9 Days Out - UPDATE

[LeakyUK]

So glad I was called in early, Planned surgery would have been next tuesday. Surgeon was Mr Akowuah (We do NOT call Surgeons Dr in the UK). His previous practice was 2 years at Royal Melbourne Australia.

For those interested in UK valve choice, tissue or mechanical were fully explained, but there is no choice of brand. The NHS will have bulk deals with selected suppliers and will probably get a lower price than charged in the US.

Minor complications - what they called 1st stage heart block - an elongated p wave. This improved after stopping Metroprolol. I am only on the same meds as before surgery (apart from Warfarin) to review at 6 weeks.

Very erratic heart beat on day 3 (Started after painful and exhausting coughing). Scheduled for cardioversion the next day, but cancelled after returned to normal with a good rest.

Futher spells of erratic beat brought on by exertion and resolved after rest. I am getting the message as to when to stop.

Todays routine was typical - up first at 06.30, breakfast, drink & top up the paracetamol. At 9 am start waking the household as requested. Back to bed for 2 hrs sleep & an hours rest.

Downstairs for my walk, measured by counting the number of Lampposts passed.
Another sleep from 2.30 to 4pm then an hour resting and listening to audiobook on MP3
Back to the rocker/recliner for TV and more rest, upstairs for an hour on the PC then down again for supper and a pile of Meds.

A large supermarket order has just been placed online for the first time. Almost finished with the dreaded cough. Eating a lot of cheese, ciabatta, olives and tomatoes, but little interest yet in hot cooked meat. Also drinking less tea and coffee.

No obvious mental deterioration or forgetfulness. One spell of blurry double vision. Screen time kept to minimum because things start going blue after a while.

Currently on 2 MG Warfarin, will be checked again tomorrow.

 

[pekster11]

glad you recovering leaky ! keep us posted how your recovery is going !
What make of mechanical valves do the NHS offer then ??

Joe

 

[epstns]

Sounds a lot like mine became after the initial complications were remedied. It becomes a routine, but some of the time intervals change. As you heal, the waking hours increase and your tolerance for walks and other activities increase. You just kind of grow into it. Sounds like you're just about on track now, so keep up the good work.


Major checkpoints seem to be that most of us suddenly found ourselves feeling markedly better at about 4 weeks post-op, with another "Eureka" moment somewhere about 8 or 10 weeks. Having experienced both of those, now at 13 weeks post-op I feel pretty "normal" - until I try to push the limit, at which point I am firmly reminded that it is too soon for whatever it is that I tried to do. Aches and pains go away, cough disappears and most other minor symptoms seem to resolve at various points in recovery. About the last to end for me is the occasional insomnia - still gets me now ant then.

 

[Jason]

Glad to hear everything is on track, Leaky. I hope everything stays positive for you!

 

[camgough]

You are doing great for 9 days out! I was still in the ICU all buggered up. Congrats!

 

[Chris M]

You seem to be doing OK there, Leaky, that's wonderful! It gets easier as the days pass.

I have no idea what mechanical valve was fitted inside me, I will try and get some info on this when I see my surgeon in 4 weeks time. As you say the choice given here in the UK is broadly tissue vs mechanical, other than that you just get whatever's in stock, I suppose. :tongue2:

I too had some heartbeat irregularities after a few days, both too slow and way too fast/erratic. I was put on a medicine called Amiodarone to regulate it, with the threat of cardioversion in a few days if I did not return to a normal rhythm... well I did regain a normal rhythm quite quickly so that was not necessary after all though I did have to cart around a monitor (attached to numerous sensors/wires on my body) and an external pacemaker (hooked up to the pacing wires in my heart) for several days... very tedious as I had to sleep with these boxes, couldn't shower and my release from hospital was delayed by a couple of days. I have now reduced the Amiodarone to just the one tab a day, presumably I will be taken off it altogether at some point. I am also on one quarter tab of Metoprolol, a larger dose of which I was on beforehand. Ditto my hope about getting off this soon too and hopefully my heart will behave itself without these pharmaceutical aids!

Well, enough about my experience - I only mentioned it because I believe these things are reasonably common - about one third of patients have post-op rhythm issues apparently.

Keep on looking after yourself and taking it easy, in a few weeks you'll feel very different I'm sure!