R
robert s
Hello to all:
I have been home over a week. I am 15 days post surgery for AVR at Cleveland Clinic. Everything has been going well except for a setback a few days ago. I began to get very sharp pains under my ribs on the left side as well as around my shoulder blade. Felt like a knife and was intense when taking a breath. In fact the pain was sharp enough that it reduced my ability to inflate my lungs by 60% or more. I spoke with my Cardiologist who suspected Post Surgical Periocardosis, which is an inflamation of the Pericardium. He told me to switch from Tylenol to Motrin at once. I took 600 mgm. of Motrin & then another 600 mgm 6 hours later followed by 400 mgm every 6 hours. The pain subsided within a few hours and has not returned. Followed up with an office visit the next day and the diagnosis was confimed with a cardiogram. It is apparantly fairly common and not too much to worry about. We will be doing an Echo in a few days to be sure there is no fluid build up between the Pericardiuim & the Heart. Other than that, I am walking over a mile a day on my treadmill and sleeping comfortably in all positions. I do get tired after about 3 PM each day. I nap for 30 - 40 minutes around noon & around 4 PM which is refreshing and seems to help.
I have a question:
I get out of breath quite easily; especially if I go up & down stairs. I am 59 and pre-surgery, I was in very good condition. In winter, I worked out 3 - 4 days a week in a health club; lifting weights and doing 30 - 40 minutes of good Cardio training. The rest of the year, I worked 3 - 4 hours several days a week at some pretty heavy duty gardening. I have 50 acre woods where I spend lots of time cutting walking trails & building vistas. Keeps me & my chain saw in good shape. What should I expect relative to the breathlessness as I recover? At six weeks will it start to get back to nornal or will it take an extended program of Cardio workouts to get back where I was a few weeks ago? I would appreciate hearing how others have dealt with this.
Thanks Bob S.
I have been home over a week. I am 15 days post surgery for AVR at Cleveland Clinic. Everything has been going well except for a setback a few days ago. I began to get very sharp pains under my ribs on the left side as well as around my shoulder blade. Felt like a knife and was intense when taking a breath. In fact the pain was sharp enough that it reduced my ability to inflate my lungs by 60% or more. I spoke with my Cardiologist who suspected Post Surgical Periocardosis, which is an inflamation of the Pericardium. He told me to switch from Tylenol to Motrin at once. I took 600 mgm. of Motrin & then another 600 mgm 6 hours later followed by 400 mgm every 6 hours. The pain subsided within a few hours and has not returned. Followed up with an office visit the next day and the diagnosis was confimed with a cardiogram. It is apparantly fairly common and not too much to worry about. We will be doing an Echo in a few days to be sure there is no fluid build up between the Pericardiuim & the Heart. Other than that, I am walking over a mile a day on my treadmill and sleeping comfortably in all positions. I do get tired after about 3 PM each day. I nap for 30 - 40 minutes around noon & around 4 PM which is refreshing and seems to help.
I have a question:
I get out of breath quite easily; especially if I go up & down stairs. I am 59 and pre-surgery, I was in very good condition. In winter, I worked out 3 - 4 days a week in a health club; lifting weights and doing 30 - 40 minutes of good Cardio training. The rest of the year, I worked 3 - 4 hours several days a week at some pretty heavy duty gardening. I have 50 acre woods where I spend lots of time cutting walking trails & building vistas. Keeps me & my chain saw in good shape. What should I expect relative to the breathlessness as I recover? At six weeks will it start to get back to nornal or will it take an extended program of Cardio workouts to get back where I was a few weeks ago? I would appreciate hearing how others have dealt with this.
Thanks Bob S.