Alina's Guestbook

Alina FH  Hi, Wanda! I am fine - I was JUST able to log in today for the first time since ... forever - something went wrong with my login and I could not use this site for the whole year. Thank YOU for thinking of me and for sending a note. I have been thinking of you as well and keeping you in my thoughts, always. GOOD luck for your new procedure! And we'll keep in touch!

Wanda Mroz  Hi Alina! So glad to hear from you! I ended up not needing any procedures.... see my update. Hugs...

Alina FH  Hi, Edward - the best of luck with your search as well. I believed that there was a certain standard for how these places are run, and it does not appear to be the case. What also struck me is that the places with less resounding reputation seem better, more patient-focused, than the bigger establishments. Be well!

Alina FH  THANK YOU for the update, Wanda! Wow! It sounds a lot more involved than I thought! Rest up and heal fast! Gosh, I am praying this fixed everything! Here's hoping and praying. Hugs!! ❤️💕❤️

Alina FH  Shannon, I am so sorry about the breathing problems. And thank you for your message. I will email you shortly. Thanks.

Alina FH  Wanda, you're SO thoughtful! Everything is ok. Been busy with summer, which I guess is a good thing. I have been meaning to post 100 times in the past week or so, buy I just cannot find the time. Will shoot for another post this Sunday. I hope you are doing well, as well and moving along nicely with your healing process. Hugs and much health!!

Wanda Mroz  Oh I hear you about having no time! I work afternoons and taking care of Mom who's 88 and pretty self sufficient but lives with me leaves so little time for the rest of life! I'm hoping to retire within the next year so I'm focusing on that. So glad you are doing well! It's going to be a year next month for me. When I think about last year and my surgery I sometimes shudder at the thought of it all.... What we've all survived is amazing. Hugs and continued healing to you Alina! Looking forward to your next post!💞

Alina FH  Wanda, working towards retirement is ALL I want to do, but I am talking some sense into myself every day about that. I can't afford to at 41, but it's all I want. ;) GOOD LUCK with that and hope you get some peaceful days coming up in a year or so. Best of health to mom, also.
Thanks, again, for the note and BIG CONGRATS on the 1st year anniversary. Big, big milestone, indeed!! 💕Hugs💕

Alina FH  Hi, Pino! Thank you SO MUCH for taking the time and reaching out with the beautiful words. I am definitely obstinate by nature and will never give up. Just praying and trusting the experts and exploring options ahead of me. Thanks, again. Much health to you, as well.

Denise Campbell  Alina. I'm wondering too. Is staying out of work 14 weeks unreasonable. That will put me out for the remainder of the school year. My doc says that's reasonable but I feel guilty. Thoughts?

Bob Fessler  I'm retired so I won't have that problem. But I think you need to do everything you can to get healthy before thinking about going to work. Don't feel guilty about taking care of yourself. Your health is the most important thing in the world right now. Everything and everyone else will survive without you.

