sheridan07
Well-known member
Thanks Wayne
Did you have any post surgery blues?
- Thread starter sheridan07
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Thanks Wayne
netmiff
Well-known member
I have chronic recurrent major depressive disorder, have been on meds for years, and doc in ICU warned me that if I should start feeling worse, GET HELP!!!!!! Depression is a common side-effect of OHS for some reason that they haven't yet fathomed out. I had a few bad days, but it was the slowness and the helplessness that got to me, frustration more than depression, and I did have a few crying jags, nothing major, and I managed to snap out of it pretty quick. You might want to try some depression-coping strategies .
Best wishes, and just know that lots of us here have gone through something like it.
Best wishes, and just know that lots of us here have gone through something like it.
C
corrineinwa
During Peter's first post-op visit last Thursday, his surgeon took me aside and mentioned that putting a patient on a heart and lung machine can contribute to depression and that I need to keep an eye open for it.
I found this article interesting: http://www.examiner.com/a-164401~Do...inked to depression, emotional disorders.html
I found this article interesting: http://www.examiner.com/a-164401~Do...inked to depression, emotional disorders.html
sheridan07
Well-known member
Thanks Jeanette and Corrineinwa!
Jeanette I feel like you do. More frustration than depression.I forget a lot too.
Corrine Thanks for sending me the article. I see my cardio sometime next week. My cardio rehab made cuts due to the economy and that's why I did not see someone about this yet.That is the cut they made. I complained about that. Thanks again
Jeanette I feel like you do. More frustration than depression.I forget a lot too.
Corrine Thanks for sending me the article. I see my cardio sometime next week. My cardio rehab made cuts due to the economy and that's why I did not see someone about this yet.That is the cut they made. I complained about that. Thanks again
I'm feeling the blues myself as well. Emotions are all over the place, one minute happy and the next I cry!! It will be 5 weeks Wed. Hopefully it will pass soon. Glad to know it is normal, I haven't been on for a few days and wish I had so I could of read this post!!!!
bookjp
Well-known member
Can't really say that I have the blues.Just the normal complaints.Wish taste buds would return all the way so I can enjoy a good steak,want off the medications I'm on and would like to sleep a little better.Other than that six weeks before I can golf.Good luck to everyone out there!!!!!
Post-surgery depression
Post-surgery depression
is very common and needs to be watched carefully. The depression can show various problems and concerns. For many people, it fades away gradually. But, for many others it lingers and can cause all sorts of difficulties.
This is an interesting research based article that might be helpful.
http://www.caregivershome.com/news/article.cfm?UID=1922
You might also want to search Google. I noticed that they had many, many articles...some evidence based and others ancedotal.
Wishing you the best,
Blanche
Post-surgery depression
is very common and needs to be watched carefully. The depression can show various problems and concerns. For many people, it fades away gradually. But, for many others it lingers and can cause all sorts of difficulties.
This is an interesting research based article that might be helpful.
http://www.caregivershome.com/news/article.cfm?UID=1922
You might also want to search Google. I noticed that they had many, many articles...some evidence based and others ancedotal.
Wishing you the best,
Blanche
sheridan07
Well-known member
Thanks Blanche for the info. I talked to my cardio rehab nurse today and gave me a Doctor I could go talk to.
Carole I wish the best to you. You and I aren't alone. Thanks everyone
My 2nd surgery was worse and the 2nd week was hell and
taking soooo long this time to heal,my surgery was Jan 22 ,2009
Im still healing but not so much complaint on depression but was there
2nd week and lasted about 3weeks,i think too the drugs and anesthetic
just pure hell for us who wouldn't be depressed,hope your feeling better
Very normal to feel like this,if we didn't then we should WORRY!
zipper2 (DEB)
taking soooo long this time to heal,my surgery was Jan 22 ,2009
Im still healing but not so much complaint on depression but was there
2nd week and lasted about 3weeks,i think too the drugs and anesthetic
just pure hell for us who wouldn't be depressed,hope your feeling better
Very normal to feel like this,if we didn't then we should WORRY!
zipper2 (DEB)
BigOwl
Well-known member
I had to laugh because I just finished puddling up whilst posting my "appreciatin' the little things" thread and typing my list! I do get very emotional and/or depressed on a fairly regular basis. Sometimes it happens when I'm talking to a nurse or a doc about my progress, etc. No explanation whatever (except that I'm a natural puddler). But I do have some solutions.
