How you feel after surgery

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I only have one experience with heart surgery (thankfully!), but I'll agree that being at a reasonable weight and being reasonably in shape must help. I don't think it is necessary to be a world class athlete, but it does help to have reasonable muscle tone and weight. After my first couple of weeks of recovery I have had no issues of "can I really do that?" I have been able to walk increasing distances with little to no problems. Your body will tell you how far you can go, and all of my docs have said that walking is the best exercise one can do prior to rehab. The only caution on walking is if you are outdoors, remember that however far you walk, you also have to get back home! Don't go so far you have to call someone to come get you with the car. . .

I would agree that those who say that after about 4 weeks you will notice a major upswing in the pace of your recovery are correct -- at least from my experience. For the first 4 weeks or so, all I did was "exist" at home, resting, walking (some stairs, too), doing breathing exercises and taking things easy. After those 4 weeks, I once again felt ready to participate in my life, starting with a few hours at a time and building to nearly full days. I am now able to work 4-6 hours a day and will likely start rehab (Phase II) in a few weeks.

Hang in there -- it does get better.
 
Everyone here has already explained about the exhaustion the first few days/weeks. Everyone is different.

When I got home, I was told to walk often (LOTS of mini-walks) during the day on a FLAT surface, gradually increasing the time by a few minutes each day. No hills/inclines for 4 weeks. Stairs were okay if they were part of day to day getting around. They said the heart needed the exercise to facilitate healing, but during the first four weeks exercise is about circulation and healing, not training. You need to give you heart time to adapt to the new valve, for sure. I would say take it easy the first four weeks and then you'll probably be able to push it harder later.

Pre-surgery the best training I did to get ready for the recovery was to practice getting out of the recliner and the bed without using my arms. (Do lot of squats to build your quads). It's more of a grace thing than a strength thing, but boy was I glad I had that down.
 
You often hear the phrase here after people have the surgery, "welcome to the other side of the mountain," or before surgery, "see you on the other side of the mountain."

A couple days after my surgery, I totally understood what this meant and that it wasn't just a tidy phrase. The surgery really is an ordeal and is physically taxing. The good news is that it gets better and gives you your life back.
 
The good news is that it gets better and gives you your life back.

Amen. I'm just over 8 weeks post-op and in spite of all of my speed bumps (permanent and temporary), life is once again good. To make things even better, I firmly believe that I will live a longer, better life after surgery than I would have without surgery.
 
Your surgery is exactly 1 year after mine. I remember very little of my time in the hospital but I didn't have large amounts of pain.
 
It's been 24 days since my surgery and I thought I'd be feeling pretty good by this time...but I do not. I am still extremely exhausted and I have this dry cough that is just killing me. I hugged the pillow so tight I have a bruise beside my insicion.

Carol
 
I pushed to hard and ended up in afib. Take it slow and listen to your body. No hurry to heal.
 
Carol - Hang in there. It wasn't until 4 or 5 weeks after surgery that I stopped coughing, too. Also, until that time I was always chilled. It all just sort of went away one night. . .
 
Hi Steve. My cough left me this morning...as fast as it came...it went. I had my post op today and everything is good. I can drive short distances and start 2-4 hours back to work next week.

Carol
 
Great news!

It looks like we're on the same recovery plan. I hope yours goes even better than mine, and I'm doing pretty well (if I do say so myself). I have another follow up with cardio next Tuesday - looking for confirmation that all is as well as I feel. Hope your recovery stays on track, too.
 
Sounds good. Anybody have any idea when a reasonable date to start jogging/running is? I had my AVR surgery on March 21st, so tomorrow will be 6 weeks to the day, and I am all kinds of antsy in the pantsy. I also really want to get out on the golf course. Putting/chipping maybe?
 
From Newcastle NHS - Full PDF is in the post surgery sticky. I still have a few weeks to go - we are expecting a good summer so it should be good for outdoor activity.

Bowls and golf Practice – six weeks, fully – eight weeks.
Cooking When you feel ready. Avoid heavy pans initially.
Cycling/dancing/jogging Six to eight weeks. Excellent for your heart.
Decorating Light – six weeks, heavy – twelve weeks.
Driving Do not drive for four weeks.
 
