First Bike Ride Since Operation

[AndyChas]

I finally got on my bike today, 3.5 weeks post-op. I had planned to do so earlier this week, but it has been raining a lot lately, and I hate getting wet. I ended up doing about half an hour of easy riding along a virtually flat bike track, along with a few hills near home. In fact, the main challenge was getting the road bike tires to their minimum 80psi pressure with a hand pump. I did begin to feel a bit of irritation around the groin incision near the end (I had minimally invasive mitral valve repair surgery). It has been swollen for a few weeks now and looks like someone implanted a bullet there during the operation.

All in all it was fun, particularly as I managed not to fall off (my INR has ballooned to 4.6 at present). I also avoided punctures and the local bogans were good enough not to scream abuse at me (that's always on the cards around here, particularly with carloads of freshers roaming town this week).

Andy

 

[Debbie]

Hey Andy, glad to meet another bike rider!!
Here in the states they tell you to not ride your bike for 12 weeks. It takes that long for the stermun to totally heal. If you get in a bike accident that would not be good! Be careful and don't rush it, there will be plenty of time to get back on that bike. I know how much you want to get back to normal? but you need to take it alittle slower. Take care and good luck in your recovery. Debbie

 

[AndyChas]

Hi Debbie
I'm sure you are right about the sternum but I should have been more specific in my post: I was lucky to have had keyhole surgery through the ribs (I think with a Da Vinci machine, but I haven't seen the surgeon yet, so I'm not quite sure what he did). Had I had traditional open heart surgery I'd be nowhere near ready to get on the bike!
Cheers
Andy

 

[skeptic49]

Glad to read you're back on the bike, Andy!

Best wishes,

Jim

 

[neil]

hey sounds as though your doing great

 

[NewValveNY]

Hi Andy,
Great for you hopping onto your bike and taking it for an easy and nice spin! Feel good!
Allan

 

[abbanabba]

Way to go Andy! It's so nice to start doing some of those "normal" things again

Meanwhile, feel free to send some of the wet stuff down this way. We've only had 1.4mm so far this year


A : )

 

[AndyChas]

Meanwhile, feel free to send some of the wet stuff down this way. We've only had 1.4mm so far this year


A : )

Anna!! Even the Simpson Desert gets 200mm per annum! To use the vernacular, I hope it pisses down real soon.

 

[terodac]

I love riding my bike before my surgery, now I am scared I will fall off and hit my head or something! Fears I have! working on them. I was wondering about a 3 wheel bike if anyone has one of those and if it turns over! That was the only exercise I really enjoyed!

 

[AndyChas]

I love riding my bike before my surgery, now I am scared I will fall off and hit my head or something! Fears I have! working on them. I was wondering about a 3 wheel bike if anyone has one of those and if it turns over! That was the only exercise I really enjoyed!

Hi Terodac

If you have lots of money you could get a recumbent trike like this http://sheldonbrown.org/greenspeed/. I suppose someone somewhere has managed to roll one, but you'd have to be going really fast and the pothole would have to be enormous!

Seriously, are you worried about falling off because of warfarin/bleeding problems? If so, perhaps you could wear protective pads on your knees and elbows? I don't bother with them, but I do make sure I wear cycling gloves (the one time I did fall off pre-op, after running wide into some gravel while going quite quickly, I did cut both sides of one my hands). There's also the issue of internal bleeding from a serious cycling fall, but if you can find a peaceful place to ride with a good surface you should be able to minimise that risk?

All the best,
Andy

 

[BDMc]

Andy, Congrats on getting back on the bike so soon! Yay! I haven't been riding for a long long time now(7yrs?), but did ride for years after my surgery. I miss it, and have held onto my bike because I plan to get back to it. As one on warfarin, I always wear a helmet,(You should anyway!) and try to remember gloves. I have taken a couple of spills including a face plant, and not had any serious trouble with bleeding. I did bleed a lot, and actually called off "ugly" from work for several days. My wounds healed a little slower than before warfarin, but they healed up nicely. I encourage everyone that can to ride, but ride carefully. I used to ride in and out of Boston regularly. Part of what I enjoyed was the intense mental focus it required of me. I have a friend who is an avid cyclist, and last summer he was riding on a bike path, a long strait flat stretch. He was sitting up riding no hands for just a minute. He must've hit a pebble, because his front wheel went sideways and he went over the bars. He was lucky. He "only" broke his pelvis. So please be careful, but kudos from me if you are riding! All the best, Brian

 

[BigOwl]

I have a recumbent exercise bike that I haven't been able to use for several months because of angina and the assorted causes for my impending AVR. Your post was encouraging because I'm hoping I'll feel up to little flat-ride programs fairly soon after surgery as part of my rehab. Nice thing about recumbents is that there's no pressure on the sternum at all (mine has grips on the sides that measure heart rate). I think I'll wait quite a while on the "real bike" trips. After my CABG it was about three months before I felt confident enough to ride my mountain bike.

