Hello all, I'm new to the forum and this is my first post. I'm a 65 yr old female who had my bicuspid aortic valve replaced with a biological one on June 13. I had to go back to the hospital on June 30 for three days for afib and fluid in my lungs, but I've been pretty good since then. Except for my emotions: I'm experiencing a lot of anxiety, which makes my heart afib a little. So it's a vicious cycle of irregular heart beat which increases my anxiety, etc, etc.
I live alone (with pets) so I've been my own caretaker with a little help from my friends. I guess not the easiest situation, but it is what it is. I'd like to hear about other folks' emotional journey back after open heart surgery. I feel like my entire being--not just my body--has been traumatized by the surgical procedure, and I am realizing that it's going to take a lot longer than 8 weeks for me to feel back to normal.
Finally, from what I've read, I conclude that this surgery induces afib in a large percentage of patients, which I really hate. What is it about the procedure that screws up the heartbeat? No one seems to know. It seems to me that the procedure is still in semi-primitive evolution if the afib result is so high. In case you couldn't tell, it's a real challenge for me to feel upbeat at this point in my recovery.
Hope I don't sound too whiney, and I look forward to dialoguing with you all.
I live alone (with pets) so I've been my own caretaker with a little help from my friends. I guess not the easiest situation, but it is what it is. I'd like to hear about other folks' emotional journey back after open heart surgery. I feel like my entire being--not just my body--has been traumatized by the surgical procedure, and I am realizing that it's going to take a lot longer than 8 weeks for me to feel back to normal.
Finally, from what I've read, I conclude that this surgery induces afib in a large percentage of patients, which I really hate. What is it about the procedure that screws up the heartbeat? No one seems to know. It seems to me that the procedure is still in semi-primitive evolution if the afib result is so high. In case you couldn't tell, it's a real challenge for me to feel upbeat at this point in my recovery.
Hope I don't sound too whiney, and I look forward to dialoguing with you all.