JD,

I think they would allow you to spend time on the putting green and practicing your chip shot -- just no long ball work. As for the jogging, I would ask your cardio. I am 9 weeks post-op and have been walking at a brisk pace (2 miles/day at 4 miles/hr) on a track or treadmill for several weeks. The walk is fine, but when I tried jogging short distances my chest just didn't like the bouncing around. Heart felt like it could do lots more, but I was just too uncomfortable to want to continue jogging. I figure I'll wait a week or two, then try again.
 
Everyone has really said it all. I am 13 days post op and I still have limitations in walking. I, too, was really fit before surgery. I either walked for an hour outside or did it on the treadmill. Right now instead of a Bradley tank running over me, I would call it a mac truck now. My lungs are still a work in progress...my lungs sounds are still diminished. I did develop a - fib which kept me in the hospital an extra 5 days making my hospital stay 9 days. I am walking around in my home and outside deck 4 times a day for 3 min. and need a nap. I must admit, I was not ready for such limitations. I thught by now I would be doing a little more. Deep breathing is so difficult....just the other day, I was able to yawn (that was exciting) but I am going forward....working with my breathing thingy. But I know I will be back to doing everything soon. God never gives us more than we can handle. God bless you.
Jeri
 
Jeri - At 13 days, I was in a similar spot to yours. I would put on a coat and hat to go out for a walk, then start thinking that dressing had made me too tired to go. I did go, but then had second thoughts about getting to the corner. I'm sure you know it well. Our house has living space on 3 different floors, so I ended up climbing a lot of stairs for exercise. The first few times I had to plan to stay upstairs for long enough to have the energy to come back down.

I relate all this to say that although I too had a slow start to recovery (in my case due to arrhythmia and pacemaker implant surgery) but I think that by week 4 or 5 I had caught up with where I should have been and was back to part-time work and driving a car at week 5. Since then it has been even a faster pace of recovery. Hang in there. I'm convinced that "The better you begin to feel, the faster you feel better."
 
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epstns said:
Jeri - At 13 days, I was in a similar spot to yours. I would put on a coat and hat to go out for a walk, then start thinking that dressing had made me too tired to go. I did go, but then had second thoughts about getting to the corned. I'm sure you know it well. Our house has living space on 3 different floors, so I ended up climbing a lot of stairs for exercise. The first few times I had to plan to stay upstairs for long enough to have the energy to come back down.

I relate all this to say that although I too had a slow start to recovery (in my case due to arrhythmia and pacemaker implant surgery) but I think that by week 4 or 5 I had caught up with where I should have been and was back to part-time work and driving a car at week 5. Since then it has been even a faster pace of recovery. Hang in there. I'm convinced that "The better you begin to feel, the faster you feel better."
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sTEVE, Thanks so much for your words of encouragement. I am sure you are right. Patience has never been a virtue with me..lol. I, too have 3 floors but I can't imagine climbing that many steps and then coming back down. Right now I am experiencing alot of epigastric pain just below my stenum and it feels very hard. I did alot more walking in the house today and coughed alot so I am contributing it to that but it feels like a rock. My a-fib was bad last night but not all day so far. I thought PVCs were bad....this feels so much worse. I know all of this will be a bad memory soon. Thanks again for your kind words. They really help.

Jeri
 
epstns said:
I was fairly fit, and a regular jogger before surgery at age 63. Had aortic stenosis that had progressed form moderate to nearly critical over a 9-year span. Before surgery I was slowing down, and could just barely jog at a 4 miles/hour pace. I am now 8 weeks post op, and can walk at that 4 miles/hour pace for 2 miles or more and still feel fine -- and I haven't even started rehab yet. I'm looking forward to a complete recovery in spite of the complications I had post-surgery, but I realize that it may take some time. YMMV, but I would not be too worried about how fast and how far you will recover. Just remember that you WILL recover, and life after surgery is going to be better than life if you did not have the surgery. (You will be looking forward to a normal life span after surgery; without surgery if your case is at all like mine you would have had a much shorter life expectancy.)
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I haven't been on in like 3-4 weeks. Glad your complications are backing off and you're kicking butt so far!!
 
Like everyone says, take it slow. My first walk was about 3 feet to the end of the bed and back. I was still in oxygen, had a catheter and external pacemaker. I had some complications so this was not typical. When I went home I started with 2 x 7 min walks per day, adding 1 min a day from there. I can walk/jog 3 miles now no prob. Just stay positive and don't push it!
 
Message to Carol

Message to Carol

Re/ dry cough- I had that too it was really painful to be constantly coughing. One thing that helped me a lot was cough drops to keep your throat from drying out. Mucinex at night helped too.
 
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