Home again - with an exercise question.

[Alien]

Well, I made it through.
Surgery (AVR) was 12 Jan and went well except my blood pressure wouldn't say up, resulting in an eight day stay in I.C.U. This apparently scrambled the hospital's patient planning and there were no beds available in the standard recovery ward so I came straight home. I was given 14 different prescriptions to fill on the way home but as the I.C.U. nurses weren't used to releasing patients from the hospital I was missing one prescription - pain meds of course!!

That has now been fixed and I'm ready to start on the road to recovery, which brings me to the question:
I go back for my first check-up (and to get de-stapled?) and to start re-hab on Friday 30 Jan (a little over a week away) but would like to make a gentle start on exercise before then, without over-doing it. I would like to know how soon after getting home did others start walking and how far? I'm not quite 100% steady on my feet yet but figure by tomorrow I should be doing OK. I don't want to push myself too far but I also don't want to waste a week if I could actually be getting started on recovery. What do you guys think?

On another note, for those about to embark on the post-op hospital stay here is something I quickly learned, if you hear someone say "on the count of three, 1, 2...." brace yourself cos something unpleasant is heading your way.

Doug.

 

[Phyllis]

Glad you are home, Doug. Dick spent the first week or two just walking around the house before he ventured outside to walk his first mile. He made sure he got up and took a couple of laps through the whole house on a regular basis.

 

[BackDoc]

I began walking outside the same day I arrived home. I had already been walking the hospital halls. Walking outside those first two days were a bit different. I went slow--didn't want to be stuck at the end of the street and feel unable to make it home. But all went well.

Glad to hear that you are home and all is well. Go for it, and don't look back.

 

[DebbyA]

Congratulations on making it home, even if after a slightly irregular route...!

Maybe your discharge instructions were supposed to include an activity guide? I was given a small poster of guidelines for exercise, personal maintenance, etc. Unfortunately there isn't an online version. Here is a sample from another practice that I probably found on this site:
http://www.heartsurgeons.com/ed5.html

If you're already enrolled for rehab, you may be able to get guidelines from the rehab site.

Best wishes for a smooth recovery.

Debby

 

[ChouDoufu]

"...a small poster of guidelines..."

these are just guidelines, rules for everybody, using the lowest common denominator.
basically they give the same rules for lance armstrong as for archie bunker. they
are just a starting point and you need to design a program suited to you. (my
opinion anyways). yeah, i got the guide, but had to ask the therapist what next?
i'm three days out, and already past week five on your guidelines.

i talked to cardio, surgeon, and phys-therapy dude, and all finally agreed that due
to my condition going in, i could do just about anything after surgery (within reason).
i had a couple private nurses assigned to me as i did not take an attendant, and
their job was to be with me at all times. that included walking the halls. poor girls
(19-21 year olds) were unable to keep up. they'd say i have to go back and rest,
mustn't overdo it, but they would eventually admit they were tired. they must have
spent half their time sacked out in a chair next to the bed. poor things!!

anyway, the docs agreed that i could do anything, just be careful and don't overdo
it, and my body would tell when it was enough. if get tired, dizzy, lightheaded, pain,
soreness....all indications of needing a rest and to back off. keep monitoring heart
rate, don't go over certain levels (100 last week, 110 next week, 120 following week).
watch blood pressure and weight, and finally no matter what condition, still have
to careful of sternum.

 

[Jkm7]

Both my OHS, Mass General Hosp sent me home with a booklet outlining exercise.
I was permitted to walk stairs as tolerated and was told to walk as follows:

Week 1: 5-10 minutes, 3 to 4 times a day
Week 2: 10-15 minutes, 2 to 3 times a day
Week 3: 20 minutes, 1 to 2 times a day
Week 4: 25-30 minutes once a day

I was walking the day after surgery a short distance in the hallway.
Just after being transferred to step down unit the day after my surgery, my nurse (and DH) put the containers from my four drainage tubes on a wheelchair. I held onto the back of the wheelchair and used it to feel steady with DH and nurse on either side of me.
I walked the halls a lot in the hospital as each tube and all other 'things' attached to us post op were removed and that walking (I think) makes a huge difference in speed of recovery.

The morning of my second day home (early March in cold New England), I walked for the first time outdoors. Seeing as I've been a walker for years, I thought no big deal. I can walk at least around the block. No way. I lasted about 4 minutes and was shocked by that. The next day I was a minute longer and by the end of first week, I was walking 10 minutes.
Walk, walk, walk..... it really helps.

 

[johnfreeman62]

Everybody is different. I was able to comfortably walk two miles less than two weeks post surgery - but I am relatively (very relatively) young and pretty fit going in. One thing is for sure is a little slow is better than a little too fast.

 

[geckley]

I was walking a total of a mile in the hospital 27 laps around the nurses station. 14 laps rest a few hours and 13 laps later. When I got home I had some numbness in my leg so I used a cane. I used my laser range finder for hunting to measure out a 1/4 mile course on my street, 4 houses one way and back, to the end of my neighbors yard the other way. Thats about as slow as I took it. Now 10 weeks out I've been cleared to start the gym. Light walking on a tread mill and light weights. The doctor told me if I can't talk in a normal voice with out gasping I've gone too hard. So exercise with out getting out of breath. Please don't push yourself!! There will be time for that later.

 

[Ross]

Start in the house, move on to going around the perimeter of your yard, then once you feel you have some endurance built up, try a 1/4 of block, then 1/2 etc.

 

[abbanabba]

I was doing walks in the halls of the hospital, so when I got home I started walking to the end of the street and back (maybe 10-15 houses a side) - albeit very s-l-o-w-l-y. For the first few days I made sure I had someone to come with me, just in case I got a bit dizzy, or needed a bit of support - that sort of thing. Not that I did, but better to be safe. When I ventured out on my own I would take my phone for the same reason.

The chart I got suggested 5-10 minute walks twice a day, strolling on flat ground for the first week.

Your body will soon let you know what you can and can't do. Good luck with the walking and the rest of your recovery.


A : )