in good shape. I have the occassional palp but they never seem to bother me. Some days I have huge bursts of energy and others I feel kinda blah. I still manage to workout everyday. I still don't think I have 100% more energy that the Dr. promised I would have. My energy level is about the same as it was Pre Op (which wasn't bad). My heart rate has lowered to high 50's as opposed to mid 80's. I also started taking my Bp everyday, though I've never had high BP. My BP is usually around 110/65 or somewhere around that. Can anybody think of any general type questions I should ask when I go in? The only thing I can complain about is having not a lot of energy some days.

Wish me luck :)
 
Mike, recovery can take up to a year, or even more (in my case). Even though it seems we have some Super Recovery Members, we usually tell people to look for a full recovery at around a year. It was at least a year post op for me when I looked back and thought "Wow, I really do feel better!" My guess is that at one year, you will feel better than you do now.
 
Sounds like........

Sounds like........

you are still recovering if your heart rate has recently dropped into an acceptable range (I assume that is a resting heart rate..........). Still, it might not be a bad idea to run a holter for 48 hours. Since you were in good shape pre-op, I would think you would be rebounding much sooner, but I only have my energizer bunny to base that opinion on.

Just a shot in the dark, but could your blood pressure med be making you tired since you just recently started taking it daily?

Be sure to tell your doc what you told us and see what he has to say. I hope you get some good answers. Please keep us posted. Hugs. J.
 
gijanet said:
you are still recovering if your heart rate has recently dropped into an acceptable range (I assume that is a resting heart rate..........). Still, it might not be a bad idea to run a holter for 48 hours. Since you were in good shape pre-op, I would think you would be rebounding much sooner, but I only have my energizer bunny to base that opinion on.

Just a shot in the dark, but could your blood pressure med be making you tired since you just recently started taking it daily?
Click to expand...

Sorry for the confusion, I'm not taking any BP medicine. I just check my BP daily to see what it is. Luckily, I've never had a high BP. I just bought a BP cuff because I was curious to see what it was daily after I started working out again. My resting heart rate is good since I started doing a lot of aerobic exercises. My RHR was in the mid 70's Pre Op and mid 80' Post Op. So I'm pretty pleased that I have lowered it to the upper 50's. I'm probably being an impatient whiner. It was just since my Card said "You will have 100% more energy after surgery". I tried to explain to him that my energy level wasn't that bad to begin with. He said "Well, you still should have 100% more energy". I was thinking WOW I will be like Superman or something. I usually have low energy on the days I don't get enough sleep. And yes, I'm sure that has a lot to do with it. Still waiting for the Superman status :) Thanks for listening to me whine.

Congrats on your new Grandbaby Karylnn. She is adorable. ;)
 
hi Mike. I'm just a month or so behind you. Don't know if I'll catch you before you head into the cardio, but wanted to wish you good luck!!

I can relate on the energy thing somewhat. I actually feel like I was feeling better at 4 months out than I am now. Probably that's because I was taking naps religiously at that time!! Now, I never rest. I just get up and go for it all day long. We went on 5 day trip 2 weeks ago which turned out to be quite noisey and pretty stressful and it absolutely exhausted me!!

I'm going with the Karlynn scenario and am not going to judge too much until the year is up. Everyone is different. Somehow I don't think you're going to make it to Superman status, but, hey......you never know!! Doctors are people, too, and sometimes they're just not all that clever a conversationalist. My guess is that that is your doctor's pat remark and he just wasn't being a very astute listener.

Good luck!! Let us know what goes on.

:) Marguerite
 
I am so glad to read this thread:

I am so glad to read this thread:

I am also like Ross (sorry Ross if we are using you as a bad example) as far as doctors are concerned. I had my AVR surgery on August 4th of 2005. I was in the hospital for 7 days, and saw my old primary care Dr. a few days after I got out. I had the surgery in Minnesota as I had better connections there. I left Minnesota about 1 week after my surgery, with my home INR testing machine (INRatio). I haven't seen a Dr. since.

Caving in to a lot of outside pressure, I am supposed to see a cardiologist tomorrow. If I don't, I better come up with a good excuse before I get home. I suppose the cardiologist won't be too keen on my lack of follow-up. I am taking an Excell chart with the results of all my weekly INR tests for the last year. (I don't want to get in an argument over self-testing-I have good records to show it works).

I will have the chance to check this thread tomorrow, as my appointment is in the early afternoon. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

The more I think about it, the harder it is to imagine that I am really going to do this to myself. I think if he knew how I really felt, he wouldn't want to see me anymore than I want to see him.
 
Well, got back from check up today. My Card says everything looks and sounds good. He smiled when I told him about my energy level. He's said "You can walk/jog for 8 to 10 miles and your complaining about your energy level" jokingly. He seems to think my energy level is just fine, which he is probably right. I tend to be a very active person so if I don't exercise for one day I think I'm being lazy. In any case, my Echo results came back good. Normal gradient across the mechical valve as it is working "beautifully" in their words. My right ventricle is normal size, however, my right atrium is abnormal. Unforunately, this is the nature of my disease that will not change. With Epsteins Anomoly the Tricupsid valve is displaced so atrialization occurs where part of the venticle is part of the atrium. I was hoping this would change a little but not so. They had to place the valve higher in the atrium to give me more venticle area. However, this should not have a major effect on my health or my active lifestyle execpt that I will always be somewhat limited in high intensity sports where every ounce of oxyen is essential. The only way to cure the abnormal atrium would be to give me a new heart in the words of my Cardn. It was kind of cool, the Echo techincian showed me the remnants of the old valve on the screen.

I need to get the results of my Echo so I can view them myself.
 
Great report, Mike- keep up the good work! Shame on you Dennis, but I know how you feel- let us know how it all went.
 
I was wondering how things went today............

I was wondering how things went today............

Glad to hear that everything is really okay, and that your desire to be the bionic man is just causing you to have unrealistic expectations about your energy level. Yep, and leave it to me to insert words that aren't there (like medication)...............oh, well, that's what happens in the world of insomnia............:D

Congrats on the great checkup. Hugs. J.
 
Thanks everybody. I'm so glad that I found this place, you guys are great. It's nice to know your not alone.
 
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