Karen's Guestbook

Hi Terrie, I just posted a new journal entry. Surgery went well. I had a mini-sternectomy. I went to rehab after the hospital to learn how not to have to hold on to chairs and other things to get up since we can't use our arms to push off anything. I also learned to go up steps. I have been home a week. I still have fatigue and wonder if that is normal for 4 weeks out. I have been walking but not very far. I used to use a cane so I'm using a walker now. I have some nerve problems with my hands that I am going to ask the surgeon about on Monday. I find it difficult to type, another reason other than fatigue that I haven't been posting. Thank you for asking about me. I appreciate it.

Hi Christine, I wrote a note to you but it got lost. So here goes again. I was off the radar too as I recovered in the hospital and in rehab. The surgery went well. I had a mini-sternectomy. I did gain 35 lbs in fluid from the surgery so was in the hospital a bit longer as they tried to get most of the fluid off before I went to rehab. Been home a week since rehab. Still very tired and I hope that is normal for 4 weeks out. I am walking but not as much as I should. My fingers have some nerve issues since the surgery so I have some questions for the surgeon on Monday. It does make it difficult to type. Hope you are doing well. Let me know. Take care.

Hi Karen, Glad to hear you are moving along. I hope you are doing well at home. Yes, I still get tired too, I am 44. I find I usually hit a "brick wall" as I call it around 2 or slightly earlier...and I immediately know to stop and take a nap for an hr. That usually gets me enough energy for the evening, and than I need to sit around 7 and relax, not as exhausted but usually need a massage by then as the day has caught up with my body. I have been walking in my house, kind of my "indoor track", at least 3 times a day, I hear my surgeons voice in my head..."walk, walk, when you get home", so I do what I can, without pushing it, I am doing the spirometer about twice a day now, next line above 1000, and on my own, doing breathing exercises to keep everything from getting stiff. I am doing some light shoulder shrugs and circular movement with the shoulders , arm lifts..forward and to the side, not pushing it, just normal range of motion for now, whatever my body will allow me to do, my OT showed me all of these. I do them first thing in the morning, I feel pretty stiff when I wake up in the morning. It all helps. Once a day I try to do some meditation, even if it's 5 min. Early on, I felt myself almost feeling trapped in my body because I felt so limited, and breathing was work at times, but I knew I needed to stop that and relax and be grateful. Everyday, I am getting slightly better. :) I see my surgeon 1st of week of Nov, I still do not want to drive yet, even though I got the go ahead, I feel in another week I will be ready. But yes, I get tired too. Takes 8-12 weeks for the sternum to heal, all protein is going towards the scar and healing sight, and I would expect the body to be working overtime, therefore we need to rest. I have decided to not try and push, due to the good advice I got from those on the website. Truth be told, I did pull a strange stunt during week 2....I could not look at my lawn getting long, even though I cut it before surgery...and I got on my John Deere tractor and mowed the front and back. My mother looked at me like I was crazy, my nurse said she was putting this down in her book...I weirdly had energy that day, I also went to a dentist appt for my daughter earlier that day( I did not drive). I have to tell you, I paid dearly for two days after that, and I got it out of my system, I suppose. I remember looking at my girls and mom, people jogging outside, and thinking, god, when will I be able to breathe and move and do all that again? But I know its coming, and continue to be so, so grateful, everyday, as I look at my two girls and thank god I am still here to watch them grow. I wish you a continued, safe recovery, and hopefully you have some things you can do to keep them the mind busy..I have been reading mostly, and adjusting to not having my parents around since they left last Friday..and so far, I am hanging in there. My mother was nice enough to make meals for almost two weeks and freeze, and stocked the fridge and pantry, so I can take it easy at dinner time and not have to do too much. It is important to eat well, as well as rest and walk so I am trying to stay on top of things. Fingers crossed, that all keeps going well for the both of us. Sorry you are having some issues with your fingertips, I am guessing that will go away as you heal? When I wake up in the morning, I notice my toes are slightly numb, I have to move to get the circulation going....as if I had been on my feet all day...in a minute or so, it goes away. Keep in touch when you can. We are on the other side! Yay!! :)

Hi Christine, Well it is almost 8 weeks now. I have been off the grid again but mostly because I am trying to catch up with email. I finally feel like reading and responding. Also I am starting to feel normal, the new normal. I cannot believe you got on your John Deere and mowed the lawn. I could never do that. My hubby has been cooking and shopping, etc. I am supposed to start cardiac rehab in fact should have started but my surgeon's office wouldn't give me a referral until I see him again which is next Monday. He did say I could start but his office didn't believe me. My hands are getting better. The cold has gone and some of my fingers aren't numb but some still are. I will ask the surgeon if the nerves will come back in those fingers. The surgeon was a bit upset that my cardiologist cut my amiodarone dosage in half but I asked to be taken off of it as it has terrible side effects. I am taking it because I had AFib in the hospital a few times. But I haven't noticed anything different since the dosage was cut so I'm hoping one of them will take me off of it. Were you told no caffeine, no red meat and of course salt reduction? I asked the surgeon about that and he said since I only had a valve replaced I could have 1 cup of coffee a day, and red meat very occasionally. I haven't had any red meat yet and only a couple of cups of coffee. Well, it is late, so I am going to end this. Hopefully both of us will continue to improve. I'm walking almost a mile each day. Hope all is good with you. You are right, we are on the other side. Yay! Take care and keep in touch.

