Hi from Down Under

[Andrew J]

This is the first time that i have spoken to people apart from my family and close freinds regarding my Op. July 8th 2008 I had a Aortic Vavle replacement. A few weeks before my Op I went onto the net to find out more and found you guy's. I read some of the stories which helped me deal with some of my issues. The Op went well and I was out in 12 days. A week later I wasnt feeling to well and was told I looked like a ghost and was in pain.A week after getting out my sister took me to the hospital and I was back having another Op cause they found over litre of blood in my heart and didn't know why, they thought my valve was leaking. My Doctor told me I was a lucky man cause if I didn't go in when I did I would not have seen the end of the weekend. It's difficult to explain but I felt like a different person the second time. I felt better in a certain way than I did after the first Op. my recovery was a bit longer and hard work.
Anyway the reason Im writing it's been 8 months and I would like to hear from anyone regarding their fitness program. I'v been doing a lot of walking over the last 4 months and just resently started doing weights. I'm 48yrs old and it's been many yrs since I'v done any workouts.

 

[Mary]

Hi Andrew, and welcome!

It's good to read that the second re-op has left you feeling better than the first, but I'm sorry you went through that experience.

If you look at the Active Lifestyles forum, you'll find plenty of threads devoted to members' re-entry in a fitness regime after replacement.

Once again, thanks for joining us!

 

[WayneGM]

Welcome to VR. Glad you decided to join and post. Cheers.

 

[tprice54]

Welcome. With your cardio's okay, you should be fine to get into a fitness regime. Start with walking....get up to 3-4 miles at at time, then walk a little faster...this is a good start and will get you into a routine. Good luck and let us know how you are doing!

 

[SumoRunner]

Like Tom says, you have to ask your cardiologist what your fitness program should be and how soon you can work up to different things. Aerobics is one, weights is another, high intensity intervals is yet more. We have no idea how much damage was done to your heart that might place limits on what or how much you can do.

I made sure also that my wife was present when I got him to tell me I could return to running, etc.. All he cautioned me on was lifting heavy weights. I mean I've benched 175 lbs (80 kilos) but that's not very heavy in my book. It's less than my body weight. And even though the doctor did not rule out marathons, I promised my wife I wouldn't. Otherwise, I was open to anything because my valve was replaced before it could do major damage.

 

[halleyg]

Hi Andrew, I highly recommend yoga as part of a fitness routine, and especially anyone recovering from heart surgery. I practice 2-3 times per week, as well as hill climbing on the treadmill and weights. Practicing yoga in addition to your regular fitness routine can reduce blood pressure and stress, which is good for your heart. Plus, I find the strong mind:body connection heals your heart on many levels.

 

[froggo]

Welcome and glad to hear you are the mend now. I would suggest you walk and keep walking at a little faster pace all the time. Also there are lots of clever and helpful people on here who will help you along the way. They have helped me so much. If in real doubt about anything you can always send Ross a personal message he knows about most things if not he will try and find out for you. You should also ask your cardiologist what is allowed for you as we are all individual and he is in the position to know what your limitations are.

 

[Eva]

Hi Andrew,

Glad you are feeling much better and you were indeed 'lucky'. I just wonder if you felt weird or any symptoms after first OHS other than being pale or did you think whatever you felt was a part of recovery?!! Anyhow, it is behind you now and wish you a continuous smooth improvement.

As for wt. lifting, I would check with your cardio, considering your special situation.

Walking is fine, increase your pace slowly covering the same distance, is great.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[sheridan07]

Hi Andrew,

I'm just starting my cardio rehab. I exercised for years until my heart problem stopped me from doing anything for the last 6 months or more. I walk everyday now and I'm going in for rehab to let medical staff watch over me. I would ask your doctor before starting anything.Good luck

 

[kodi]

Welcome Andrew. Glad you decided to join us. Not much to add to all the above comment just wanted to reinforce the idea of checking with your cardiologist. Work into a routine gradually and think about cross training rather than one type of workout. Regardless of the ones you choose, they will most likely complement each other and will making workout a lot more enjoyable. Keep us posted on what you are doing and as always this is a great place for support.

 

[abbanabba]

Hi Andrew - wow, that's quite a scary experience! Good thing you managed to get it seen to in time.

So did your hospital send you to rehab after your surgery, or are you looking to amp things up a bit on your own? I had my surgery 3 1/2 months ago and am also considering stepping things up with weights and a little more core strengthening work. I just need to remember to start s-l-o-w-l-y!!!

Anyhoo, good to know you're doing well enough to get back into things

BTW - where did you have your surgery done? I was at Flinders (public) and missed out on the new cardiac ward by about a month - d'oh!! Oh well.... maybe next time!!!


