Anna's Journal

Anna Ma  About 4 months post surgery I took my first vacation in Maine. I was not 100% back to my energy level yet.

Rose Madura  Wonderful update Anna. Lovely pictures. I'm glad you are doing well. Happy New Year! May you have a year of perfect health.

Dan Fouratt  Anna, I love your story. We both went in for our surgery at the same time. First I am a GT grad so I am familiar with where you live. I am so glad you are getting out and about. My bride and I are now getting out, we were side lined for 6 months with my OHS follow by he broken heal. We joke 2024 is behind us on to a great 2023 may we all visit many places. Keep on going

Anna Ma  Thank you everyone for the good wishes! 
Adam- Rome is wonderful. You may want to avoid it in 2025 though  if you are not Catholic pilgrim. It is the once every 25 year Catholic jubilee, it is going to be very crowded and expensive.  

Anna Ma  Hi Dan, good to hear from you, my heart surgery "twin" ! I didn't know you went to GT! I'm so glad that both you and your wife have healed well and ready to travel again!

Dan Fouratt  Anna, We did Rome/Sicily the year before my OHS and it was crowed then and it was off season.  We are off to for a 3.5 trip to Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia) mid February.  Keep on traveling! 

Anna Ma  Dan, Your Southeast Asia trip sounds wonderful, perfect time to visit there in February! Wish you a great trip!

Grace Mason   Hi Anna,
This was happening to Robert Young several months back.
I believe he finally deduced that if, while scrolling, he lingered on another photo in the scroll, it could replace the photo on his own profile. 
I have never experimented to see if that is the issue, but maybe give it a try 

Adam Pick  Anna and Grace, Thanks so much for making me aware of this little bug. I will send a note over to our programming team ASAP. Again, thanks!!!

Adam Pick  Hi Anna and Grace, Thanks so much for the feedback. Our programming team just added some code to hopefully prevent that issue in the future. Again, thank you!!!

Darrell Malone  Great report Anna. Yes you will get there and our recovery will be life long but most certainly better each day. 🏋‍♂️

Sue Maize  Thanks for posting Anna—it’s so important to remind ourselves that we all have a different timetable for recovery and I agree with what Darrell said about this being life long! Trust God’s timing—this slower more physically limiting time has actually been good for me—an opportunity to ask God what he wants to show me or teach me in this season of recovery. Bless you! ❤️‍🩹🙏🏻

J Alexander Lassally  Yessssss. I feel so much better off of beta blocker!  Progress for sure. 
Which upper body weights are you doing? 

Valerie Allen  So has everyone been on metroprol just for possible arrhythmia and will get off it? I will still need it for blood pressure but so far a much smaller dose than before surgery.

Sue Maize  Hi Valerie, I was on metropolol in the hospital but back to my pre-surgery dose of Bisoprolol (2.5 mg). I’m not sure if I’ll continue with it indefinitely or not—I’ll ask at my cardiologist appt on the 22nd. How are you doing? 

Valerie Allen  Hi Sue, I am doing well at 11 weeks post surgery. Feeling pretty much like pre-surgery with some days more energy than that, and some days less. The latter is mostly when I’ve really been challenged at cardio rehab which is often now. Of course I had minimal symptoms pre-surgery. I was hoping to feel 25 again, but I guess that’s not in the cards 😉. But feeling good! My 3 month checkup is end of month.

Sue Maize  Your recovery has been remarkable Valerie! Hey, 25 is overrated! We’ve got something better—wisdom and life experience, and now our amazing renovated hearts! 🥰 will you go back to CC for your 3 month check up? 

Anna Ma  Dan, Valerie, my cardiologist told me my situation is different. She put me on metoprolol for the purpose of preventing aorta rupture, which is different from other patients. I actually have low bp and metoprolol made it worse. Nonetheless I hope you will be able to get off it too some time soon.

Anna Ma  J A, I started small, only doing dumbbells and using body weight. There’s a rowing machine there I might try soon.

Marie Myers  I visited my sister 4months after my surgery. It was a 3hr flight, and I had a great time getting away! I was comfortable walking in the airport and carrying my bag at that point in my recovery. I would say go for it !

Rita Savelis  Do what feels right for you. If you want to travel, travel! Glad to hear you are feeling well after 3 months.