Well you have me beat, i have not been walking a mile a day, so congrats. I do walk though. I began cardio rehab today, i am 7 weeks post op now, and I really enjoyed it. I am so glad you r feeling better and able to reduce meds and still doing well. That is a good sign, and I am believer that listening to a patient and how they feel on a drug is very important. Yes, over time would be great if you can come off entirely. I hope you can soon. i was told to watch the salt intake, i actually do not care for salt, but I do not drink coffee at all, i do not care for it, so if they told me not to drink it, I did not pay too much attention...sorry. My heart rate is still coming down (avg 90 at rest, sometimes 85, not taking meds) and i can only imagine what coffee would do to me! As far as red meat, no restrictions, it is where i get some of my of my protein from, as protein is so key during recovery. I will share though that I only eat grass fed beef, organic, probably once or twice a week. Meatloaf, meatballs, hamburgers, chili. i had my bicuspid valve repaired, so not sure if we have different restrictions. Sounds like you are moving in the right direction :). I will keep in touch. I guess I am doing well, just trying to live life normal again, and trying to take it easy. With two young girls, that can be a challenge, but a good one. I have the day to do my things while they are at school. Yes, lets keep in touch and check in. Again, glad to hear you r doing well, Karen, and god bless us, we got through surgery.

Hey Christine, you seem to be doing very well. I saw my surgeon this past Monday and he is sending me, finally, to cardio rehab. He also took me off the Amiodarrone. He also told me that my sternum is healed and I could resume normal activities. Yay! I know the coffee and red meat reduction or none in my diet is because I had AFib in the hospital. But since he has taken me off Amiodarone I guess that risk is going down. I will ask the cardiologist when I see him in January about the coffee and red meat. But I really haven't missed the red meat. I don't salt my food so I'm not worrying about too much salt as I don't eat too much processed food. You have to have an active life with your daughters. I am doing better and not really tired any more but was glad to spend Thanksgiving at a friend's. Well, that's all my news. Yes, we got through surgery and I am very thankful for that. Christine, take care and keep in touch.

So glad you are not feeling tired anymore. Me too! :) My girls are my therapy- they r my happiness and keep me moving. I am thrilled for u that u no longer have to take Med for afib! Great, news. You really sound well, and we are both heading and healing in the right direction. Congrats again on your recovery.

Hi Christine, I have read your journal and you are doing terrific. I couldn't drive for what seemed forever and just this past surgeon visit could I resume regular driving. You are doing so great. You are my inspiration although I know I am older than you so I can not expect to do all you do. Take care, Karen

Hi Karen! Congrats on getting the approval for driving. That is great. Some good advice I received from my mom about driving...she was in a similar situation where she could not drive until she healed...was not to drive until I had the confidence. So I waited until I did. I drove to NYC to my 5 week appt with my surgeon! My mother was like, you did what? I was ready! And it was great. I drove locally for a bit so I knew I could handle it. Karen, I just decided, although I am being careful, that I am going to feel all this stuff if I am sitting and dwelling, or I can feel things from this recovery while getting things done. I pray that we all continue a smooth recovery. I also feel that we are all a lot more alike than we are different, no matter what age, etc. And I think that is one of a few reasons why this website is so successful. This could be such a lonely journey, and instead, you get to "meet" some very special people along the way, to help pull you through a difficult time. You are my inspiration as well! :) Take care.

Thanks Christine. Driving in NYC at 5 weeks. My surgeon wouldn't let me drive over 35 mph at that time. I know you had to drive faster than that. I used to drive through NYC a lot years ago before we moved to Alabama. I know the surgeon was afraid of me damaging my sternum. We are more alike than different as we are all going through similar circumstances; some heal faster than others but we all go through most of the same things. I was lucky that I hardly hurt after the surgery but coughing was a killer and at 10 weeks I can still feel a twinge when I sneeze. Take care and enjoy!

Oh I am sorry about the cough. I was such a chicken I knew of a place to press on the hand to stop a sneeze and did not for about a month! When the first one came that I would allow it was the weirdest sneeze as I was afraid to fully let go! Once I saw i was passed major pain, no more holding back. At my 2 week appt my surgeon asked me to cough and i looked at him like he was crazy. :) I feel for you that you had that cough. I still get twinges at any point during the day, and at times my breathing feels good, and other times it feels like work. That and my loud heart sticking are my biggest challenges right now. It will be nice when we feel next to nothing, but grateful to be chugging along. Take good care of yourself and talk soon.

Hi Joan, I know I fell off the radar for a while. I was and still am very tired. I hope that is normal for 4 weeks out. I had a mini-sternectomy and the surgery went well. Glad for the mini as it hurt enough. I also gained 35 lbs. of fluid in surgery so was in hospital longer as they tried t get most of the fluid off. I then went to rehab to help me go upstairs without pulling on the rails to get me up. I am still very tired and feel like I could sleep all day. But I don't and I'm walking but not enough yet. I do have some nerve problems in my fingers so it makes it hard to type. I will have some questions when I see the surgeon on Monday. But the Huntsville Hospital nurses and techs were great and my surgeon did pretty good too. Rehab was very helpful too. They changed most of my medications so getting used to that. I did have some AFib in the hospital so on medication for that right now. But all in all not as bad as I thought it would be. Thank you for your prayers. I know they helped.

Karen, thank you for the update on your post-op status. . I completely understand that getting on the computer after surgery is not at the top of your list. It certainly sounds like recovery can be trying and all consuming at times, and that seems to be the general consensus from what I read. It's good to hear that despite some bumps in the road, you still feel it's not as bad as anticipated. I will continue to pray that you get stronger every day, and that your recovery is smooth. May God bless you. joan