Jennie
Well-known member
Hi folks!
Just checking in here! Yesterday was eight weeks since my surgery, and I started back to work today, for just six hours (instead of usual 9-1/2). I'll do the same tomorrow and into next week, and then I should be back to "normal"??? Yeah, right!! By 12:30, I was more than ready to get home to a nap. On my end, I really didn't tell folks at work that I was having surgery, just the boss and a few close co-workers. Word got out to a few folks, but it was fairly contained. I didn't see too many people today, but the few that I saw didn't seem to think it terribly suspicious that I was out for two months...??!! But, there's a bunch of folks that I haven't come across yet, so I may have to dodge some questions yet! I must say, I didn't get too much done today in terms of actual work, other than reading (useless) emails.
I saw my cardio here in DC on Monday. I got some happy pills, the depression was just a little too much for me. Though, to be honest, this is nothing new, I should've been on these a LONG time ago. The last two years have been very difficult, the emotional roller-coaster, as I'm sure all of you, my heart buddies here, are familiar with. For me, the surgery was the "easy" part! And then a month later, it was like WHAM, emotional jet lag. Getting overwhelmed with everything, and just SAD, crying and all that, with no sign of it letting up. I'm glad that I got these before heading back to work, as I just wasn't feeling too up to it. Anyway, to help out anyone else here that may be struggling with this: my cardio said that almost everyone who comes through his door post-surgery has some form of depression. He said what we've been through is equivalent to the loss of a loved one, and takes a year to deal with, like a period of mourning, grieving. Your body is no longer as it was, basically. It's to be expected. And they have stuff to help with that, so go for it.
He also put me back on the Altace (ACE Inhibitor), which I was on before surgery, to ease the load on my heart, and he plans to keep me on it until my heart returns to normal size, if that ever happens. My surgeon thinks it will, but that it would take six to twelve months. My DC guy isn't convinced one way or the other. Anyway, he's not going to put me up to as high a dose as before, so I shouldn't be as close to the passing-out zone (I forget the term for this - hypo or hyper something...!)
So, back to work plus two new meds, in one day! I'm just very very tired, that's all I can say. My couch, my bed, the laz-e-boy chair, the floor - I'm good buddies with them all. It was frustrating for quite a while there, I was trying to do stuff then running out of energy and motivation, and getting discouraged about it. Now, I'm reaching for the novel, who cares if the place is a dump...! Maybe the happy pill is making me tired, I know that can be a side effect - if so, I'll try taking it at night instead.
Otherwise, I'm scheduled to go back to Mayo Clinic for a four-month checkup on August 19-20, tests to include echo, chest x-ray, ekg, and holter monitor. I wasn't expecting this, I thought I wouldn't be back until my one-year date....
SO, that's all for now!
-JEnnie
Just checking in here! Yesterday was eight weeks since my surgery, and I started back to work today, for just six hours (instead of usual 9-1/2). I'll do the same tomorrow and into next week, and then I should be back to "normal"??? Yeah, right!! By 12:30, I was more than ready to get home to a nap. On my end, I really didn't tell folks at work that I was having surgery, just the boss and a few close co-workers. Word got out to a few folks, but it was fairly contained. I didn't see too many people today, but the few that I saw didn't seem to think it terribly suspicious that I was out for two months...??!! But, there's a bunch of folks that I haven't come across yet, so I may have to dodge some questions yet! I must say, I didn't get too much done today in terms of actual work, other than reading (useless) emails.
I saw my cardio here in DC on Monday. I got some happy pills, the depression was just a little too much for me. Though, to be honest, this is nothing new, I should've been on these a LONG time ago. The last two years have been very difficult, the emotional roller-coaster, as I'm sure all of you, my heart buddies here, are familiar with. For me, the surgery was the "easy" part! And then a month later, it was like WHAM, emotional jet lag. Getting overwhelmed with everything, and just SAD, crying and all that, with no sign of it letting up. I'm glad that I got these before heading back to work, as I just wasn't feeling too up to it. Anyway, to help out anyone else here that may be struggling with this: my cardio said that almost everyone who comes through his door post-surgery has some form of depression. He said what we've been through is equivalent to the loss of a loved one, and takes a year to deal with, like a period of mourning, grieving. Your body is no longer as it was, basically. It's to be expected. And they have stuff to help with that, so go for it.
He also put me back on the Altace (ACE Inhibitor), which I was on before surgery, to ease the load on my heart, and he plans to keep me on it until my heart returns to normal size, if that ever happens. My surgeon thinks it will, but that it would take six to twelve months. My DC guy isn't convinced one way or the other. Anyway, he's not going to put me up to as high a dose as before, so I shouldn't be as close to the passing-out zone (I forget the term for this - hypo or hyper something...!)
So, back to work plus two new meds, in one day! I'm just very very tired, that's all I can say. My couch, my bed, the laz-e-boy chair, the floor - I'm good buddies with them all. It was frustrating for quite a while there, I was trying to do stuff then running out of energy and motivation, and getting discouraged about it. Now, I'm reaching for the novel, who cares if the place is a dump...! Maybe the happy pill is making me tired, I know that can be a side effect - if so, I'll try taking it at night instead.
Otherwise, I'm scheduled to go back to Mayo Clinic for a four-month checkup on August 19-20, tests to include echo, chest x-ray, ekg, and holter monitor. I wasn't expecting this, I thought I wouldn't be back until my one-year date....
SO, that's all for now!
-JEnnie
I'm going to have "free time"!! I'm going to have to dig up some of my old hobbies, if I can remember what those were!!!! I may even have to plan a vacation!! 