Dan Fouratt  Glad to hear you are doing well.  I traveled 8 weeks after surgery and had no issue.  If you body says go, go and enjoy.

Suelynn Hanegraaf  Took a road trip with my husband at 10 weeks post-op and did fine. Now at 12 weeks, I feel pretty strong (still lifting restrictions) and booked flights to Boise from Chicago to visit our son & family mid-August. If anything, I’m trying to be consistent with my cardiac rehab, 3xs a week.

Anna Ma  Thank you all for your advices! I'm going to do it!  I just had my post 3 mo check up too and my cardiologist said I can go to anywhere I like!! Super excited!!

Anna Ma  Suelynn, I'm doing 3x cadio rehab too, I have made big progress in just one month. Hope you have a great time for your August trip!

Dan Fouratt  Anna,  she is beginning to get more mobile and putting weight on her ankle.  We did cancel our Colorado trip in august but hope to travel in September.  She is ahead of the recovery chart so there is hope.  Thank you for asking. Dan

Suelynn Hanegraaf  Thank you, Anna! My rehab is going great. I am truly feeling near-normal. Enjoy your summer travel! 😎

Anna Ma  Glad you all find it helpful. ☺️ I like the activities and tasks timeline too. I’ve been wondering about what I can or cannot do each week. It is good to have the guidelines.

Anna Ma  I found it more organized and provided more detail information than the discharge info I have from hospitals.

Susan Lynn  Anna - It sounds like you haven't caught what your daughter has, yet, but your body is already working overtime to heal from surgery and you don't want to add to that load. I limited the number of people I came in contact with before and immediately after surgery. If you've experienced your first post-operative sneeze, then you know that getting even a cold right now could be a challenge. Do your best to stay healthy. Wishing you good health!

Yumiko Ishida  I think doctors are primarily concerned with fever, a clear sign of infection. Coughing, sneezing, all of that is your body trying to fight off whatever is in the air around you and doesn’t necessarily mean you have an infection, so consult your doctor, as you have done, but don’t be alarmed. The minute you have a fever though, go to urgent care ir ER. An infection might slow your recovery but if treated early it shouldn’t cause long term harm. I developed a rash couple of days after discharge and had a 101 degree fever. Went to urgent care, who sent me to ER, and was put on antibiotics. The location of the rash (my chest) and GI issues related to antibiotics definitely delayed my wound healing, but I am in the clear now and as far as I can tell it has not affected my heart / new valve.

Anna Ma  Thank you Susan and Yumiko for your insights! I made an appointment for my daughter and my husband took her to see the doctor. I still can’t drive yet. It turned out that she has scarlet fever. I definitely need to keep distance from her for couple of days. Hopefully she will recover soon without passing it on to me.

Robert Miller  There is the potential of infections but not really from other people. I wouldn't be too worried about that. The biggest issue in my opinion is if you catch a cough. Sneezing and coughing are hard on your chest where the bones need to heal. So yes, you want to stay away from sick people. But your surgeon should be able to give you more info what they are concerned about incl. anything that might affect the heart. I wasn't told about anything like that, from what I recall. 

Yumiko Ishida  Yes, pain on right breast was the worst for me, too. One of the surgeons explained to me that it is from prying the chest open. Your sternum doesn’t have many nerves, if any, so apparently it is common that the worst pain is felt on the right side. My right breast pain did fade over time, but it took 6-8 weeks to be completely gone, similar to other soft tissue injuries. I weaned myself off oxycodone before it ran out, and was/is only taking tylenol. My cardiologist said he will refill the oxy if I did run out. I suggest you contact your surgeon, cardiologist, or PCP to ask to refill your tramadol, if that was helping. Just contact one of them - multiple requests for prescription pain med are going to look suspicious. Hope you feel better soon!

Susan Dunne  Hello, I have never had pain from my surgery but I did have some pain, not terrible, in my left shoulder area.  I have been going to acupuncture and the doctor explained that this is probably from the trauma caused by the surgery.  She explained that Inter coastal muscles and perhaps some nerves have been damaged by the surgery and will take some months to repair.  Her treatments are very helpful.  You might want to try acupuncture.

Anna Ma  Thank you Yumiko for the explanation. Good to know it will fade in a few more weeks. I wonder if it is more painful for women😢

Anna Ma  Susan, I’m so glad that you didn’t have any pain and that acupunctures work for you! I think the results of acupuncture can be quite different depends on the practitioner. I need to find a good one in my area.

