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abbanabba

abbanabba

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 8, 2008
Messages
498
Location
Adelaide Hills, South Australia
Well my post-op appointment at Flinders was a complete waste of time :mad: They kept me waiting for over an hour - despite me telling them I had an appointment with my cardiologist after them - and because the appointment was supposed to be 1pm it meant I had nothing to eat since breakfast and by 2pm I was starving, yet unable to go and get something to eat in case they decided to see me.

At this point I told them I couldn't wait any longer and was leaving - they could jam their follow-up, since it clearly wasn't a priority for them - and all of a sudden they were able to find a doctor to see me. So FINALLY I was taken to the treatment room and all they did was to take my BP & HR, feel my sternum as I coughed and ask a bunch of irrelevant questions (apparently they thought I had a mechanical!). No discussion about medications, how I was doing at home, how my pain management was going (although I managed to get another script for some strong pain-killers since my shoulder has been playing up merry hell), how much I am able to do, etc :confused: It certainly wasn't worth the 1 hour drive to Adelaide and the wait in the far from comfortable chairs :mad:

Amusingly enough though, when one of the staff came in to get my details to page a doctor, she made a bee-line straight for my BF's mum who had come with me. I had to say "hey - I'm the patient here... I've even got the scars to prove it!"... she looked rather suprised and said "oh, you're so young!!".... well, maybe, but still... one shouldn't make assumptions!

Anyhoo... we eventually got out of there and to my cardio for the Doppler. I'm very pleased to say it all seems to be doing very well. My cardio came in while I was there and had a good chat with me and said from what he could see, there are already slight improvements to my heart function (YAY!) and the new valve is functioning beautifully with no leaks at all (DOULBE YAY!!). On the other hand, he did remind me that it would probably be a good 3 months or so before I started noticing any REAL improvement to how I am feeling - although I should definitely feel a little better day by day (which I am).

All up it was a really positive meeting and I go back to him in February when we will be able to sit down and really see how things compare. I hope by then I'll be more than ready to tackle public transport again to get there ;)

Meanwhile it's slowly, slowly, but I'm doing well and feeling very optimistic. I'm also very glad to FINALLY have my house back to myself!!! My in-laws went home yesterday and it was great to be able to finally do something without everyone telling me to "sit down - we can do it". I had to keep telling them that I can do SOME things and it's important to see what my limitations are... which I won't know if people don't let me do anything. I'm sure they thought I'd simutaneously have a heart attack and shatter into a million pieces if I dared to so much make myself a cuppa! :p :rolleyes:

Sigh... I appreciate the concern, but did feel rather smothered.

Anyhoo, enough of my waffling... time I checked out how the rest of you have been doing.


A : )
 
3 months....You'll probably be more fit for travel, but your still not going to be near tip top shape. That shoulder pain: It's most likely from being filleted like a fish on the table. No pain killer on earth has ever helped it that I know of, only massaging seems to work. Get the SO on it pronto!

Time for a TOOTS photo! :D
 
Sounds like you are well on your way to a good recovery. Enjoy your empty household and keep up the good work.
 
Glad to hear the positive results from the cardiologist...fantastic news!
Take care and don't overdo it!

Hugs, Yolanda
 
Good to read your encouraging report and that you are

doing fine,gives me hope cus my fins will be scaled soon:eek: and

i still recall my shoulder pain from the first surgery,made me wonder

what i did in there to tick them off:p:D

Keep up the good work.......easy does it!!!

zipper2 (DEB)
 
It sounds good, Anna.:)
If the shoulder pain persists, with a noticeable lack of mobility, get checked for a frozen shoulder.
I had replacement in June and then received a diagnosis of frozen shoulder in late August. It's fairly common after chest surgeries, but it was a booger for pain!
 
same here---shoulder and back pain are finally easing up and hopefully yours will do so soon as well. it sure is frustrating though.

what is a TOOTS picture?
 
Good to hear your good news and I hope you continue improving. Enjoy the quietness and peace at home. When my sister was here after my surgery, she would not allow me do anything...I enjoyed it and inside myself said: why not! The nurse who would come to home for blood work always looked at my oldest sister, who lives with us, and assumed she was the patient...two different nurses and the same assumption every time and they were both astonished when I said it was me!!
 
Sounds pretty par for the course, as we say....normal!

My guess is that you will notice that you are feeling better much sooner than your doctor expects. Many of us see amazing turnarounds in our energy levels and general disposition.

Good for you for sticking up for yourself. Keep at it!

Watch out and don't do much pulling and tugging and reaching just yet (as in still let someone help with the laundry). If you're on pain killers you won't feel it when you overdo....so be guardedly energetic about normal routines, okay?

Best wishes.

Marguerite
 
Cheers all. I'm trying to get that balance between enough activity and rest and also trying to be very careful with what I am doing around the house. I'm not going near the laundry or vacuum for a few weeks yet... or the dishwasher, since it's also in the laundry and the dishes need to be stacked in a tub and carted back and forth :rolleyes:

I've been using a heat pack for my shoulder (and all the other achey bits) which has been working a treat. It has also allowed me to cut back on my painkillers, so I am only taking them once or twice a day now - as opposed to every 3 hours which was the regime when I first came home. So far so good (thumbs up!!).

Mary - I've had a wry neck in the past, where my shoulder and neck have frozen up, which is why I was wanting to get this looked at ASAP. Still, it's not the "usual" side, so I'm inclined to think it's more likely post-op stuff, and again, the heat pack is a huge relief. In fact I got it from my chiro when I had the wry neck ;) Hopefully we'll be catching up with friends (one of whom is a chiro) soon, and I'm hoping she can take a bit of a look and see if there's anything she can suggest.


Meanwhile, like Sparklette, despite seeing it mentioned here quite frequently, I'm also completely lost to what a TOOTS pic is!! :confused: Clearly I don't get around here enough! ;)


Oh.. and I've also lost 4-5kg (8-11lb) of "real" weight since the surgery, so YAY!!! Only trouble is I bought some pants a size to big (all the better to lounge around in) and now they are literally falling off me!! Oh well, I'm sure there's worse problems to have! At least my feet no longer look like balls of mozzeralla with bocconcini toes like they did when I first came home! Oy!! Back then I was still carrying yet another 4-5kg of fluid, so very glad that has gone.


A : )
 
speaking of extra fluid, they pumped so much into me during the surgery that I gained almost 40 pounds. I seriously looked like the michelin tire man with all the rolls and pudgyness. I was unable to recognize my hands and feet and when I stood up for the first time I couldn't even support my own weight. i wish i had taken a picture of myself then bc my face was a round chubby ball and looked hilarious. my mom was very disturbed by this though--every day should would look at my legs and remark about the swelling. one day i realized that my swollen hands did look familiar--they looked EXACTLY like my maternal grandmother's hands!!!
 
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