1. Pie. Preferably lemon meringue. Even people with no taste buds can taste it.
2. Puppies. (Mine are five years old, but they still make me laugh.)
3. Jeeves & Wooster (Hugh Laurie before he got depressed and became House)
4. Did I mention pie?
The only reason my favorite tipple (or yours) isn't on here, is that I have no taste buds to speak of (I'm sure it's becoming clear that this is a source of extreme irritation and the focus of all my personal angst) and why waste good wine? Anyway, the point is to indulge yourself in what makes you feel good. You deserve it.
1. Pie. Preferably lemon meringue. Even people with no taste buds can taste it.
2. Puppies. (Mine are five years old, but they still make me laugh.)
3. Jeeves & Wooster (Hugh Laurie before he got depressed and became House)
4. Did I mention pie?
The only reason my favorite tipple (or yours) isn't on here, is that I have no taste buds to speak of (I'm sure it's becoming clear that this is a source of extreme irritation and the focus of all my personal angst) and why waste good wine? Anyway, the point is to indulge yourself in what makes you feel good. You deserve it.
Brian,
You would be abnormal if you do not feel that...the trauma of the news for the surgery, the wait, the choices to make all of these take a toll on us. One day happy and feeling great and full of life...another day misrreable and not sure whether just sad or depressed. I am seven months post surgery now, and the last months or so, I felt depressed and very low energy...but picking up again.
Good luck...you are doing great after 1 1/2 months.
You would be abnormal if you do not feel that...the trauma of the news for the surgery, the wait, the choices to make all of these take a toll on us. One day happy and feeling great and full of life...another day misrreable and not sure whether just sad or depressed. I am seven months post surgery now, and the last months or so, I felt depressed and very low energy...but picking up again.
Good luck...you are doing great after 1 1/2 months.
WilliamJE
Well-known member
When I was in the hospital for AVR, my blood sugars used to vary widely. 57 to 150 something. The one time it got to 57 or in the 60's, I asked Leonita for some of the fudge cake she had gotten at the cafeteria for herself. She gave it to me.Eat some cake.
robocop
New member
for the first month i cried like a baby for little things. you are normal
G
Guest
Ohhhh....yes!
Heck ... I STILL have some of those ups and downs ... and my last surgery was in 2003!
*raises eyebrow*
Would sex work?
If so ... THAT is what I need!
Cort | 35swm | "Mr Monte Carlo"."Mr Road Trip" | pig valve.pacemaker ...RT 66 = Sept 5-16, '09
WRMNshowcase.legos.HO.models.MCs.RTs.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"Get out there and find someone" ... Good Charlotte ... 'I Don't Want To Be In Love'
mattwisconsin
Well-known member
It is pretty common. I don't remember it but my mom says that I was really depressed after my second surgery, which was when I was 13. I think that this could have been because up until my surgery I rode my bike about 15-20 miles a day. I had my surgery in June 1991 and wasn't allowed to ride my bike for the rest of the summer.
Now I just had my third surgery and I am about three and a half weeks out. I have just e-mailed the director of the archaeological excavation in Greece that I have worked at for the last six years and told him that I will not be able to make it back this summer. So I am expecting to be pretty depressed this summer again. I can't excavate, I will have to live with my parents in Green Bay, which is not bad but all of my friends have since moved out of that city, and I will have to try to find some sort of temp job there for the summer to allow me to pay my medical bills. So I am not that depressed yet, but I expect to be soon. I may have forgotten to add that I am in a long distance relationship and the one time that my girlfriend and I get to live together is for three months during the summer while we excavate. Even though the weather is getting better, I think my mental state is about to get a lot worse.
Here is to positive thoughts.
Now I just had my third surgery and I am about three and a half weeks out. I have just e-mailed the director of the archaeological excavation in Greece that I have worked at for the last six years and told him that I will not be able to make it back this summer. So I am expecting to be pretty depressed this summer again. I can't excavate, I will have to live with my parents in Green Bay, which is not bad but all of my friends have since moved out of that city, and I will have to try to find some sort of temp job there for the summer to allow me to pay my medical bills. So I am not that depressed yet, but I expect to be soon. I may have forgotten to add that I am in a long distance relationship and the one time that my girlfriend and I get to live together is for three months during the summer while we excavate. Even though the weather is getting better, I think my mental state is about to get a lot worse.
