I feel very much like a 2yr old.

[annaaurora]

I am working on the positive, be aware I have yet to succeed. I am a 47yr old woman who managed to enjoy everything that's bad for you, as do all of my friends, family. Drinking, smoking, comfort food, listening to music too loud, playing games, and yada. I also have a predisposition to wander into incredible dark places, anxiety. My surgery on my Mitral Valve was an emergency. I was thinking COPD, went to my doctor and boom the train took off. 16 total days in hospital. 4 in ICU, the rest well you know. It took them 2 1/2 days to pull me out of sleep after surgery. To be fair they kept trying. One time I managed to pull out the breathing tube, even with the giant mittens on. Thankfully I was starting to breath over the machine. In reality my experience in hospital was good. A few complaints, great people watching though. ICU especially.

My surgery was August 3rd. I arrived at first hospital July 23. I was regurgitating at 4, had been doing so for a while so I managed to do some real damage to my heart. I have a weak heart. Maybe it's the speed of everything. I'm pissed, mad, other times I'm OK. To change your way of life so fast is maddening. I haven't smoked since the 23rd of July, I think this makes me crazed. I am not using a patch anymore, that's good right? I've become a fruit lover. And oh my how miss my salt. I never looked at labels. I still hurt. Saw my cardio Dr. yesterday, he pulled me back out of work until Dec. 1. Hey who needs money. Truth be told I wasn't walking. Doing everything else. Start cardio rehab next week. So today I took a long walk in our beautiful village cemetery. Oh I regurgitate at 1 1/5 now. Stay well, or well enough

 

[Agian]

Take care Anna. I've also had to reassess things of late. It's all for the best.

 

[Heather Anne]

Anna -- I'm 48, and had AVR on August 6. Not an emergency, and not as fraught as your experience was, but we're all on the same train on this board, one way or another.

I do think cardiac rehab will help your anxiety and your mood. If nothing else, you will be in a room full of people who have been through what you have been through, and most will be much older and frailer than you are. It may help give you a better perspective on all you still have in front of you, as well as people to share the journey with. Also, the staff will be able to give you guidance on nutrition and moving on to a healthier way of life. Definitely getting yourself moving/walking will improve things dramatically. The fresh air alone will help.

P.S. -- I think you'll still be able to turn the music up way too loud!

 

[jmstallard]

I was in the waiting room for 38 years, so I can't begin to imagine what you went through. Here's a quote that has helped me through some times of change:

"It takes a lot of courage to release the familiar and seemingly secure, to embrace the new. But there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful. There is more security in the adventurous and exciting, for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

 

[pellicle]

"...there is no real security in what is no longer meaningful...., for in movement there is life, and in change there is power."

Thanks, that quote is meaningful for me at the moment too. I have moved 14,000km and perhaps its not enough yet because it is familiar.

 

[annaaurora]

Thanks guys,

Feeling better kind of. Found out that I have little pneumonia going on, but hey Cardiac Rehab still wants me. My Bestes Best, Anna