rich's Photos

Ginny Turner  Congrats on being in such great shape and still being able to compete. My 55-yr-old Pilates instructor just returned from a show in Pittsburgh. You guys inspire us old folks!

Deena Z  Wow. You're in incredible shape, Rich. So little body fat. Is your resting HR and BP also very low?

rich monoson  Thank you Ginny and Deena so much. My BP is 110/65 and resting heart rate was 56 last checkup. I still have moderate mitral valve regurgitation that the doctors are keeping an eye on. I'm so hopeful that surgery is not necessary but I suspect I'll be back for round two. Thank you both for your very kind words.

Bob McRae  Congrats Rich ! You look beyond fabulous and are an inspiration to all of us heart warriors to never give up and always strive for our highest physical goals even if they at first seem unattainable !!! Again, Great Job Rich !

rich monoson  Bob, thank you so much for those kind words. We received the gift of improved quality of life after the surgery and then it's up to us what to do with it. Blessed to be part of such a wonderful community. How are you doing with everything? Your kindness is appreciated and I'd be glad to help with anything I can do. Thank you Bob

Deena Z  What zipper scar? What fat? Yes, muscle. Congrats, Rich. You definitely have focus and discipline.

Adam Pick  Insane Rich! Congratulations! I don't think anybody in the audience would have a clue that you had heart surgery.

Susan Lynn  Rich - Wow! That takes discipline! Congrats on your results and win! Good to see you're doing well and continuing to compete!

rich monoson  What an incredible community you are and I feel blessed to be a part of. Just so grateful to modern medicine miracle of preserving and enhancing life with the surgery. The aortic valve works great. Now the mitral valve is up next but hoping not too soon as regurgitation is moderate. Thank you wonderful people for your kind words and support. If there is ever anything I can do I'd be honored to do so.

Deena Z  Wish you well on your echo! Mine is the same day. Five months. First one since the hospital. There is no (good) reason for our echos to be anything but excellent.

rich monoson  Thank all you guys for the wonderful comments. Richard, I'm not sure about over 79 but I'm soon to find out. I know there is a 70-79 year old class. Deena, pork chops are fine. It's the carbohydrates that are very restricted. Low glycemic foods work great. It's really fun being with like minded physical culture people and mostly everybody in my class had or has some health challenge they overcame. Hello again Susan and thank you as always for your precious comments!

Deena Z  Thanks Rich for the diet guidance The very few bodybuilders I have met at the gym always talked about boiled chicken and white tuna. :) Guess Richard has a better chance at the over 79 now!!!

Richard Munson  That sounds so delicious. Boiled chicken and white tuna every night. Will i be able to swim upstream after awhile?

  Who cares if you didn’t win, look at you! Wow great picture and post. Congratulations and may God bless you and keep you well. 🎉🙏🥳

rich monoson  Thank you Alex. You will. Just set that mindset and it's done. I appreciate your kind words and please let me know if I can help you in any way.

Susan Lynn  Wow! Two years! Happy Anniversary, Rich! Time certainly did fly! Glad you're doing well! Continued good health!

Adam Pick  Happy 2nd Anniversary Rich! Great to hear Dr. Esmailian and the Cedars team helped you out. Dang. I can barely see your scar. Amazing healing. https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/surgeons/dr-Fardad-Esmailian-Los+Angeles-California.php

rich monoson  Thank you Adam. It really is barely visible but I'm so pleased with the end result. I did a men's physique competition in Phoenix July 24 and the scar was not really noticeable. Dr E did a great job inside and out

Susan Lynn  It's hard to believe it's been a year! Congratulations on your first anniversary, Rich! It looks like you're doing well and your scar is barely visible! Wishing you many, many decades of future celebrations! ❤

Adam Pick  Hey Rich! So happy you are in celebration mode on your 1-year anniversary! Congratulations! Thanks for being such a great member of our community. I can barely see your scar. Amazing how well you have healed. All the best, Adam

Rob Sparling  Rich, that is the most badass scar I have ever seen juxtaposed with the least scarring possible. Congrats, Unicorn! ❤️💪

rich monoson  Thank all you guys so much for your never ending warmth and kindness. I'm so glad to have met you guys here Marie, Susan, Rob and the man who put this all together......Adam.