 

[AndyChas]

I have taken a couple of spills including a face plant, and not had any serious trouble with bleeding. I did bleed a lot, and actually called off "ugly" from work for several days. My wounds healed a little slower than before warfarin, but they healed up nicely. I encourage everyone that can to ride, but ride carefully. I used to ride in and out of Boston regularly. Part of what I enjoyed was the intense mental focus it required of me. I have a friend who is an avid cyclist, and last summer he was riding on a bike path, a long strait flat stretch. He was sitting up riding no hands for just a minute. He must've hit a pebble, because his front wheel went sideways and he went over the bars. He was lucky. He "only" broke his pelvis. So please be careful, but kudos from me if you are riding! All the best, Brian

Brian: that 'headplant' you endured sounds horrible. I haven't gone over the handlebars since I was a kid, and then I somehow managed to land on my feet unscathed, but you are right in saying that falls happen when you least expect them! My INR is now back where it should be, and hopefully I'll be able to stop taking Warfarin altogether in a couple of weeks. By the way, helmets are compulsory here

Big Owl: Having a recumbent exercise bike at home would be very handy in the first weeks after the operation. When I first went to the gym about two weeks after surgery I just pedalled away on an normal exercise bike, but it felt quite awkward leaning forward and putting weight on the hands (even though my sternum wasn't touched in the operation, my chest was still quite sore then). Hope you can get back on your mountain bike when you feel ready.

Cheers
Andy

 

[abbanabba]

Anna!! Even the Simpson Desert gets 200mm per annum! To use the vernacular, I hope it pisses down real soon.

Oh - just to be clear, I'm only referring to Jan/Feb this year... although our average is normally around 50mm for the same period and 400mm annually. Still, when you see how much they've had up in FNQ it makes you cry. If only there were a way to pipe some of it down into the Murray-Darling. Mind you - we're looking at cutting the foundations for our house in the next week or two, so I have no doubt it will decide to hammer down about then!

 

[Tbone]

Hopefully I will be able to get back on my bike this spring without going back into A-Fib. Looking fo a flat route now.

 

[Eva]

Happy for you, Andy,

It is a beautiful feeling to feel good again

 

[AndyChas]

Mind you - we're looking at cutting the foundations for our house in the next week or two, so I have no doubt it will decide to hammer down about then!

Anna: Sounds like your sternum is going to get a bit of a workout soon. Or are you supervising works?

 

[abbanabba]

I spent most of the day sitting in the shade supervising (although clearly not enough - I got quite sunburnt where I forgot to put on sunscreen... d'oh!).

Meanwhile, I'm back to vacuuming, mopping, hanging out wet sheets, and all sorts of other stuff which has been testing the ol' sternum. It seems to be doing really well and I'm looking forward to starting back on some weight training again in the next couple of weeks. It's amazing just how much better it seems to get from week to week and given this Wednesday is my 12 week mark, I'd say I'm right on track (woo-hoo!).

How are you going with it all? Are you able to sleep properly again yet (that's such an great day!!). If not, I'm sure it won't be too long now.


A : )

 

[AndyChas]

Meanwhile, I'm back to vacuuming, mopping, hanging out wet sheets, and all sorts of other stuff which has been testing the ol' sternum. It seems to be doing really well and I'm looking forward to starting back on some weight training again in the next couple of weeks. It's amazing just how much better it seems to get from week to week and given this Wednesday is my 12 week mark, I'd say I'm right on track (woo-hoo!).

How are you going with it all? Are you able to sleep properly again yet (that's such an great day!!). If not, I'm sure it won't be too long now.


A : )

Hi Anna

It's wonderful to hear that you are recovering so well; I'm also going along very nicely. I recall you saying somewhere that you found rehab helpful, and I have as well. In my case it's aerobics at the local hospital, and the ages of the class vary from me (the youngest at 42!) to a sprightly old digger who is 92, but I find myself looking forward to the daggy disco dancing (which is what it feels, sounds and must look like!). In fact, after years of completely self-supervised exercise, I'm now keen on joining some more intensive aerobics classes at the gym; the only problem there is that everyone else will be half my age! On second thoughts, the music will probably be crap as well.

The goal of sleeping on my side/tummy is still proving a little elusive: I've done it on a couple of nights recently, and it felt OK in bed, but I was pretty sore the next day on both occasions. As you say, however, I don't think it will be too much longer before that falls into place as well.

Cheers
Andy

 

[BigOwl]

I spent most of the day sitting in the shade supervising (although clearly not enough - I got quite sunburnt where I forgot to put on sunscreen... d'oh!).

Meanwhile, I'm back to vacuuming, mopping, hanging out wet sheets, and all sorts of other stuff which has been testing the ol' sternum. It seems to be doing really well and I'm looking forward to starting back on some weight training again in the next couple of weeks. It's amazing just how much better it seems to get from week to week and given this Wednesday is my 12 week mark, I'd say I'm right on track (woo-hoo!).

How are you going with it all? Are you able to sleep properly again yet (that's such an great day!!). If not, I'm sure it won't be too long now.

A : )

Sounds like you're doing great--about the same "schedule" I experienced after my CABG fifteen years ago. Of course I was only 46, but I actually went back to teaching three weeks after surgery. I wasn't hanging the sheets out to dry by then, but I could sleep well and lecture sitting down with my feet up on chair (I had scars down both legs from the vessel-hunt). At any rate, your progress is really encouraging, because I'll have about 13 weeks after my impending AVR to recover enough to take on my classes for the summer quarter.

Looks like its raining in both Adelaide and Melbourne, so there's encouraging news, too!