Ellen's Heart Valve Journal

Hey everyone..I am three weeks out of surgery and two weeks out of the hospital. Things are going well except I am experiencing achey elbows and ankles and wrists...similar to flu like aches...I have had this for the last week. Has anyone else had this?

Hey everyone...Well I can say that I feel pretty good. I have little pain left and I feel pretty good overall. Just some recommendations to all the new comers out of the hospital...listen to the guidelines...even though its hard and sometimes you forget to not use your hands etc. Do your breathing on the spectrometer or whatever its called. I was resistant to it but once I started doing it I felt a lot better. DO NOT REACH FOR THINGS THAT ARE FAR AWAY...apparently we have small muscles between our rib bones and we can pull them very easily and OUCH...you will not like it and it will set you back a few days. Pain in shoulders and back is a lot better however my ankles and wrists tend to be a little achy this week. I am also finally able to sleep on my back ok. '

The being stuck at home is driving me insane. I am sick of TV and Internet. I want to go out and do things but the few outing I have had really have tired me out. I went out to lunch and ended up sleeping the rest of the day. Its just a reminder that I am not as healed as I think I am. But I must just be patient.

Also I am having some pretty bad anxiety. and its wierd...its not anxiety about the surgery or my heart...its anxiety about bad things I have seen or been through in my life. I am not sure why these are resurfacing at this time.

Oh well...I am so glad to see that so many people are on the mend and doing well in their recoveries!! Its great!

It is day 3 since I have been released from the hospital. and Day 10 since my surgery. My main complaint is the back and neck pain. I was sleeping in the recliner last night and the back pain became too much so I very sleepily and groggily moved to the floor. Do not do this. I stuck blankets under my shoulder blades and I had a great sleep...BUT getting off the floor without using the sternum is a different story. I managed to get up with minimal pain by tucking my elbow but I wont do this again...it was too bad because it was the best sleep I have gotten since I got home.

Boredom is also starting to kick in. I want to start reading but I have no patience for some reason and if I start to read I seem to fall asleep. Any recommendations for the boredom?

I signed up for netflix online but I am actually sick of TV. I am a huge baker and love to cook and love to garden and this is just so frustrating.

Also the beta blocker that they have me on had dropped my blood pressure pretty low and this makes me very worried. I do not have the symptoms of low pb but to make matters more alarming my heart rate is up around 100. I called the doc about this and he says high heart rate is very common for people after AV replacement and that it will go away gradually and i need the beta blocker to keep the heart rate low so right now they are not doing anything about it. But its very scary.

I guess thats about it for day 3....

What does everyone do to relieve their back and shoulder pain? Its so annoying!