A : )

 

[Andrew J]

Thanks for all the quick responses and thanks for the support. I will be checking out the Active Lifestyles forum for more info. Jack, I can only wish that I could lift 80kg, mind you that is my weight. When i went in for my first op I was 84kg and when I came out after my second op I was 75kg. I do go for a walk once a week for about 1 hr and I cover about 5km and every second or third day on the bike machine for 30mins and I do 5-6 km.Halley you mentioned that you do yoga and also walk/ gym, I find that very active. I find that my heart feels ok after what I do it's my legs that are in pain.
Can I ask is it normal to really feel your heart beat or is it the mind because sometimes I can really feel my heart beating in my chest, never felt it like that before.
In response to your question Eva regarding how I felt. After my 1st Op I also had problems breathing cause during surgery they pricked my lung accidently, luckly when they checked they told me it would repair itself. I started to go pale and had very strong pain in my right shoulder on a Wed. nite,saw my phsio Thurs. couldnt help,saw a Doctor Fri. morning,she told me to go straight to hospital. In Hospital Fri. luch time, they stuck tubes into my chest to pump out the blood, then straight into the surgery, woke up Tue. 5 days later. It was a shock when they told me what happened, It was hard for me to cope with what could have happened when I saw my kids (2 boys). Second time round there was no pain anywhere just very weak.
Just to finish off, you know the wires they use to keep your ribs together, 2 months after 2nd Op I had to go in again to have one removed cause it was sticking up and pushing through my skin. It was day surgery which was nothing.
abbanabba, I had my Op at the Ashford Hospital both times, everyone was really great. I could have gone to Flinders but living at West Lakes it was to far. They did have a Rehab centre in the past at Ashford. They did give me various types of info for Rehab but only stuff that would see me through the first 3 months. Yes, you take it real slow with your Rehab.
Brian all the best with your Rehab, I would be interested with how you go.
Thanks and take care.

 

[halleyg]

Can I ask is it normal to really feel your heart beat or is it the mind because sometimes I can really feel my heart beating in my chest, never felt it like that before.

This happened to me quite often.. last summer it had been almost a year since my second surgery and I decided to swim laps. I had been exercising regularly since 3 months out of 2nd OHS, so about 8 months and felt I was in good shape. But, since swimming laps (for exericse, not leisure) was something I hadn't been doing since way before any OHS, it was hard for me, I pushed myself, but afterwards I felt like my heart was beating all over my chest. I took it easy for a couple of days after that. But I did find that the case when starting any new, kind of challenging exercise. My cardio assured me that it was OK to gradually push myself. I am going to try lap swimming again, I feel I have worked very hard to get where I am so hopefully next time I will have a different experience.
As for yoga, starting out in a beginner class would be ideal for you, then as with anything building up to higher levels. I find that the strength/stamina I gain in yoga carries over into my other activities, and I can call on the stability it brings mentally into other areas of life as well.

 

[SumoRunner]

Can I ask is it normal to really feel your heart beat or is it the mind because sometimes I can really feel my heart beating in my chest, never felt it like that before.

That's a hard to to analyze. I still have irregular beats which being abnormal feel harder. Then there are times when it isn't racing or skipping but it simply feels like it's beating harder, stronger contractions. This can happen even when I'm near resting HR. They are disconcerting but not a real problem. After all, I've run more than 17,000 miles in the 17 years since the surgery and done a little bit of strength work too. So these feelings stay with you.

The irregular beats if you have them are exacerbated by caffeine and other stimulants. Decaffeinate yourself completely and things will feel better. One odd sensation I had, and people told me I was nuts, was that it felt like the heart had moved to a slightly different location than before surgery. I still think they shifted around a bit.

...problems breathing cause during surgery they pricked my lung accidently, luckly when they checked they told me it would repair itself.

Yes, I had one lung collapsed in surgery too. No one told me about it until I tried to start running again at 6 weeks and couldn't get 100 meters without stopping. I went to the clinic and took one of those breathalizer tests to discover that one lung was only at 30% capacity. The solution was to work on breathing deep and hard which is what running is all about anyway. I assaulted my cardiologist about it the next time, he just said you're a runner, it'll fix itself. It took several months to get it back to 100% but it did come all the way back.

 

[hensylee]

welcome, Andrew to a place where you will speak to people who know exactly what you mean when you talk about your valve. We knew you were comin so Hank created this site just for you. Blessinsl..........

 

[Andrew J]

The beating of my heart which I feel is strong and its not when i do any exercise, I could be just sitting or even in bed, its just that I can now feel it. I spoke to my doctor last week and he told me its normal, thats the way it should beat. It just feels weired, I suppose it's working the way it was meant too.