Here is to positive thoughts.
ponytaila1a
Well-known member
Matt "This too shall pass" concentrate on the fact that your surgery allows you a longer, healthier life......easy for me to say. I have to remind myself of this these days when I am awaiting a surgery that just seems to be delayed and delayed.....you are on THAT side of the mountain....REJOICE!!!
I have to remind myself of this these days when I am awaiting a surgery that just seems to be delayed and delayed.....you are on THAT side of the mountain....REJOICE!!!mattwisconsin
Well-known member
I know at this point it is not that bad, but just waiting to see how I will deal with this summer. It might be fine, but who knows.
heyrebekah
Well-known member
I was pretty depressed for the first week or so after surgery, but now that I am home I feel much better.
The weird thing is, I really miss my old heartbeat. I had such a pronounced murmur. It sounded like a little drum roll, but nice and soothing. Now I just have a normal boring heartbeat and it sounds like some kind of stranger inside of me. Even though the normal heartbeat means my heat will go on beating for a long long time, sometimes it feels like I had something unique and special and threw it away.
The weird thing is, I really miss my old heartbeat. I had such a pronounced murmur. It sounded like a little drum roll, but nice and soothing. Now I just have a normal boring heartbeat and it sounds like some kind of stranger inside of me. Even though the normal heartbeat means my heat will go on beating for a long long time, sometimes it feels like I had something unique and special and threw it away.
terodac
Well-known member
It hit me hard about a few months post op! I still have a few days a month, but I just keep on moving! Enjoy the small things of life and count my blessings everyday! It is worst in women than men, we are always the ones that are use to doing everything and taking care of everything. Now, it is time for you to take time for yourself. Your body has been through a lot! Your cardio dr should pick up on it, mine did after all I would do is cry! Seems crazy but I still sometimes will cry when I see him, most likely because he helped save my life! Good Luck! ((((((((hugs)))))))))))
PairoDocs
Well-known member
Sheridan,
Don't worry about the long-term depression. It comes and goes and not everyone is prone to it long term. I've read that up to 70% of post OHS patients go through some depression, even those who don't normally get it. More likely than not, you'll find the depression will lift for keeps within the first year of surgery. I've struggled with clinical depression badly over the years even prior to my OHS. My surgery was 12/12/07, and the following summer I didn't want to do hardly anything. I let fruit rot on the ground, the lawn overgrow terribly, and even didn't do much with my rock hobby, except a trip to Virgin Valley in June to try to find some nice opals. I didn't find much in the way of nice opals--I felt terribly let down, so I fell into a depression that made July and August miserable to the point I didn't enter anything in the local county fair--except for a few chickens last minute. Instead my family took a trip to California to spend a week with my mother. It helped some. The autumn was okay, and I put in a lot of wood for the winter. Sad to say this winter I hardly burned any of it--just too depressed. There were a few bright spots, such as my first snowboarding since the surgery, and another fun tubing trip with my kids' Tae Kwon Do school. But then we nearly lost our dog Andromeda, but (praise God!) she's recovered completely and is still with us. Still, the house remains terribly cluttered. I am still completely unemployed with not even distant prospects on the horizon.
On the positive side, my depression seems to have lifted with the season and I have resumed writing my science fiction after a several year hiatus. I have also joined my children in taking Tae Kwon Do. My son is high green belt, my daughter high yellow, and I'm white belt with two stripes so far. I led a rock hunting expedition into Idaho's Outback--the Owyhee/Elmore county border area--led 10 other vehicles deep into the desert and everyone found lots of good rocks. Also did a caving expedition for my children's school upper grades and for the first time I was able to exert myself without gasping like a fish out of water, despite my weight gain. That alone drove home to me the fact that my valve is truly fixed--despite being out of shape, I was able to catch up by merely breathing a bit deeper and faster; before such measures were ineffective and would leave me more prostrated than ever and my body just seemed to know it. Apparently such was my condition for so long, I actually have to consciously make myself breathe deeper and faster--but it works! I presume it will become instinctive as soon as my body figures out how effective it now is. Yes, my increased girth has made doing crunches and toe-touching stretches quite uncomfortable, but I can now quickly recover, whereas before I would feel drained for quite some time even when I was 30 lbs. thinner after moderate exertion. Now I think I'll work on weight loss--the winter blues made me prone to eating a lot more than a used. Perhaps I should go to one of the throwdowns such as Cooker's and become accountable for my weight loss. Funny thing is that I crossed 200 lbs. going up while he passed below 200 lbs. I was 206 lbs. the last time I weighed.