Susan Lynn  Anna - I was taken off aspirin a year after my surgery. There are different schools of thought about the use of aspirin and you have a very legitimate reason for not wanting to be on it. You might want to check with your primary care doc or another cardiologist to see what they think.

I was also initially on Metoprolol and was removed from the drug. However, PACs two years after surgery resulted in another Rx and I'm still on it. I am hoping to have the dosage reduced and maybe eliminated someday.
Be your own advocate! Question everything.

Jill Porter  I am on eliquis as a blood thinner to help prevent stroke. I don't know if that is the same purpose as the aspirin? I am also on metoprolol indefinitely. I used to hate the idea of taking medication but I have come to terms with it. The metoprolol seems to reduct the amount of palpitations I have.

Yumiko Ishida  I think you could come off metoprolol eventually as long as your HR stabilizes and you do not develop any rhythm issues. I was sent home without any beta blocker because of my low BP, but asked to be put back on propranolol because it was uncomfortable to have HR over 100 constantly. My resting HR is still in the high 80s to mid 90s after 12 weeks. I am told it will be a long time before HR stabilizes.

Aspirin depends on your risk factor for clots. If there is nothing in your history that puts you at high risk, you might be able to go off of it. Post surgery we are all at high risk for clots. As someone with a history of a stroke, I am on aspirin for the rest of my life, but 3 months after surgery I can finally be off warfarin! (4 more days, but who’s counting?)

Rose Madura  I was taken off aspirin last year (had my surgery in 2017l. I'm still on low dose Metrolpol and low dose amlodipine. But do advocate and at least find out their thinking on why you must stay on them, if you must.

Abhishek Sharma  6 months post AVR i am on low dose of metoprolol and aspirin. I also had acid reflux history but doc said not to worry about..

Richard Munson  I am off eliquis but on low dose aspirin and take omeprozole for heart burn. Still get it by the way. My 2 cents is that your question had 6 different answers from 6 different people. 12 more answers might all be different i think because no 2 people are exactly the same. Therefore everyone will have a different outcome due to different bodies and what is good for me might not be good for you. 

Marie Myers  I am still on a baby aspirin and beta blocker. It is 7 years for me, and I don’t mind being on either one. When I went home from the hospital, I was on famotidine 20 mg (OTC dose) to prevent stomach/ ulcer issues for about a month. Got off of it without issue.

Dan S-otts  I’m 14 months post OHS. I’m on low dose aspirin indefinitely. I was told to take it before bed. I also enjoy a cup of non fat greek yogurt about an hour before bed. This has made a big difference with my reflux, it’s now basically nonexistent. 

Valerie Allen  Dan, I’ve never heard of reflux being treated with nonfat Greek yogurt at night. I take Prilosec. I should try your plan, much healthier long term!

Anna Ma  Thank you all for your input! My cardiologist said baby aspirin is to help prevent the calcium buildup. I’m only on low dosage (half of 25mg) metoprolol now, so it doesn’t bother me as much. I was on 25mg initially, but it caused me dizziness, so my cardiologist recommended me to cut in half.

Anna Ma  My question is. If the edward inspires resilla valve can prevent calcification, do we still need baby aspirin?

Yumiko Ishida  I don’t know how these newer valves prevent calcium build up, but I think clot risk is still high initially. It’s a foreign object, so your body is going to treat it as such until it is endothelialized. That is how my surgeon explained it, and why we need a blood thinner for at least three months after getting a new valve. Aspirin is not just for valve plaque prevention but also for your arteries. My father in law has been on aspirin since his triple bypass. So it really is dependent on your individual risk factor.

Yumiko Ishida  85 for heart rate is actually not very high. Mine was over 100 resting when I left the hospital. It is uncomfortable but not dangerous. Your body needs the blood flowing to heal the wounds, and I am told it will be a VERY long time until the HR stabilizes. Low BP is a common side effect of a beta blocker like metoprolol. 85/50 is probably too low, maybe even dangerous, if you are not used to low BP. Make sure you are hydrated, take electrolytes. 

