Brent's Posts

So yesterday marked 8 weeks since my surgery. I know I've not posted in awhile so I thought I would fill everybody in and let you know how things have been going. I also have some questions I was hoping some of you veterans could answer for me toward the end. First off, I'm doing excellent. Some days I have a hard time believing I had full open-heart surgery and I have a bovine tissue valve and artificial ascending aorta inside my chest... The only outward evidence is the 8 inch scar which I have honestly come to be proud of; it's a reminder of how grateful I am that everything went so smoothly and that I need to live life to its fullest. If I could offer any advice to anybody with an upcoming surgery I would say to have an extreme level of patience! Even though I was able to do some things in the first 4 weeks I had to plan accordingly, because you have a limited amount of energy while your body heals. A simple 2 hour outing to visit with friends or family will wear you out for the day. But over time things improve slowly. I was walking around 20-30 mins a day (about a mile or so) and my pain level was fairly low (except when getting up and down or out of bed.) But these first 4-5 weeks went by VERY slowly... It literally felt like 3 months (at least to me) and I was eager to improve and get on with my life. Around week 5-6 I started driving again and also started a cardiac rehab program which I am still attending 3 days a week. I do about 40 mins of bike and treadmill workout (fast walking) and recently a little bit of extremely light weight training. Now in week 8, I feel pretty much about 90-95% of my old self but as I've been becoming more and more active I've noticed more pain around my sternum, mainly my intercostal muscles, when I breathe a certain way or sit in a particular position for a long time or push on my sternum in just the right spot (I know, don't push on it right ;-D ). I just find it odd since I had so little pain in the weeks following surgery for it to become so noticeable in weeks 6-8? Has anybody else experienced this sort of pain? Am I pushing things too hard? Are my expectations too great this soon after surgery? I'm just wondering what everybody else's experience has been. How long did it take for you to stop experiencing any sternum pain?

a just a quick update everybody. less than 48 hours from surgery and I'm doing great! I will be much happier when I get this central drain tube out tho, makes it tough to get a full breath. But overall I'm amazed at how good I feel. Thank you so much for all the warm wishes.. 🥰

A quick update on my surgery date. Due to some emergency cases they had to bump my surgery by one day. So now I am having surgery Saturday, April 30th as opposed to tomorrow. Thanks for all the well wishes! Also a quick note about being bumped by a day. Sure it's not ideal for my family that has traveled to be here, but my condition is very stable, and if there are others with more emergent issues I'm okay with that happening.