  Hi Rich, you look great! Being with your son......priceless! Continued recovery and good health. God bless you

Joshua Nowack  Dude! RippedRich! Studly man. Now this is inspiring. I’m an arts and craft project (min invasive) put back together with mostly glue and fewer stitches. How long did you wait until you started lifting again. Are you a trainer?

Carlos Banuelos  Looking great for 13 weeks out! I’m 15 days out and I too got an on-x. Can’t wait to get back to my normal routine.

Mike Roskowinski  Looking good Richard. Keep it up. I am 12 weeks starting this week so I am back to my full routine. I was waiting for my full 12 weeks to get back to it. Joshua I started back in the gym after 5 weeks once I got into cardio rehab. I started just lifting light and gradually added weight. I have no sternum precautions anymore so I started to add more weight. Now just to get my diet back to normal so I can loose a few pounds. I also started playing sand volleyball about 3 weeks ago and golfing 2 weeks ago. Give it time and do the cardio rehab if you can just to know where you are at.

rich monoson  Thank you guys for the incredibly nice notes! I'm embarrassed to admit that I do not know how to navigate and respond personally and appropriately to all of you. I'm a technological dinosaur.
Joshua, thank you. I was chiropractor for many years and now a real estate broker/loan officer. I hit the gym 9 days after surgery for elliptical, legs and light upper body PT exercises. Regular lifting at week 8 but at moderate intensity. Glad you had minimal. How are you doing with post op?
Carlos, congrats. Listen carefully and you'll probably hear that beautiful sound of the ON-X doing its thing. Walk, stretch, stay active. Let that sternum unify and you'll be back in no time. It goes fast. I was aggressive in rehab but I have a long history of rehabbing injuries so I convinced myself I knew what I was doing. Anyway its turning out OK. I managed not to mess anything up.
Big Mike, we have such a common background and I'll never forget your mentioning of your two children pre op. I too felt that same concern. That was the only apprehension I had. You're ready Mike. The gym awaits. You're good to go. You are such a positive and supportive influence on this site. Adam should appoint you VP!
Susan, you're always a ray of sunshine and you feel like family.
Joe, thank you kindly. If there is anything I can ever do please let me know. I'll definitely keep it up as I really don't know what else to do at 5 in the morning. It keeps me out of trouble.
John, thank you. Not setting any strength records but pushing the light stuff around pretty often. The chest feels great. The shoulders, knees and hip having me walking like Fred Sanford does (did)!
Michael, the day I got home from the hospital I walked two miles because I had it predetermined I was going to do so (my wife was going to kill me and I fought to get out the front door). The gym was 9 days post op. Did elliptical, treadmill and light legs (machine work only). It was just great to be back in that atmosphere. My only fear was non union of the sternum plus I was battling A-fib for about a month and a half. That was very unpleasant.
Thank you all so much. I hope someone can instruct me how to respond individually. Thank you for being an amazing community.
Rich

Susan Lynn  I am amazed you can lift that weight! That's some miraculous healing! Glad you're back at the gym, Rich. That's why we do this! It's all about getting back to life (and the activities we love), but better!