Grace Mason   I believe it is not unusual for your resting heart rate to be higher following heart surgery. 
Mine was close to 100 resting for several weeks. I would check in with your doctor and ask them "At what level resting HR, should I be concerned?
Also, it is not unusual for your heartbeat to sound and feel much louder, stronger, post surgery. 
Hopefully with stopping the furesomide and metoprolol you will start to feel better.
Were you taking Potassium supplements along with your Furesomide? It can deplete your Potassium and make you tired also.

Ana Kelton-Brand  Anna, I had the same problem post-surgery.  BP was in the 80's (systolic) and HR was in the 90's and low 100's.  They considered putting me on Metoprolol but ultimately decided against it because of my consistently low BP.  They said it would get better with time, and it has.  I'm 3 months post-op, and although my BP is still on the low side (it was low pre-surgery, too), my HR has come down to the 70's and 80's.  Still gets into the 90's sometimes, but not most days.

Marian Janes  I was finally released with BP in the high 80's/low 90's.  It took almost three weeks to regulate at home. They kept me on half of .25 of Lopressor until it regulated. Give it time.

c w  Anna, the same thing happened to me. I hope your BP goes up now that you're off the beta blocker. It did take about six weeks for mine to be consistently over 90/60 after they took me off Metoprolol and Amiodarone. My doctor said to go to the ER if systolic was in the 70's and I felt bad (which did happen once). Staying hydrated seemed to help — Cardiac rehab would not let me exercise when my systolic was below 90 — they would have me drink a bunch of water and my BP would go up enough so I could do my session.

My heart rate did shoot up after getting off the drugs, and it took some time for it to come down — about 3 months after surgery. I found it exhausting. I don't have anything helpful to say about it, just empathy.

Anna Ma  Alexander, I probably will give it a 95. This is my first experience ever having a surgery and being in hospital for so long, so it is hard for me to rate it. But overall the experience was great, everyone was caring and nice, especially those nurses and therapists taking care of me post surgery. The only bumps that taken place and can be improved are my first nurse at ICU after surgery didn’t tell me how to use the calling button or give me any instructions, I was clueless and helpless in the dark and I threw up, I sensed he was a bit frustrated. My husband asked to change to female nurse the next day, those nurses were amazing, they took good care of me. The other bump was that I kept throwing up for the first few days post surgery, I felt sick and could not eat anything. They tried many different medications and none worked. Finally a doctor ordered an x-ray and found that it was my gi full of poop that caused me throwing up. Once they solved that, I no longer threw up.

Kimberly Eisenhut  Good to see you are turning a corner and doing better! Great work so far, and hoping you have a smooth, uneventful recovery going forward.

Teressa Phillips  I'm glad to hear that things are going better for you. Wishing you a smooth recovery from here on out.

Dan Fouratt  Keep on improving you will get there. When you get to the point it moves quick.  Thoughts remain with you.

Rose Madura  Sounds like you are doing well. The hospital staff will likely cheer when you do the No 2. It's very important for your release. Hang tough and listen to your body.  

Suelynn Hanegraaf  Please let us know - when you can - how you are doing. Prayers for a smooth post-surgery recovery.

Deena Z  Wow, you hit the jack pot!!   Talk about a stress reducer.  Good for you, Anna!!  Also, a zero calcium score at the age of 50 is outstanding.   (that uber ride was so worth it:)

Anna Ma  Absolutely! I was so happily surprised that Dr Takayama can do all of these replacing my aorta and aortic valve with minimum invasive 3” cut! I’ve been preparing myself for the full sternptomy

Valerie Allen  I know what you mean, Anna. It seems like many of the new, popular services are adding lots of fees. Let us know how you are settling in!

Anna Ma  Thank you Valerie! I’m settling fine so far. The hotel is only a few minutes walk from hospital which is nice. It is tiny but clean and quiet. I’ll only stay here till Tuesday night and then my husband will stay here alone, so it is not bad. I booked a different more spacious suite for post op.

Anna Ma  You are right, Richard! I definitely don’t want to be mugged or carry the luggage on bus or subway 😂

J Alexander Lassally  A few reflections - I did not have an attention span for reading - so TV /Netflix were more my speed. Little short walks were nice (skip the stairs).  Relatively normal diet as appetite arrives. Yogurt variety to go with all the pills... You will be taking pills all the time the first days. Maybe copious bananas. Herbal tea. Favorite ice cream. Why not, right?! 

Teressa Phillips  I hope your surgery and recovery goes incredibly well. 

