Oops

[JiFaire]

I think I just discovered why you shouldn't push it on the recovery... Yesterday was 1 month since surgery, and some idiot (that would be me) figured he could gently shovel some snow and move some light furniture around.

Bad idea. I had a sore back and chest last night, slept like crap, and woke up this morning with an irregular heartbeat, which has my DW freaked out.

Has anybody else experienced this? Should I be worried?

The moral of today's story is...lazy is good. I'll check back in later.


Jim

 

[Jkm7]

Jim....... So sorry you pushed the envelope.
Hopefully you did yourself no harm.

Your body is certainly telling you what you need to do.
Feel better fast.

 

[dick0236]

I think I just discovered why you shouldn't push it on the recovery...
The moral of today's story is...lazy is good.

Jim

Yep, it's better to not push recovery too fast. I dug a post hole for a mailbox six weeks, or so, after surgery and paid a sore muscle price for that. The irregular heart beats, if they continue, is reason to call cardio.

 

[JiFaire]

Thanks, Dick. It's been messed up for 6 hrs, so I think I'll go to the hospital.

 

[ski girl]

Yeah, I did too much with my sternum three weeks post-op and although it didn't hurt at the time, the sternum continued to have very painful flare-ups for the next 11 months (only cured by having another OHS). Listen to the instructions on what you can and cannot do, and let the sternum heal!!!

 

[pellicle]

Thanks, Dick. It's been messed up for 6 hrs, so I think I'll go to the hospital.

sorry to hear you overcooked it

as I understand it the sternum pain would be substantial if you disturbed the knitting bones, so it may be something else.

remember, small steps, every day. Don't over step and fall backwards


let us know how it goes

 

[JiFaire]

Well, I'm back. They wired me up and on the screen was... My old friend A-fib. HR 100... No, 155... No, 121... No, 149.. Etc

It's made worse, of course, because I can HEAR the thing hunting for stability.

Some extra metoprolol, a 3hr nap while they kept the monitor on, and I reconverted to sinus at 84bpm around 5:00 so they sent me home.

With a smirk and the warning that if I want to come back tomorrow, I should shovel some more snow, because they understand that some men are slow learners. Har-de-har-har.

 

[pellicle]

glad to hear the sence of humor is still there

 

[Freddie]

Although I didn't experience any irregular heartbeats, I did give myself a hairline crack in my sternum from lifting the treadmill (the collapsible kind) when I was about 4 or 5 weeks post-op.

Like you, a lesson learned.

I had my surgery almost 6 years ago and I still get heck from my neighbors when they see me shoveling. My response to them, "well I don't see you helping me, so quit nagging at me or get your butt over here and help me".

Get a push shovel and let someone else shovel it (or better yet just push it onto the road), don't lift anything yet. We now have a large push shovel and it works great and I don't get any comments from the neighbors anymore lol.

 

[Ruth]

Just sllloooowwww down!!!!!

Afib is nasty, just take it easy for a while. Yeah i get it, we all want to be back to our old selves asap. But it really does just take time. patience, pls, its ok to go slow

 

[gerrychuck]

I understand the frustration. It can be SO hard to sit inside and watch your wife struggle to clear the driveway, especially with all the snow we've had here on the prairies this winter. You feel so guilty and want to get out there so badly. I managed to control the urge until we just got dumped on 3 days ago. As I said later, not a good "starter" snowfall, but fortunately at 2 1/2 months post-op I was able to handle doing my share by using a little restraint and common sense. Hope everything settles down quickly for you.