Mike Roskowinski  Good job Rich. I will get there soon also. I am still sticking to the light weights and doing mostly walking and other cardio. I am too worried that I am going to hurt my sternum and then have issues the rest of my life. Just doing arms rows and some shoulder stuff. I will wait to see what they say when I get to 8 weeks. It must feel great to be at the gym full time. Keep it up sir.

rich monoson  Thanks Susan, Mike and Tom! I went back on day 11 to do cardio and light leg exercises. Graduated to 5 pound curls and light press downs for upper body. I just had to get back in and be in my comfortable environment. Week 6 was really the noticeable sternum improvement (not completely healed but pretty solid). Mike, the sternum deal was greatest concern through all this. I've had broken ribs before that took 6 weeks to completely heal. I'm using the same scale for a surgically induced clean fracture. Still no regular pushups or bench work because like you, I don't want to reinjure and cause a non union after all this time. You'll be back. If you can train around the sternum an active dynamic body heals better than an inactive one (in my laypersons opinion). Susan, Mike and Tom I really appreciate the interactions with you guys.
Rich

Susan Lynn  Rich - I enjoy following your progress and seeing the pictures of your family, too. One of these days I'll have to meet you when I'm in CA visiting my sister.
Be careful at the gym - I didn't have a sternum cut and I still had a 5 lb. lifting restriction for three months. The strain on the newly repaired heart can be risky. Take care!

rich monoson  Thank you Louanna and I'd love to meet you Susan. Sternum I figured was pretty well healed at 6 weeks and I was very cautious not to hit it directly but there are so many other parts of the body I had to keep busy with a healthy dose of exercise and get this rehab moving along. When I heard the 10 pound restriction I nodded my head "Yes Doctor" and knew I was going to do my own thing when I got home. I've actually spent so much time working around injuries through the years so I'm pretty adept at it. Compared to two rotator cuff full tears this was a piece of cake.

rich monoson  Susan, thank you so much. You are a lovely lady and I always appreciate your kind words. How have you been?

Joey Hardee  What its all about right there, Rich!! Awesome to see you enjoying that time with your beautiful family.

Mike Roskowinski  Awesome Rich. Kids are well worth it. Even if they make you go to dance recitals :) Good thing you got that heart fixed cause I am sure all of them are going to keep you busy for some years to come. I have 2 and they can be busy I could not imagine 5 of them.

rich monoson  Rob, Mike and Naomi, only two are mine!! The other 3 are kids from the other coaches on Landon's LL team. My two are almost more than I can handle. The day was great and Mike, I cannot imagine 5 either!
Great to hear from all you guys.

rich monoson  Thank you Catie and Joey. Joey, you're getting close and you'll do great. Anything we can do or I can do please reach out. It would be my pleasure. I think you'll be surprised how clean of a procedure it is. I'll be rooting for you!

Nicole DuPont  You’re such an inspiration! So happy to see you in such a good place at 8 weeks. It shows how much your family has helped you soar through this.

Mike Roskowinski  Awesome job Rich! It is good to hear you are doing so well. I started week 6 this past Monday and I feel great. Still have some beats of my heart that feel like I have a marching band inside me but otherwise all is good. I finally did get bumped up to some harder workouts in Cardiac Rehab yesterday so that felt good. I was going to go to the gym today for the first time since I got my surgery. Still on a 10 pound weight restriction limit which sucks cause I feel like I can do more. I know you got back to the gym pretty quick and was wondering when they lifted your weight restrictions. I am more than ready to get back to weight training

rich monoson  Thank you Nicole and Mike. You guys are incredible people. Mike, I have the entire bed rock every time my heart would beat when laying flat. It really felt like an alien in there! No more Amiodarone! The arrhythmias have greatly diminished and I'm so relieved. Mike, you're doing a great job as well. You handled the post surgical adversity very well and great to read you huffing it 5-7 miles per day. The gym and weight stuff I never discussed with my doctor. I was going to the gym as soon as I got home and my wife wasn't guarding the front door. I had the 10 pound restriction as well but I knew what I could do and not do. The sternum needs a good 6-8 to unify or heal and I was very guarded protecting this area. I did leg presses, machine hams, calves and lots of cardio (elliptical, treadmill, stair machine). Upper body was very light single arm curls, tri press downs, partial movement side laterals, very light dumbbell shrugs 20 pounds each hand. I just started doing knee push ups and light over head shoulder and machine chest work. Mike, you're going to be killing it soon like you never were out of commission. Great reading your supportive, uplifting and well crafted posts! Please let me know your progress