I know this is long and your experience may vary dramatically from mine, but learning from others is the whole point of this site. Every person's recovery is individual. If it doesn't help you, maybe it will help someone else who reads it.

I had a minimally invasive aortic valve replacement. My first couple of weeks home from the hospital I ate a lot of yogurt and fresh cut fruit. By a lot I mean when I felt like eating anything at all it was yogurt or fruit. Even making a can of soup seemed too much effort. I also developed a meat aversion with my surgery. Taste and appetite issues are extremely common but usually resolve themselves. However, at 9.5 weeks out I'm still not eating meat.

I didn't do any cooking, dishes, or laundry for about 3 weeks. After that I started doing light things like making a sandwich or washing a load of socks and undies. I still found dishes too strenuous for a while. Too much twisting, bending, lifting, and reaching dealing with the dishwasher or washing by hand. 

I was getting up every morning and moving to the den, and throughout the day, I would walk the length of the house to go to the bathroom, etc. If I felt like crawling back in bed I did. I did lie down every afternoon. Some days I rested for 15 minutes, other days I slept for 4 hours. I just allowed myself to exist.

In general I was walking .75 to 1 mile a day, but in short implements. The surgical NP for my surgeon said that was better for me than getting up once and doing a long walk because it forced me to utilize all of my muscles multiple times a day. Tylenol does nothing for me so I was given the okay to take Advil as needed for pain. I took 1-3 per day then tapered down to 1 at night, then just occasionally. I would say I'm still taking 1 a week or so now. Several kind people here said they were completely pain free in the 4-5 month range. 

As for mental activity, I was fine with simple tasks, but complex ones were beyond my ability. I tried to do my own pill box at 2 or 3 weeks and completely mixed everything up. It was a good reminder that I was not able to go back to work yet. I also made a mess of my sick and vacation requests that HR had to redo for me. In my defense, our system isn't easy even when you aren't unwell.

I am an avid consumer of books and usually consume 100-150 per year. I read and listen to audio books hence the word choice of consume. For the first 6 weeks I couldn't even concentrate enough to follow an audio book. I did find shorter podcasts were okay because I wasn't trying to follow a plot or keep characters straight. The episodic nature of them worked well for me. I also spent way more time than I ever did before watching shows on Netflix and Prime. I chose shows that I had seen before that it didn't matter if I missed something or light things like British Backoff. I rewatched the entire Psych series!

Also, don't discount your mental health. Even people who have never experienced depression or anxiety can have issues post surgery. The bypass machine mucks with your brain in unexpected ways. If it starts being too overwhelming, tell your care team. They are much more aware about this now than they were in years past. I was already on medication for my anxiety and I still had 2 really, really bad days during my recovery. Be gentle with yourself. My body and mind felt completely alien to me until 6 weeks post surgery. At that point I turned the corner and felt more like myself. I went back to work at 6.5 weeks and have been able to handle the mental tasks without any issues.

Yumiko Ishida  If you enjoy reading you will have energy to read. As Teressa said, anything that requires concentration is hard, though, so stick to light stuff. I had one new book, but mostly listened to audio books I already read before, so it was ok if I fell asleep. For me the food I enjoyed the most was soup. It is important to move for your recovery, so plan on not staying in bed. It’s ok to take multiple naps, though. Maybe it’s just me, but I actually found the first week home stressful… I was ok with little brain exercises like wordle, sudoku, etc, but critical things like sorting my pills were exhausting… So if you are with someone you trust, try to delegate some things.

Deena Z  I started eating beef to get my hemoglobin up.  And I had lost. 9 pounds after fluid retention faded.  Ate ice cream,  because I could:)

Did not drink anything caffeinated for 3 weeks post discharge, because it increases my blood pressure. Others have said that they actually drank coffee while in hospital, so seems variable.  You are really tired the first several weeks so expect to nap quite a bit. Podcasts were helpful. 

Dan Fouratt  I got a couple of audio books to make life easier for my upcoming treatment. I thought it be easier then reading.

Jennifer Fuller  Teresa’s comment about mental ability is spot on. I couldn’t do the NYT crossword, like at all. Even the easy days. My mind just wouldn’t function that way. I wasn’t up to reading any of the books I’d set aside for this time. Moby Dick remains dusty. I just wanted easy, simple, comforting entertainment. Law & Order reruns, Lifetime movies, that kind of thing. Any intellectual challenge left me sad and frustrated. Thankfully, four months out my faculties have returned!