My suggestion is to get involved with some group activity involving some sort of physical activity--restricted lifting of course due to the recent surgery, but with your fixed heart, the aerobic part shouldn't be much of a problem--pending clearance from your physician of course. Getting involved with one of the ongoing activities on some of the other forums here could help you with the first few months out. Some folks here stay for the long term, while others, like me, find lots of offline life getting in the way of regular posting here. However, for those of you who have missed Laura's and my posts here, we're still going on and we'll try to not be so scarce in the future.
Take Care and God Bless!
Chris
Don't worry about the long-term depression. It comes and goes and not everyone is prone to it long term. I've read that up to 70% of post OHS patients go through some depression, even those who don't normally get it. More likely than not, you'll find the depression will lift for keeps within the first year of surgery. I've struggled with clinical depression badly over the years even prior to my OHS. My surgery was 12/12/07, and the following summer I didn't want to do hardly anything. I let fruit rot on the ground, the lawn overgrow terribly, and even didn't do much with my rock hobby, except a trip to Virgin Valley in June to try to find some nice opals. I didn't find much in the way of nice opals--I felt terribly let down, so I fell into a depression that made July and August miserable to the point I didn't enter anything in the local county fair--except for a few chickens last minute. Instead my family took a trip to California to spend a week with my mother. It helped some. The autumn was okay, and I put in a lot of wood for the winter. Sad to say this winter I hardly burned any of it--just too depressed. There were a few bright spots, such as my first snowboarding since the surgery, and another fun tubing trip with my kids' Tae Kwon Do school. But then we nearly lost our dog Andromeda, but (praise God!) she's recovered completely and is still with us. Still, the house remains terribly cluttered. I am still completely unemployed with not even distant prospects on the horizon.
On the positive side, my depression seems to have lifted with the season and I have resumed writing my science fiction after a several year hiatus. I have also joined my children in taking Tae Kwon Do. My son is high green belt, my daughter high yellow, and I'm white belt with two stripes so far. I led a rock hunting expedition into Idaho's Outback--the Owyhee/Elmore county border area--led 10 other vehicles deep into the desert and everyone found lots of good rocks. Also did a caving expedition for my children's school upper grades and for the first time I was able to exert myself without gasping like a fish out of water, despite my weight gain. That alone drove home to me the fact that my valve is truly fixed--despite being out of shape, I was able to catch up by merely breathing a bit deeper and faster; before such measures were ineffective and would leave me more prostrated than ever and my body just seemed to know it. Apparently such was my condition for so long, I actually have to consciously make myself breathe deeper and faster--but it works! I presume it will become instinctive as soon as my body figures out how effective it now is. Yes, my increased girth has made doing crunches and toe-touching stretches quite uncomfortable, but I can now quickly recover, whereas before I would feel drained for quite some time even when I was 30 lbs. thinner after moderate exertion. Now I think I'll work on weight loss--the winter blues made me prone to eating a lot more than a used. Perhaps I should go to one of the throwdowns such as Cooker's and become accountable for my weight loss. Funny thing is that I crossed 200 lbs. going up while he passed below 200 lbs. I was 206 lbs. the last time I weighed.
My suggestion is to get involved with some group activity involving some sort of physical activity--restricted lifting of course due to the recent surgery, but with your fixed heart, the aerobic part shouldn't be much of a problem--pending clearance from your physician of course. Getting involved with one of the ongoing activities on some of the other forums here could help you with the first few months out. Some folks here stay for the long term, while others, like me, find lots of offline life getting in the way of regular posting here. However, for those of you who have missed Laura's and my posts here, we're still going on and we'll try to not be so scarce in the future.
Take Care and God Bless!
Chris
