Using the words of Cooker "drain bamage"...

[Faye]

...I think I have some!

I'm just over 6 months post-op and physically I'm doing pretty well but mentally and emotionally ... not so good.

My brain continues to mis-fire and at times not fire at all. For example - Words won't come, calculations that previously could be done in my head in a snap can't be done without pen and paper, pieces of memories disappear, fingers won't type what the brain is thinking, concentraion, attention span and focus is gone, conversations are like the shot from a shot-gun - all over the place.

Things have improved since the first couple of months but during the last 2 months, I haven't noticed any improvements - in fact, I feel like things are slipping backwards. It really became noticable when I returned full throttle to work. My job requires detailed focus along with quick, on the feet thinking and reactions. I'm frustrated because I can't perform as well as I have done in the past.

The frustration is adding to my emotions - I got through pre-surgery, surgery, complications, and recovery and only shed tears twice but in the last week I've cried every day. No one around me understands - after all, I physically look better than I have in years so I should be 110% - right?...not.

I know depression is often a part of recovery and am on a small dose of Paxil. I also know that loss of cognitive function (pump-head) is a debateable topic. But...knowing and dealing are 2 different things. I'm usually the one trying to put a positive spin on things but can't seem to churn up anything positive today.

Do any of you have any ideas to help me cope?

 

[WayneGM]

My brain would mis-fire for about a year. I'd be in the middle of a sentence and then be stumped for words. I did finally get better.

 

[hensylee]

nearly everything gets better, given time. You will find this out as you go along and you probly can't hurry it. Try doing some brain games like puzzles. Or a hand held game of solitaire.

We have had lots of discussion over the years about concentration, finding names/words and can't, and there are two thoughts on the subject, pro and con.

Wishing you well and good progress.

 

[Ross]

Listen up everyone, it takes TIME. Lots of it. Did everyone really think we were kidding when we told you recovery takes up to a full year?

 

[marie]

Listen up everyone, it takes TIME. Lots of it. Did everyone really think we were kidding when we told you recovery takes up to a full year?

My surgeon told me I would be 100% at three months. I;m almost two months and it ain't gonna happen no way will I be at 100% in three months.
Earline

 

[Mary]

My surgeon told me I would be 100% at three months. I;m almost two months and it ain't gonna happen no way will I be at 100% in three months.
Earline

Your surgeon is a silly man who hasn't undergone replacement!

 

[AgilityDog]

It took me about a year, and I think I still have problems concentrating sometimes (witness the time I'd rather spend on this site). It was not until I saw some photos 9 months after surgery that I remembered I had seen my late sister's husband at my other sister's home just 10 days before my diagnosis and surgery. I remembered the trip to Pittsburgh, remembered seeing my sister and her family, but did not remember seeing my BIL and his kids! Scary! Talk about a big blank spot! That was my first visit with them since my sister died, we were celebrating my birthday and BIL's birthday. I'd missed baby sister's birthday trip to her grave in Virginia (just after the headstone was set) because I was too ill with the heart failure/bronchitis to go. How could I have forgotten half the people present on a 3 day trip???? Drain Bamage, indeed.

 

[Susan BAV]

Well, you and I are both close to the same age and hormones can start slipping around at our age , as can hormones evidently take a little time to recover following OHS. Do you think this could be a possibility? Also, you're still healing; so with more time may come more recovery. One more thing is that this time of year, if I don't get enough sunshine, I can get a bit down. So if these are possibilities, fold the stress of your job back into the mix and I think time (and maybe some sunshine ) may help. Be sure and get proper rest also. I hope you feel better soon.

BTW, I have never had a great memory and this latest OHS didn't improve things by any means...

 

[Cooker]

Two years out and I still have an occasional brain fart.....it takes TIME!!!....and it does get better....don't worry

 

[WayneGM]

My surgeon told me I would be 100% at three months. I;m almost two months and it ain't gonna happen no way will I be at 100% in three months.
Earline

My cardiologist told me I'd be back to work in 3 months. Of course, I assumed that meant I'd be back to normal in 3 months. Boy was I wrong! Naturally I mentioned it when saw him around the 3 month mark and he set me straight.....it'll probably be about a year is what he said.

 

[Curtsmum]

Really sorry you are feeling so bad, hope things improve real soon, sending my best wishes. I really like your qoute in you signiture, take care.

 

[pamela]

I know it is one thing for us to intellectually understand if we're depressed or having cognitive issues. Memory slips and emotional episodes are two main symptoms of depression, perhaps the drugs need to be adjusted? I'd talk to the mental health professional who's been helping you thus far. Now that some of the effects of the anesthetic and other drugs have had 6 months to metabolize, your body could be coping differently and is asking for help in the only way it can...

I had that feeling of detachment others have spoken about on this thread, for a long time. Even after I was released from hospital, I still had moments in which I had to concentrate on breathing, yep. I was a lazy breather and I seemed to go long moments without moving my chest. In hospital the O2 sat sensor would set the alarm and I'd remember to inhale. It drove the nurses nuts, not to mention that it scared the bejeepers outta me.

Take Heart, everyone. We're here and alive and a mere 40 years ago the odds were still high that you'd die from this stuff. We are blessed.

 

[bvdr]

Faye, many of us have gone through much of the same. I felt fuzzy for a long time but gradually gradually it got better. I am one who really think "pumpheadedness" is a real issue. Even now 4 1/2 years later I still have days when I feel a little out of touch mentally. Don't let anyone try to tell you that healing is complete in just a few months. It takes a much longer time to really heal for many people. Sure you might be able to go back to work in just a few weeks but there are other things that are on my list of being well too. I don't mean this to be at all discouraging but rather to let you know that you probably have better days ahead.