Grace Mason   My days seemed to be filled even though all I really did was sleeping in, then showering every day to clean my incision with antibacterial soap, then slowly walking 3x a day, with rests in between and preparing and eating meals. I was in slow motion but the days were not 😁. 
Soup was a favorite and then spinach, mushroom, tomato, and havarti omelettes, for a while. I binged some TV, but couldn't focus on books for several weeks. I really appreciated help from my husband with management of my meds for the first week, I would have messed some up, otherwise.
I needed help opening twist off pretty much everything at first, even my meds. I didn't realize this before surgery.
Bending forward was also uncomfortable for a little while. Slip on shoes were good.

Rita Savelis  I was too exhausted to read or even watch TV for at least a week after surgery. Didn't want to eat anything except some soup. Short hair is a good idea! I was happy to have an elastic to tie my hair back. Everyone is different but there is no hurry to start doing activities. Your body will have been through a lot and needs rest. Listen to what your body tells you. Take care.

Susan Lynn  I craved fresh fruit and ate lots of it in the hospital. I didn't have much of an attention span in the hospital and slept off and on, but I did manage to text and email friends. I walked multiple times per day around the heart unit and slowly extended the length when I got home. You'll be surprised how much progress you'll see in the first few weeks of your recovery. Best of luck to you.

Anna Ma  Wow, thank you everyone for your great info! This is really helpful! Now I'm not going to pack any books, except my daily devotion. I'm going to heavily rely on my ipad for entertainment, I got my prime, appletv apps all installed. I also have my hoopla both on phone and ipad for audio books, and I love listen to podcasts too.  

Anna Ma  Looks like fruit, soup and yogurt are the most popular food. Anyone tried protein drinks? I'm thinking to get some premier protein drinks and add some fruits and other stuff to make smoothies. 

Dan Fouratt  I am bringing protein bars to eat as they are easier to carry and use. Read a lot of labels.  I was advised to maximize protein while minimizing added sugar and sodium. Tough balance but i found the drinks had much more sugar. Tried on this morning, taste was bearable.

Grace Mason   I used protein drinks to supplement my intake for the first weeks. They were also easy on my throat and good when I didn't have much appetite.

Teressa Phillips  Protein drinks are a great choice if you can stand the taste of them. I couldn't stand the artificial sweetener taste, plus aspartame often gives me a headache. Your body will need extra protein to repair itself post surgery, so get it where you can. For the first few weeks my care team didn't care what I ate as long as I was eating something. So many people have loss of appetite, food aversions, and altered sense of taste that as long as you aren't putting yourself into a diabetic coma, the philosophy is eat anything you can stomach. If that is ice cream for breakfast, go for it. After the first few weeks they want you to go back to a cardiac prudent/appropriate diet.

Dan Fouratt  I will provide more detail but a friend said he takes a 100% flavorless whey protein supplement.  he mixes it in milk and has to problem drinking it. This product has low sugar and sodium and 25g of protein.  You can also mix it in to most anything.  He is checking with a dietitian on the best one for someone going in to what I am. 

Rita Savelis  My experience with appetite and protein supplements at hospital was that cardiac dieticians are trained in getting one to lose weight. I asked for a cancer dietician instead (having had cancer several times before) because he understood what it is like to lose your appetite. There was no way I could stomach a protein drink after surgery! Eventually appetite comes back and protein supplements or not, you will recover. Take care.

Anna Ma  Dan, I tried a few Premier protein drink and Ensure before I came up here. The Premier drinks all have 30g protein in a small bottle and only 1g sugar which is good and taste good too. However I am having a hard time to find that brand here in drug stores in the neighborhood. I heard fairlife tasted good too. I’ll see if we can find some at stores further away.

Grace Mason   I think my husband may have found something, possibly Muscle milk at CVS. It is very similar to the Premier.

Isabella Heart  Sorry Anna. I never had shingles but I heard its painful.
I am starting to think its a good idea to get a vaccine Hope you feel much better now!

