Just checking in as I pass the 8 week point

Advertise with us
shop deals on amazon
Shop deals on ebay
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Bryan B

Bryan B

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 16, 2004
Messages
1,898
Location
NC
I'm still recovering from the surgery and dreaming of playing golf again. As a matter of fact, lately I've taken some slow easy practice swings in the yard to test out the sternum. It's still kind of tender but I was thinking about going to the range and hitting some half wedges off of a tee (to avoid the shock of hitting the ground). If I feel any pain I will quit and just practice my putting. Mostly I just want to get out of the house and go see my buddies that work there. The only time I get out is to take a walk, run up to the store, and me and my friend go hang out at open mic night every Thursday night at a local establishment (hey that's tonight :D). It is run by the lead singer and lead guitarist that are in that all girl AC/DC tribute band...the one that put together that benefit concert for me. BTW that was awesome...had them headlining, a Heart tribute band, and a Motley Crue tribute band that was really good.

Anyway I have had a couple of bumps in the road but overall I am getting a little better each day. I have a pounding heart...in other words when I am sitting, bending, or laying down I can hear (actually feel would be a more realistic description) my heart beat really loud. This particularly is a problem when trying to sleep. My blood pressure is also a bit high and much higher than right after surgery. The cardiologist said to keep an eye on the blood pressure and call him if it doesn't start coming down soon (which he thinks it will). He also thinks the pounding will subside with time. He thinks both are caused because my heart was having to work overtime before the surgery and doesn't know it can chill out now...lol. He said it takes some time for the heart to "remodel" as the extra work enlarged the left ventricle but it should return to normal size.

Wow didn't mean to type that much but ya'll know I can get pretty wordy. I hope everyone who has had their surgery recently are doing well and getting better every day. It does get better. Sometimes it's 2 steps forward and one step back but as someone so eloquently stated before..."heart surgery ain't for sisses". :D

I'll be around (god willing) to help answer any questions if I can be of any help, and I may ask a few myself as we continue on our journey towards a full recovery. It is a slow process and can be frustrating at times, but in time things will get better. Unfortunately time takes time.
 
You are moving in the right direction Brian! Hoping that you can get out on the golf course. :)
Hope that the pounding subsides subsides with time.
 
Hi Bryan!

Glad to hear you are doing well... Seems like the pounding heart is really common after surgery...mine beats hard now and that is what led me to the cardio/plus palpatations a year ago... Sometimes my heart beats hard at night and it's annoying. Metoprolol has helped A LOT and my Diovan too. I have high blood pressure which hit me in my late 30's... Always seemed odd to me. I eat well and I am not overweight. I really believe after my heart surgery, I won't need the meds anymore.... we shall see.

Hopefully you can give me advice when my surgery time comes.. which may not be too far from now.
 
Good to hear things are progressing well, Bryan. I am a few weeks behind you, so again you are a good barometer for me. Your note on the sternum brought up a question I have; do you still have tightness, or positional pain with your sternum? For me, depending on how I am sitting or moving, I will get slight pain, or more appropriately, tightness, in my chest. I have been attributing it to muscles and nerves healing, as it is positional meaning it depends on how I sit or move. It is more pronounced with deep breaths or fast exhales, like laughing. Not sure if I am explaining this right, but in general I am wondering if you still have any pain or tightness in the chest. Thanks for the update and for letting me know what I may have to look forward too!
 
HI Bryan

Sounds like things are progressing well for you. I am scheduled for 20th so my time in the waiting room is almost finished, thank God. I am ready to get this "thing" over with and be where you and the others are. I sure hope your "pounding" quiets down along with your blood pressure coming down. Keep praying and stay positive. Thanks for the update and letting us hear from you.

Jeri
 
Bryan - We all have our bumps in the road. The important thing is to keep moving along the road. We will get to be "recovered" from the surgery (perish the thought of the alternative), each in our own time.

I am now 7 weeks out from my surgery and all the speed bumps after. I'm back to work part time and have been walking up to 2 miles daily, and it feels much better as the days go by.

Jason - at 7 weeks, I have little to no pain from the sternum or chest muscles, etc. Maybe I missed that one, or maybe it just isn't bad enough to be memorable. Or, maybe I'm not pushing it hard enough. . .
 
