Emotional Changes After OHS

[DuchessBear]

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about how emotions can change after OHS.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/08/11/AR2007081101390.html

 

[Elcarim]

Jeepers....

You know, I never thought if myself as a cyborg, despite all my artificial bits.

I know I have noticed some odd changes in myself after my surgeries. I am a lot more laid-back these days, less highly strung. I used to be a dog person, now I'm a cat person. And I used to have to watch a particular bad TV soapie that I now couldn't care less about.

I reckon the guy in the article is a bit detatched due to living on the edge for so long. It is probably what stops him from going mad.

My grandmother died a few months after my second operation. At first I felt nothing. I was worried that I had lost my 'feeling', lost my human-ness when they operated. I was so relieved when, at the funeral, I was unable to control my tears and the grief finally hit me. It was a very strange feeling. I had never felt so good about feeling sad before.

 

[hensylee]

a most interesting article. Especially since we all have questions about pumphead and emotions we feel might be different after OHS.

Maybe the heart IS the center of our emotions after all.

 

[Mary]

Perhaps they injured a portion of his brain when they did the procedure. That seems more likely to me than having emotional changes linked to the heart surgery.

 

[Ross]

Hear ye Hear ye one and all. The Heart is the gateway to the soul. the very essence of your being. I'm telling you, there is something to it.

 

[Rich]

I believe it.
I had a friend from work call me the other day. He had valve replacement last fall, and is still having some emotional issues. We talked at length and I told him while I didn't have a lot of those issues, it did stick in my mind for some time that something man made was keeping me alive.
These days it's all in the back of my mind somewhere,(along with a few other things).
Rich

 

[MDS]

No doubt there are emotional issues after OHS. It is either psychological in nature or due to some neurological change. Reminds me of a woman who worried that her husband would not love her after getting a heart transplant... her worries were set aside as he loved her just as much afterward.

 

[Marty]

Hey, its just a muscle!

Hey, its just a muscle!

To me the heart is just a muscle..... a pump. The early heart surgeons felt this way too and thats why they thought they could fix it.For hundreds of years the heart was thought to be untouchable by doctors and some thought that the soul might be in residence there. I remember in WW11 they operated on and sewed up hearts that had been pierced by bullets. Sometimes the bullet was still in the heart bouncing around and had to be plucked out with forceps.A few of these guys lived. Some of these surgeons remembered after they came home and thought they could fix a bad pump. After the bypass machine was perfected they really took off. And so it goes......just another muscle, just a pump.

 

[Granbonny]

My depression after VR. surgery was NOT being able to do all the things I had done before...I was only told 3 days before that I needed surgery....I had no symptoms...I was so active.......then when I came home..I felt guilty...Not being able to visit my Daddy in Alabama....Mama had passed 5 months before..Grandson was playing ball, ect....Had to wait out at least 6 weeks..before I could go and see my Daddy, watch my Grandson play ball, ect.....I took my recovery serious..Not like..getting out there early...and pushing myself...knowing it takes 6 weeks for the sterum to heal....Then I felt better..making the trip to Alabama at 6 weeks and going back to watch my Grandson play ball .......Felt better..and still took a year for me to get back into all the activites ...that I had enjoyed before surgery..why, I am so glad..I never have to go thru this surgery again (mechanical valve). No problem..Just take a pill everyday...Would never want to put my family thru this surgery again....this past weekend.. I had all kids/Grands for a great weekend on Lake...Son was wanting me to jump from a cliff. Where they were all jumping.. 5 years later..they still think I am Super..Granbonny... ......and I am age 67 Bonnie

 

[Marguerite53]

That was an interesting article. I truly cannot imagine what life with a completley new heart would feel like. Especially with all the media attention and hype. I did relate to one of his comments....and actually was very appreciative that he articulated it so well.... " I would describe myself as less intuitive. More of a thinking, more rational, less intuitive person. Less sure if I can do things by inspiration."

I guess I just don't think of myself as damaged goods. Rather, I am now being allowed to experience life as I should have always been allowed to experience it. I now have a properly designed heart, not a bicuspid valve. Now, I am normal (whatever that is!!)

Thanks for sharing the article. It must be tough for him to always be plugged in like that. I mean, that's a huge change....that really is kind of cyborg-like. At least many of us do not have that type of day to day reminder of our new parts.

Marguerite