Tom Everson  Hi  i had both shingles was more of a very uncomfortable itch/ mild pain in a confined area  and  took 3 months to go away, OHS was more of process of reaching different milestones and involves your entire body. My pain was in my shoulders and advil took care of it.   Get the shingles shot when you are eligible. You never want it again

Yumiko Ishida  Sorry you had to go through that! I have not had shingles but a couple of friends have and I heard it’s VERY painful. OHS was painful, too, but I want to say it’s manageable with meds? I don’t remember it ever being constant. When you cough or sneeze it feels like you’re being ripped apart, but then it subsides pretty quickly. I agree with Tom in the sense of feeling pain throughout your body. I think your whole body tends to tighten up and you feel it most where you normally hold tension. 

Grace Mason   I had shingles pre surgery and no vaccine or meds. I had a sharp stabbing pain at the site for several weeks. My rash was very mild. A very small area on my stomach. It was uncomfortable.
Heart surgery pain for me was more like Tom described, a lot of body aches, especially in shoulders and back and a heavy weight feeling on the chest, as if a small child was laying on my chest. I didn't have a lot of pain in the sternal incision but did take pain meds(Tylenol) and a medication for nerve pain(gabapentin).
I had rigid fixation so I think that stabilized my sternum early on, so that moving around, coughing etc may have been less painful because of it.

Marie-Ange Jacques   You do not have to worry about surgery pain cause you will have medication to manage the pain. Mine the mark of the surgery looked painful but it was actually not painful as I was getting medicine to manage the pain

Marie Myers  They want to know your wishes in the unlikely event that you have a catastrophically bad outcome. I don’t think you are required to fill it out, and I didn’t do so until years after my heart surgery. I do have one now, so everyone is clear on just what treatments I do and don’t want if I were unable to communicate my wishes. It is a difficult thing to think about, but it does put your wishes in writing for all to see. 

Valerie Allen  Anna, I have some of the same questions as you. I think the standard language has things most wouldn’t want to end a life for such as feeding tubes and ventilator. In fact I’ve had both temporarily from another illness. I do not have any guidance except discuss with a lawyer. I might even cross out those things and initial. But you raise a good question.

Dan Fouratt  Anna, I am not sure i this is an option but my health care proxy simply lets my wife make all the medical decisions if I cannot. I plan on having that with her when I go in.

Susan Lynn  I had my lawyer prepare one for me before my surgery and did provide it in advance of my procedure. We started with a template, but I further customized it to ensure my wishes were very clear. My medical directive allowed me to make well- thought out decisions rather than ask my husband and sister to do it in the midst of an emotional moment. It's an individual choice - do what feels right for you.

Allen Carkner  I filled out both an advanced directive and Power of attorney prior to heart surgery even though I “knew” everything was going to be alright it seemed like a smart move just in case. I gave my Mom POA and my Dad control of my medical decisions should I have been unable to make them for myself.

Anna Ma  Thank you all for your insightful advices! I think it is the GA standard form got me confused, it doesn't give me tailored options, it only has the option of A) try to extend my life as long as possible; B)do not receive any medication or procedure; C) do not want any medication machines except 4 conditions includng tube and ventilator etc. I guess I'll just leave it like Marie suggested for now and not to worry about it. or give my husband the decisions

Anna Ma  Susan, I wish I have a template and make it very clear. I'm not sure I got time before my surgery though.

Anna Ma  I wish there's middle ground, like if God forbid, something really gone wrong and I'm unconscious for a few months or longer, then they can pull life support. I just don't see that option in our GA advance directive form.

Rose Madura  One of the nurses told me that after my surgery, the DNR was not applicable.  I would think that if something happened that put me on life support and there was no hope of survival, the Living Will would take effect. I'm no attorney though, just making some assumptions.  If you are concerned, you should probably consult an attorney.

Pam Dahl  Great question Anna.  Will he have anyone there with him?  I’ll be the one waiting and will have my 2 young adult daughters and my sister with.  I’m dreading the wait and the worry.  I’ll bring a crossword puzzle book, magazines, and a deck of cards.

Anna Ma  Pam, since we are traveling out of town for the surgery, he will be alone there. I actually thinking to ask him to work that day to be distracted. He works from home remotely, so he can always take his computer to work. But he may not want to...

Danny Mahoney  Support your husband with statistics which indicate how "safe" valve surgery has become over the last few years.

Yumiko Ishida  I think it depends on your husband’s temperament. I’m assuming he would want to be at the hospital during the surgery so he could talk to the surgeon afterwards. There is some waiting involved on surgery day as well as during recovery, but it’s not predictable, so whatever he brings to keep himself occupied should be something that is ok being disrupted frequently. The two of you should have a plan for how to communicate with friends and family.

