Funny the people you meet ... in the bra fitting room ...

[Allisoninoz]

I'd been meaning to buy a new bra since my surgery nearly six months ago ... but had avoided being properly fitted as I couldn't be bothered dealing with a 19-yo assistant all curious about my scar. I finally did it yesterday - and the woman helping me check my bra size hadn't changed was delightful. She took one look at me and said, 'oh, you've had OHS'. I agreed and told her when. She told me she was 63 and needed two valve replacements and was seeing her cardio next month. She was very scared, so I reassured her about how it all works and recommended my surgeon. I bought a lovely new bra and she seemed happier. A nice experience!
Tomorrow is August 22. I had my surgery on February 22. Wow. I'm feeling pretty good. Trying to jog, but the longest I can do is about four minutes in interval training, but I'll get there. Hang in there everybody ...

 

[AgilityDog]

Isn't it a small world? Though my problem with bras is fitting the ICD!

A few months back we had a client come in to sign his Will. I was serving as a witness. I knew he was having his aortic valve replaced that week. He had his two college aged kids with him, and they were scared to death. We were talking about the directive and medical power of attorney, as well as anatomical gifts, when he mentioned no one would want his aortic valve. I told him mine was "plastic" and he perked up, wanting to talk about it (it happened to be a day when I WASN'T wearing a blouse that showed my scar.

So after the signing, my boss left the room and left me to talk with him and his kids. He was having Dr. Ryan do a Ross procedure and I was able to reassure them what a great surgeon he had chosen, and how I had been so much sicker than this father was, before my first valve replacement, and that he was going to be fine. I could tell his kids were so relieved to meet someone who had "been there, done that" and was obviously healthy afterwards.

 

[epstns]

Allison - It is great to hear from you in such good spirits. Sometimes the things we fear turn out for the best, and this sounds like one of those. . .

As for jogging, I am just (in the last couple of weeks) getting to the point where I can jog a mile or two on a treadmill. Until some "magic" time point, I could only do intervals of 1/4 mi. jog, 1/4 mi. walk. Then I just put it aside and went with my rehab program. Their protocol calls for finding the fastest pace at which you can comfortably walk, then raising the grade percentage to manage the amount of effort they require of you. Since I was still in rehab (finish next week - Yay!), they called the shots and I walked a fast walk on the increasing incline. I got as far as 4.2 mi/hr at a 10% incline. Believe me, it felt like work. After a couple of weeks of increasing grade percentages, I took a chance. On one of the days between rehab days, I go to my regular fitness center. I tried turning my treadmill up to a slow jog - about 4.8 mi/hr. Wow! I found that I could keep that pace for over a mile! I guess rehab helped me more than even I expected. Now, a couple of weeks later, I can actually jog 2 full miles at 5.5 mi/hr. This is faster than my pace for the last year or so prior to surgery!

Why do I relate all this? Certainly NOT to make you feel like you are behind in your recovery. You're not. I really wanted to bring up two points. First, we all heal at different rates and in different ways. What some patients could do at 4 weeks took me 8. What I could do at 8 weeks might take others even longer. We're all just different. Second, all that aside, there is a very good probability that you will be able to get back to at least the physical condition you were in prior to surgery, and probably even better. I now know that with my valve's decreasing performance, even though I did not realize it, I was losing physical conditioning. Now, with a new valve, I have a chance to "earn" a lot of that conditioning back. Even with all of my early complications, life is good and I'm going to live it well. You have the same opportunity, and I know you will use it wisely (your avatar tells it all!).

 

[Jkm7]

What a gift you both gave to those people you 'met along the way'.
That is definitely paying it forward.