Mike Roskowinski  Hey Rich looking good. Keep it up. Yeah I can’t wait to get off Amiodarone and iron pills. Would be nice just to get on Warfarin and that’s it. 4 weeks from surgery on Monday for me.

rich monoson  Thank you Susan and Mike. Always so nice to connect with you guys. Mike, did you see the warnings and side effects of Amiodarone? It should have a skull and cross bones on the label. How's you INR? I've been trying to get in range for 3 weeks and I hate increasing coumadin after each test. It's great to see you out and about enjoying being with your kids. As we touched based on earlier before we both went in for surgery the kids were such a primary focus. I'm so grateful to be around
for them. Mike, looks like you're doing great. So glad to see. Susan, you are always a ray of sunshine and I appreciate your always pleasant note!

Diane Esposito  Rich, how adorable they are! Isn’t it great to be more active? I feel so much better at 3 1/2 weeks post OHS than I did at 2 weeks. You look great!

rich monoson  Dear Susan and Diane, thank you very much for your kind words. I felt incredible immediately. Started walking a few miles a day and light rehab exercise. The only annoyance is that post surgical Afib. So glad you guys are doing so well also. Thank you kindly!

Nicole DuPont  Great picture Rich! Could you share how you talked with kids pre-surgery? I’m not quite sure what to say to them beforehand about what to expect of me after I’m home from the hospital.

rich monoson  Thank you Catie and Nicole. Nicole I really didn't prep the kids at all. I just told them I was going in to the hospital to get fixed up. We all drove to the hospital on surgery day (yelling at them in the back seat not to fight with each other-like every normal day) and checked in. They were in the waiting room with their electronics and toys with my poor wife who really suffered through this. In the hospital the kids couldn't come up to visit because they were too young. On the day I came home they ran up and greeted me like they haven't seen me in years. I told them I'm a little banged up and cant really hug or lift them up. My wife was screaming at them not to get too close but I missed them so much. The only time they were really aware was when I showed them my chest scar the next day. I saw a look of semi shock on both their faces and they were great. Nicole, I never really felt the need to tell them or prepare them. I wanted as little stress as possible on the family and not sure they would have understood anyway. When I went in the morning of surgery I kept it so low key and calm and didn't talk about anything surgery related. Just another day. Nicole, I just recommend you tell them that you need to rest a few days and the doctor says they need to really behave so mom can get well really fast. My kids were bouncing balls and toys off my head and just wanted to go the park and play.....so we took them. I never really "rested" at home. Two young kids don't allow that and I didn't mind. Its so enjoyable seeing them having fun in the park playing and that state of mind enhances the healing process. When you get home you'll appreciate them even more if possible and have such gratitude for so much in this life. Best Nicole! Rich

Nicole DuPont  Rich, thanks for explaining this the way you did. I’ve been thinking about how you approached it from a “another day in life” perspective, and I think it’s really the healthiest perspective for everyone involved. It shows your courage and lack of interest in being a victim about the situation, which is a great thing for the kids to see. You’ve given me a lot to think about. Thanks!

rich monoson  Nicole, thank you for this wonderful note. I'm sorry I did not respond immediately. I'm still trying to figure out how to navigate this site. I click on the red heart but new notifications not always visible. So glad you are open to another perspective and I hope it helps. We all have a different approach. When you look at those kids just think about this incredible procedure that will give you many more years of quality time with them. Their mom gets a revitalization and they'll have you around for a long time. Best to you Nicole!

rich monoson  Thank you Susan. The seamstress work isn't too bad at this point! I'm just so grateful to have a normal beating heart. You guys on this site are the best. Like family.

Joey Hardee  Still rolling along, Rich. Getting my 35-45 minutes on the treadmill almost daily and keeping my heart rate within parameters but I'm able to walk at 3.8-4.1 MPH (I even throw in the occasional 30 second jog to get the rate up). Did some leg press with light weight the last week, which the doc said I could do. Want to build some quad strength before I go in. 6/18 will be here before I know it! I am amazed at how well you are doing, Rich. Very inspiring!

