Ross
Well-known member
Now your only job is to eat, walk, sleep, breath, repeat for a few weeks.
Gil Recovery
- Thread starter Luckyguy17
- Start date
Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:
karen14
Well-known member
Get well soon Gil! And breathe, relax Marissa... the surgery was a success! That's the most important thing. I hope Gil can find something suitable for his pain, and that he has a speedy recovery!
Adrienne
Well-known member
Great news!
YAY....WELCOME HOME !
Take it slow and don't be shy to rest often.
Take it slow and don't be shy to rest often.
Gil, I'm happy to see you are home; hospitals are no place to go for rest. Be easy with yourself for these next few weeks and enjoy the country air on your walks.
Larry
Larry
Glad to hear your home Gil. Your right, it is amazing how fast one can go from surgery to step down, you'll also be amazed how fast your body will tell you you've done too much.
So in regards of "living the quiet life for next few weeks will be the challenge", listen to your body and don't push it.
Take Care and be good to yourself.
So in regards of "living the quiet life for next few weeks will be the challenge", listen to your body and don't push it.
Take Care and be good to yourself.
Great news. Take it nice and slow. Remember not to lift anything heavy.
Yay!
Yay!
Great to hear from ya Gil and glad everything went so smooth. It's amazing to me how often something so major goes so smoothly! As we said just a couple wks ago, now we can start comparing notes about recovery. Don't forget to do your breathing exercises. Everyone's right - breathing is a very important part of the first few days of recovery. The first couple days after surgery I couldn't get that damn machine above 1000, and was starting to think I never would. But then I got it up to 1500 one day, and once I got home, started getting it up to 2000, 2500 and finally 3500 was pretty easily doable after just a few more days. That made a huge difference in how I felt in general. Keep us posted as you feel up to it, and welcome to this side!
Yay!
Great to hear from ya Gil and glad everything went so smooth. It's amazing to me how often something so major goes so smoothly! As we said just a couple wks ago, now we can start comparing notes about recovery. Don't forget to do your breathing exercises. Everyone's right - breathing is a very important part of the first few days of recovery. The first couple days after surgery I couldn't get that damn machine above 1000, and was starting to think I never would. But then I got it up to 1500 one day, and once I got home, started getting it up to 2000, 2500 and finally 3500 was pretty easily doable after just a few more days. That made a huge difference in how I felt in general. Keep us posted as you feel up to it, and welcome to this side!
Ross
Well-known member
Guys, don't get too complacent. Yours may have gone text book, but some have many speed bumps.
10 days post op today and time for a little status update
Today the 60 odd incision staples come off, hope that doesn't hurt too much (smile)
Am likely one of the lucky ones, but at 56 years of age, am ahead of my expectations for 10 days post op.
over the last 10 days there has never really been pain for me, more like varying levels of disconfort, with the the tubes, catheters and other of 1st 40 hours being the worst
the last days of hospital stay were uncomfortable as well, because i blew up like a blimp on water rentention and the frequent bloods tests were a pain, cause they coul not find my veins.
Since arriving home 5 days ago, every day is a gradual build up and so far no setbacks yet and maybe there will be but maybe not
Coumadin for now is not the issue i expected, as am a heavu consumer of the K vitamin type foods and understand that consuming consistently is the answer and that Coumadin will be adjusted accordingly, so not the difficuly regimen i expected.
Am now down to 4 meds, Coumadin, Metropolol, Furosemide and Riva K (the last 2 are for next 3 days only)
It is likely that Coumadin will remain my only med, for approximately 90 days and then a strong possibility of replacement of Coumadin by a daily aspirin
minor issues remaining:
getting back to my 7 hours of uninterrupted nightime sleep, as currently very fidgety (meds or inactivity, probably both)
noticed already that active up and about days = slightly better sleep
has been way too much TV in last few days, so I need to wean off this ASAP, as it truly a waste of time and mindless, although ok for 1st few days, when attention span and concentration a little low
for me what has worked best so far:
no naps in daytime, rest is sitting with book, computer or TV
on feet often and frequently, never exceed about 2 hours sitting
lie down is nightime only, lazyboy with feet up is closest to to daytime R&R
toughest thing so far is resiting ths tempatation, to lift objects potentially too heavy
so am still cautioned to be ready for setbacks, but am optimistic as well, that there may be some normalcy for me in another 2-4 weeks of lifestyle with little or no comprosmise, the hope factor!
Gil
Today the 60 odd incision staples come off, hope that doesn't hurt too much (smile)
Am likely one of the lucky ones, but at 56 years of age, am ahead of my expectations for 10 days post op.
over the last 10 days there has never really been pain for me, more like varying levels of disconfort, with the the tubes, catheters and other of 1st 40 hours being the worst
the last days of hospital stay were uncomfortable as well, because i blew up like a blimp on water rentention and the frequent bloods tests were a pain, cause they coul not find my veins.
Since arriving home 5 days ago, every day is a gradual build up and so far no setbacks yet and maybe there will be but maybe not
Coumadin for now is not the issue i expected, as am a heavu consumer of the K vitamin type foods and understand that consuming consistently is the answer and that Coumadin will be adjusted accordingly, so not the difficuly regimen i expected.
