My surgery is now four months behind me and I'm wondering what people's experiences have been with the second three months of recovery.
After the first three months I was feeling very good, walking briskly for 30-60 minutes a day and feeling my energy come back more every week. I thought I was close to 100% and just needed to rebuild my strength again. But when I went back to work, I found that I was getting more tired than I expected. Apparently adding work and commuting and trying to go to the gym again all at once was too much. So I dialed the exercise back to walking again, but I'm frustrated that I'm apparently not ready for more yet.
Also, I'm finding myself more anxious about my health than I had expected to feel. I worry about every little twinge or ache or touch of fever. I had thought that I would feel nothing but relief that my problem had been fixed, but now I seem to be overly aware of everything else that can go wrong, no matter how far-fetched. Currently I don't have any more medical appointments, just instructions to have my internist listen to my heart once a year, so I'm not getting the kind of reassurance that comes with having medical personnel pay attention to you (not that I want to be in need of that again!).
It's almost as though in the first three months I was comparing myself to my worst shape (immediately after surgery) and being glad that I was better, and now I'm comparing myself to my best shape (before my valve started giving me problems) and being unhappy that I'm not at that point. As I write this, I can see how unreasonable it is, but that's what I'm feeling for now.
Is this similar to other people's experience with this phase of recovery? If so, how long did it take for you to feel stronger, less anxious, etc.?
After the first three months I was feeling very good, walking briskly for 30-60 minutes a day and feeling my energy come back more every week. I thought I was close to 100% and just needed to rebuild my strength again. But when I went back to work, I found that I was getting more tired than I expected. Apparently adding work and commuting and trying to go to the gym again all at once was too much. So I dialed the exercise back to walking again, but I'm frustrated that I'm apparently not ready for more yet.
Also, I'm finding myself more anxious about my health than I had expected to feel. I worry about every little twinge or ache or touch of fever. I had thought that I would feel nothing but relief that my problem had been fixed, but now I seem to be overly aware of everything else that can go wrong, no matter how far-fetched. Currently I don't have any more medical appointments, just instructions to have my internist listen to my heart once a year, so I'm not getting the kind of reassurance that comes with having medical personnel pay attention to you (not that I want to be in need of that again!).
It's almost as though in the first three months I was comparing myself to my worst shape (immediately after surgery) and being glad that I was better, and now I'm comparing myself to my best shape (before my valve started giving me problems) and being unhappy that I'm not at that point. As I write this, I can see how unreasonable it is, but that's what I'm feeling for now.
Is this similar to other people's experience with this phase of recovery? If so, how long did it take for you to feel stronger, less anxious, etc.?
