Kevin's Guestbook

Hey Kevin! How are you doing? I’m having a hard time with some collateral side effects from surgery & feel like I’m not doing as well as I wanted to be! I know everyone is different but since are same day surgery buddies I was wondering how you are doing! CKB

Kevin you look great and it's fantastic seeing you out walking. Just passing on some info my cardiologist gave me after surgery. Almost all of us can't wait for the day we can sleep on our sides. Doctor warned me not to do it for at least 6 weeks. He said the wires could bend under the weight of our top shoulder and arm pulling down especially in a deep sleep. He also said some people have lifelong arthritic type pain because of it. Be sure to get an ok from your doctor. When it's ok to sleep on our sides, a firm pillow next to the body is a good place to rest the top arm and keep the shoulder from rolling forward and placing all that weight on sternum. Best of luck to you.

WOW Kevin! Your description of how you feel is probably textbook (everyone is different, I understand), but everything you wrote was my experience. It will be up and down for awhile, but you are young and will feel better each week. I remember hanging onto my walker just to go into the kitchen. I wasn't going to cook, but it gave me a rush of happiness to make it that far and stand at my sink again. I live in CA and yesterday we went to the grocery store and stopped to take pictures of us in the beautiful wildflowers along the walking trail in our neighborhood. What a difference ! Didn't think I'd be here so quickly. The months have flown by. I am on warfarin for another month and still get cold easily, feel a little prick in chest now and then and am still a little hesitant to push myself. But, I am slowly putting thoughts of surgery behind. You WILL be much better as you gain strength. If this 73 yr old lady can do it, you can too. It just takes time, rehab and moving as you feel better. Always wishing you and others the very best in surgery and recovery.