Am now down to 4 meds, Coumadin, Metropolol, Furosemide and Riva K (the last 2 are for next 3 days only)
It is likely that Coumadin will remain my only med, for approximately 90 days and then a strong possibility of replacement of Coumadin by a daily aspirin
minor issues remaining:
getting back to my 7 hours of uninterrupted nightime sleep, as currently very fidgety (meds or inactivity, probably both)
noticed already that active up and about days = slightly better sleep
has been way too much TV in last few days, so I need to wean off this ASAP, as it truly a waste of time and mindless, although ok for 1st few days, when attention span and concentration a little low
for me what has worked best so far:
no naps in daytime, rest is sitting with book, computer or TV
on feet often and frequently, never exceed about 2 hours sitting
lie down is nightime only, lazyboy with feet up is closest to to daytime R&R
toughest thing so far is resiting ths tempatation, to lift objects potentially too heavy
so am still cautioned to be ready for setbacks, but am optimistic as well, that there may be some normalcy for me in another 2-4 weeks of lifestyle with little or no comprosmise, the hope factor!
Gil
I'm glad tthings are going so well and good luck getting your staples out. Justin never had any staples or stitches after any of his surgeries,(well he had stitches in his chest tubes holes but not sternum) he always had steri strips or just glue so I can't offer ny advice on how that feels. To help with the boredom and get away from TV, do you have any hobbies you always wanted to teach your self? This could be a good time for that, before one of Justin's OHS he decided he wanted to figure out how to make macreme tye necklaces /keyrings so we loaded up on books and supplies and by the time his 6 weeks were up he was getting good (and everyone had a nice keyring lol) another thing we do after some of his OHS, was work on a big jigsaw puzzle when he was past the drug/fog stage. between his walks several times a day and things like that, the time went pretty quick. I hope things continue to go well.
I am echoing what Lyn said. I had thought I had glue for my outer part of incision, but when I got a copy of the surgery summary report, I saw something called 'subcuticular sutures' for the outer part (wires inside). (who knows maybe there was some glue too?) I am actually kind of surprised that any surgeon still uses staples, hope the removal is not ouchy, but congrats on getting to that point!
The sleeping will likely become better when you get to the point of being able to get off the Metoprolol. One of its known side effects is sleep disruption and interference with melatonin production. I've been off that drug for 10 days now and sleep quality and duration is much better!
The sleeping will likely become better when you get to the point of being able to get off the Metoprolol. One of its known side effects is sleep disruption and interference with melatonin production. I've been off that drug for 10 days now and sleep quality and duration is much better!
Thanks Lynl, have a ton of hobbies, most are physical though, like woodworking, renovations and outdoor upkeep, but the puzzle may be a really good idea as am starting to read more once again and can now conectrate and problem solve, where could not very weel a few days ago
just do not want to re become a TV addict as we were 25 years ago...waste of a lifetime, unless stuck in a chair or bed, am a believer that <2 hours of TV per day is an achievable target that is reasonable, yet too many of us unfortunately do not adhere to, as a lifestyle law.
Heat wave has broken overnight, so am looking forward to getting out more and more often for walks and activities, just beautiful this morning, so will be offine shortly....next threat mosquitoes and flies, stings and bites....but walking way easier than in winter icy period....so beleive this is a good time for rehab
Gil
just do not want to re become a TV addict as we were 25 years ago...waste of a lifetime, unless stuck in a chair or bed, am a believer that <2 hours of TV per day is an achievable target that is reasonable, yet too many of us unfortunately do not adhere to, as a lifestyle law.
Heat wave has broken overnight, so am looking forward to getting out more and more often for walks and activities, just beautiful this morning, so will be offine shortly....next threat mosquitoes and flies, stings and bites....but walking way easier than in winter icy period....so beleive this is a good time for rehab
Gil
re the staples,
not sure if it is surgeon dependant, the guy in bed next to me had glue or something, but no staples.
i was a Kryptonite glue recipient, the 1st at my clinic, (for thoracic bone mending), and they seemed to use that cement liberally (and probably lacking experience in use), as have bumps along the incision.
so it is possible that they needed the staples to compensate for the bone the Kryptonite bone cement
did also notice that bypass patients, legs as well as torso, all had the staples closure....so maybe each hospital/clinic has their own set of standards
will ask nurse this afternoon if it the most common standard here and why?
my incision is not real pretty, like Mr. Green's though, but am more concerned on what wss done inside vs. outside and at my age, shirtless is rare and will not be starting a new male model carreer soon (grin), so who cares, but may need to go to high neck t-shirts vs. my preferred v-neck tshirts.
decision/decisions....smile\\Gil
not sure if it is surgeon dependant, the guy in bed next to me had glue or something, but no staples.
i was a Kryptonite glue recipient, the 1st at my clinic, (for thoracic bone mending), and they seemed to use that cement liberally (and probably lacking experience in use), as have bumps along the incision.
so it is possible that they needed the staples to compensate for the bone the Kryptonite bone cement
did also notice that bypass patients, legs as well as torso, all had the staples closure....so maybe each hospital/clinic has their own set of standards
will ask nurse this afternoon if it the most common standard here and why?
my incision is not real pretty, like Mr. Green's though, but am more concerned on what wss done inside vs. outside and at my age, shirtless is rare and will not be starting a new male model carreer soon (grin), so who cares, but may need to go to high neck t-shirts vs. my preferred v-neck tshirts.
decision/decisions....smile\\Gil