Grace Mason   Hi Anna,
I flew to NYC for my surgery at Mt Sinai from the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky area. I talked with my local cardiologist and my surgeon about follow up timing and have done all my doctor visits with my local cardiologist to date. 
Mt Sinai is really great too, in that they are extremely accessible post surgery. I texted often with my surgeon's nurse practitioner post surgery regarding my BP and meds as well as, talking with my local doctors. Now that my BP has leveled out I rely pretty much on my local cardiologist.
My experience with Mt Sinai was wonderful. Traveling was not difficult. I did request wheelchair assistance on my flight home, even though I was capable of walking. I recommend doing this because it saves your energy and because you (and your family) get to go to the front of the security lines.

Anna Ma  Thank you so much Grace for your tips! Did you go back to Mt Sinai after 4-6 weeks for a follow up? I was thinking about if I need a wheelchair too for the flight! That is good to know. Did you stay at a hotel or airbnb after discharged from hospital?

Grace Mason   I was released on day 5 to our hotel. We stayed at the Courtyard Marriott Upper East side which was within walking distance of the hospital, about a mile. I had a follow up on day 9 with Dr El-Hamamsy and I was given clearance to fly home. Then I followed up with my cardiologist locally after that. I did keep in touch with Dr El-Hamamsy's nurse for several weeks after surgery, just touching base. 
I considered a Airbnb but I had read a lot of reviews about people having elevator issues and about the rental being misrepresented, so I decided to go with a hotel. The hotel had a scale in the workout area which was great for weighing each morning post surgery to monitor fluid retention, they accepted Amazon delivery for me at the hotel(I ordered a husband pillow to prop myself up in bed post surgery that I didn't want to pack on the plane). I was able to utilize the hallway to walk post surgery if the weather was bad or I just didn't feel like going very far but, I still wanted to get some walking in. The rooms are small, as they utilize every space in NYC, but we had everything we needed and everything within walking distance from groceries to restaurants and pharmacies. We opted for a corner room for a little more space.
Have you chosen a hospital/surgeon? 

Anna Ma  Thank you Grace! I have chosen Dr Hiroo Takayama at NY Columbia Presbyterian hospital. Since the hospital in at Washington Height, I'm considering the hotels across washington bridge too. What did you eat when you stay at hotel without a kitchen? I heard it is best to have everything mashed like fluid? I wonder if I should bring a small blender.  

Grace Mason   That's great! 
When we were at the hotel we had a decent size mini fridge and a microwave. There was a little grocery store around the corner from our hotel. My surgeon and doctor's said to eat a lot of protein while you are healing, so cottage cheese, oatmeal, tuna packets, cereal were all great snacks or light meals we could prepare in our room. There was a deli around another corner and they had a wonderful homemade chicken soup. We also picked up some takeout at a few places close to the hotel if I was too tired to go eat at a sit down. I also would drink protein drinks found at a CVS that I kept in the hotel fridge. I really like the Fairlife Core Power Recover chocolate protein shake, but any protein drink is an easy way to add protein. My throat was quite sore post surgery so the smooth cool things felt best on my throat, but I didn't have any trouble eating rice dishes and other things similar. There was a street vendor that made a great lamb and rice with vegetables 😊
I don't think I would worry about bringing a blender. 
I would recommend getting a BP cuff to take with you so you can monitor that easily. My weight and BP were what my surgeons nurse wanted me to monitor and share with him after leaving the hospital. 

Anna Ma  Wow, thank you so much for all this info, Grace! You have answered questions I was going to ask like about the wheel chair and BP cuff! You are always ahead of me! LOL You information is so helpful for me! 

Grace Mason   I am happy to share my experiences with you Anna ❤️.
If you want to check out my journal, I also had a list of items I packed with me for my stay in the hospital(like earplugs & eye mask), and I received several good ideas from other members on things they appreciated having with them.

Anna Ma  wow, you are ahead of me again Grace! You know what I need and just provided answer :) I am making a list based on what I have read. I just checked out you journey and read all of your post! You had such an amazing journey and I learned so much from you! 

Danny Mahoney  I had all my heart testing at Columbia/Presb (NYC) and would highly recommend that facility. Doctors and nurses were excellent and the care I received was great.