Alina FH  Hi, there,
I'll try to answer all the questions, but call me on it, if I forget some:
- Erin, I am not going to work yet ( if you have time to read my weekly updates, you'll see my progress from one week to the next) - I am waiting till the 12 week mark, as well. My short term disability insurance just about had a conniption fit over this (they told me I am fit to work after a month and 10 days - a number which sounded bizarre to me), but my cardiologist and my rehab folks sent letters to them to testify otherwise.
- I do feel a little guilty, because, like you, I love my job! And I feel like I am away from my customers and from the ever changing product we implement too long. However, also like you, my job is VERY demanding. And I know I could not do it well right now. If you've ever been on a plane, remember what they tell you: "put your mask on first, before helping someone else" - because we have to be better before we can be of use to others. So, I am working on that, right now.
- when I was in phase 1 and 2 in rehab I did 4 sessions a week till I reached my max of 24 sessions. Now, in Phase 3, I am doing 2 sessions a week, but they gave me a handout with all the exercises and I do them at home every day, on my own. I bought the exercise bands, too, so I do them on my own.
- no, I don't feel like a million bucks. My stamina is improving, but I still cannot go for 8 hours straight, like I would at work. I last being active, on my feet, up and about, for about 4 hours max and then I have to lay down. I get VERY tired. I also hurt a lot. My chest, mostly, as my nerve endings are still awaking and now I feel more, and my ribs and back, too. My left arm is still numb, so is my left leg, and some days I feel like my muscles on my calf will come off, they feel very weird. I still have anemia, so that makes me super weak and fatigued all the time, and now this super low blood pressure which makes me lightheaded and dizzy.
- I have good days and bad. Since I started phase 3, my chest hurts more, because I force it to stretch so much. I take tylenol for my pain, but I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and take it, because I can't breathe, my chest is so sore. I also try not to nap during the day, but I cave in about 2-3 times a week, and I steal a nap. Nap or no nap, I never sleep through the night. I wake up anywhere between 3 and 6 times a night.
- I do some things around the house, like laundry, if my husband brings me the basket to the washer, and I do cook dinner sometime, but I struggle with heavy (more than 2 lbs) pots and with chopping hard stuff (like carrots), because I have to push with my upper body, or peeling stuff, because I can't really use my left hand, and I need them both for peeling. So, I need his help.
- I try to be active. I still ask for help with heavy doors, and house chores, and anything that will hurt my upper body.
- I also have a long commute (about 45 minutes one way, like you), and I am testing myself every other day with the driving. So far, about 20 minutes is the max before my chest starts screaming. And I cannot wear my seat belt correctly, I always put it under my arm. So, I drive around my house, run small errands, but I can't go grocery shopping by myself, or any kind of heavy shopping. I can get gas, buy some small things at the Dollar store, or go to the bank, etc.
- Denise AND Erin, I don't think 12-14 weeks is unreasonable, and I don't think ANY amount that your body says it needs would be unreasonable. I don't even know who came up with these numbers. My sister works for an insurance company in Canada, and she said they allow up to a year for short term recovery from OHS. So, I think the numbers are just someone's guess or estimation. It's up to you how fast you'll heal, I think, but do so, until you feel up to really being active.
There was a doctor in my rehab center the other day and one of the patients kept asking the rehab tech if he could finally go play football and rugby (his surgery was in January). The doctor chimed in and he said: "Be careful. I know you can run on the treadmill for 5 miles, but football is a contact sport, it's a totally different kind of stress. If you push yourself too hard, too soon, after OHS, you might get an aneurysm and that will require surgery. Just take it easy this year and skip a season". I think of that all the time now. I can THINK I am fine, and I can LOOK fine to everyone else, but our hearts will need a whole lot more time to heal - when you think about what they went through and when you think our hearts really work 24/7 with no break! So, I listen to my body and it's telling me every day it's not ready quite yet.
My cardiologist told me I must go back at a part time schedule, for a few weeks, not full time, too. I had an MI while I was in the hospital right after surgery, so I know I cannot push too hard, even if my mind is telling me otherwise.
I hope this helps, and I agree with Bob, of course: our health is most important right now, so we should not feel guilty to tend to that. We're the only ones empowered to do so with the help of doctors, meds, exercise, rest, etc.
Take GOOD care of yourselves, everyone, and take it slow and steady. I am sure the day will come when we'll feel 100% again.

Denise Campbell  Alina, thank you Everything you said is true and really hit home. I too still have chest pain and I don't sleep well either. I think the people who make the rules and assumptions. Have never been thru OHS. My husband is great and tells me what you said. I need to get it straight in my head. Here's to all of us sleeping good tonight.

Alina FH  Thanks, Denise - I am so glad this sounds familiar. If anything, you know Erin and I will support you. :-) Good to be in your company, you guys!

Alina FH  Ladies, YOU both are amazing. Barb, YOU said it and you're right: we're all ordinary people doing amazing things. I am just ordinary and I shared my true experience, day by day (more to come, I'll explain why the short break here for a bit, soon) with this amazing journey - definitely THE hardest thing I have ever done. I am just overjoyed that my words helped and you found them helpful, at any level. Thank YOU for sharing, as well, keeping in touch on here, and I hope one day we truly get to meet.
Barb, my mom ended up cutting her trip short and she is currenlt flying back home to Romania, where she can have free access to medical care - as a visitor, she could not afford our sticker prices. :( I am sad, for me and her, that we could not be together till June, as planned, but I am glad she is on her way to get some real help.
Thank you again, for the kind words today, and I hope you both have a good Easter Sunday.

Alina FH  Thank you SO MUCH for reading my posts and for your kind guest book entry! And thank you for the realistic encouragement, too. My surgeon said the same thing: months, and for some symptoms ( like the nerve damage ) even years, if ever. I am not the most patient person, but I see the changes / improvements in me from even 2 weeks ago. Much health to you and much positivity. Thanks, again.

Alina FH  Hi, Artie, thank you so much for the kind tgoughts, and I completely understand your reaction. I come from a tough background (grew up in Communist Eastern Europe) and I am very used to toughness of language as that. So, this did not phase me one bit. Actually, it was refreshing.
I totally get it that it's not for everyone, but I wanted to tell what happened just to let people know that if you want them to be direct, doctors can give yiu that, or, some doctors might just do that anyway, as that is their bedside manner.
It was tough to hear it, I won't lie, but it was better for me, personally, to not prolong the news. My doctor knows me very well, and I told him: 'I don't want to be drugged up because I want to know what you see right away'. So, in that respect, I think he listened to me and gave me what I wanted.
Thank you, again, Artie. Much health to you. You're a kind person!