Jason said:
Good to hear things are progressing well, Bryan. I am a few weeks behind you, so again you are a good barometer for me. Your note on the sternum brought up a question I have; do you still have tightness, or positional pain with your sternum? For me, depending on how I am sitting or moving, I will get slight pain, or more appropriately, tightness, in my chest. I have been attributing it to muscles and nerves healing, as it is positional meaning it depends on how I sit or move. It is more pronounced with deep breaths or fast exhales, like laughing. Not sure if I am explaining this right, but in general I am wondering if you still have any pain or tightness in the chest. Thanks for the update and for letting me know what I may have to look forward too!
Click to expand...

Jason,

At 8 weeks out my sternum feels pretty solid but still kind of tender if that makes any sense. Abrupt twisting or lifting (or having a 3 sneezer like I had this morning) still gives me a "twang" of pain. I actually hit 20 golf balls on the range today. That was the first time I hit a golf ball since my surgery, and actually since the end of October last year. I took my most lofted golf club (lob wedge if you know golf) teed it up high like I was going to hit a driver (the club you normally hit off the tee with) and took half swings so I would not have the shock of hitting the ground. I was hitting the ball pretty solid and about 60yds. I normally hit that club about 100 yards off of the ground when I am playing normally. So far no soreness from this "experiment". To me it is more stiffness, especially when I get up in the morning after sleeping or a twinge of pain when I move in a certain way without thinking about it. I had sternum problems with my first surgery and ended up having to get all of my wires removed from my surgery. As bad as I want to get back to playing a full round of golf I am definitely playing it on the conservative side this time. I am about 2 weeks behind the goal I had set for myself to get back to playing a full round, but this time my sternum makes the decisions instead of me.
:D
 
Bryan B said:
Jason,

At 8 weeks out my sternum feels pretty solid but still kind of tender if that makes any sense. Abrupt twisting or lifting (or having a 3 sneezer like I had this morning) still gives me a "twang" of pain. I actually hit 20 golf balls on the range today. That was the first time I hit a golf ball since my surgery, and actually since the end of October last year. I took my most lofted golf club (lob wedge if you know golf) teed it up high like I was going to hit a driver (the club you normally hit off the tee with) and took half swings so I would not have the shock of hitting the ground. I was hitting the ball pretty solid and about 60yds. I normally hit that club about 100 yards off of the ground when I am playing normally. So far no soreness from this "experiment". To me it is more stiffness, especially when I get up in the morning after sleeping or a twinge of pain when I move in a certain way without thinking about it. I had sternum problems with my first surgery and ended up having to get all of my wires removed from my surgery. As bad as I want to get back to playing a full round of golf I am definitely playing it on the conservative side this time. I am about 2 weeks behind the goal I had set for myself to get back to playing a full round, but this time my sternum makes the decisions instead of me.
:D
Click to expand...

Thanks, Bryan. The part I highlighted explains pretty well what I am feeling, only more often than what you indicate your exerience is. It is definitely a stiffness, with soreness at the bottom of the surgical scar in particular. The 'twang' for me is usually on the left side of my chest, and happens when I am using my right hand or leaning to the right. My wife says "Don't do that then!", which makes a lot of sense. The only other concerning thing for me with the sternum, is that I move around a lot in my sleep and have woken myself up when turning in bed with popping in my chest. It isn't the loud popping that I had when I first had the surgery, but more clicking I suppose. I can just imagine that I broke apart some of the still-weak connections that are being made my rotating in my sleep, which doesn't do good things for me as far as falling back to sleep! I am hoping that I don't have further issues with the sternum, as I had sternal precautions when I started cardiac rehab. I have been lifting small weights lately in rehab with no issues, though, so that is a good sign.

Glad to hear you are getting back to your passion of golf, Bryan! Our forecast is calling for 6 inches of snow today, so I won't be getting out myself this weekend!
 
Good work Old Man, I am right there with you... week 8 and counting.

Lots of walks, Wii activities and a couple of bike rides with my kid has been the height of my activities. Still waiting for the snow to dis-appear in Alberta.
More snow forecast for this weekend, Golf is a ways away yet.
Must be nice, no one held a benefit concert for me let alone an all girl band! I hang with the wrong friends obviously!
 
FORE
golf_ball-13070.gif


It gets better as you go​
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top