Rob Sparling  You guys are both doing great! Rich, no question a strong recovery! Joey, a really impressive amount of prep! What you are doing today is what I am capable of doing now! You will come out of this really strong and improving. So happy for you both! Way to go!

rich monoson  Joey, Diane and Rob, thank you all for the wonderful words, comradery and support. You guys are like family. For 3 1/2 weeks out I never imagined feeling this well. On the elliptical for 40 minutes at a good clip. I'm getting the urge to really push it but I know better. First time in my life no palpitations. Joey you'll do great. Especially since you are doing the prehab work!

Kevin Bradley  Awesome, Rich! I am glad you feeling pretty good at this point. May you have continued success and LGR!!!

Mike Roskowinski  Good job Rich. Keep it up. I am hoping to be bouncing back as quick as you have. I am excited to get mine done and be out of this daily worry. We need to create a WARRIOR shirt with our scar down the middle. Like IronMan

rich monoson  Thank you guys very much. I'm still honestly shocked (in a great way) how incredible I feel 10 days post op. It's like it never happened. Pain is a zero on 1-10 scale and overall a great feeling of well being. It's been an awesome experience

Joey Hardee  Simply amazing!! I was actually hoping for a mini sternotomy but they have to replace my aorta as well so I will get the full treatment. If I can have half the experience you have had, I will be a happy man!

rich monoson  Joey, it feels so nice to walk at a steady clip and let the mind wander. You got my promise no running for a bit

Marie Myers  In this situation, the slow way is the fastest way...
I remember loving the sunshine once I got home also.Felt so good on my skin!

Mike Roskowinski  Hey Rich looking good there. Keep it up but dont overdue it. I am like you as being very physically active. Gym 5 times a week and playing sports. We all will get impatient waiting around to get back to our normal but give it time. I am hoping to be feeling like you are that quick after surgery. My picture should be coming up very soon!

rich monoson  Marie, Mike, Tim and Bradley. Thank you guys for your great responses. I always believe an active body heals much faster than being dormant. The exercise so far is well within comfortable limits. Its meditative, therapeutic and the beauty of movement feel great. Today I walked a mile and added 10 sets of stairs (20 stairs in flight). No heavy breathing. I wanted a bit of chest expansion and to get the legs working a bit. My wife will kill me if I get crazy!

Bill Pollard  Great news. I had OHS on 10/15/18 to replace my calcified and bicuspid aortic valve. I walked 1.3 miles outside 15 days after surgery. I ran two miles 33 days after surgery and six miles 41 days after surgery. Keep it up! Prayers for a continued strong recovery.

Diane Esposito  Hi Rich! It’s great that you’re on the path to recovery; you look great at 6 days post op! Keep up the good work!

Tim Saint   You're all over it big fella! Well done, secret is not to push to hard to early & let the sternum heal. All the best Rich for a trouble free recovery.

Louanna Miller  You look great for so early following OHS. Wow!!! Great advice from Tim to let your sternum heal. Take care.

Mike Roskowinski  Awesome Rich. Do we have to have an angiogram pre surgery or can a CT scan replace that. I heard that they can be painful.

rich monoson  Thank you guys for the very positive thoughts! Mike, I was given the option for a CT but I requested the angiogram/cath procedure. I do believe the CT scan is a definite pre-surgical option. The angiogram was completely painless. A poke on the wrist was it. The most discomfort was the freezing cold room where procedure was done. Doctor and staff were great. The 7 hour day there was a pain the a** however.

Diane Esposito  Best wishes to you tomorrow, Rich. It’s such a relief to know the coronary arteries are clear; mine are too and I’m really happy about that! My surgery for mitral repair and MAZE procedure is coming up on the 24th. I’ll keep you in my prayers.