Carlos's Posts

Yesterday was 5 weeks post surgery. I have been meaning to post an update sooner but haven't had a chance. Every day I feel lucky to be progressing with my recovery with no complications and very little pain. I know from reading many of the posts that that can change at anytime so I do not take it for granted. I also feel lucky to have been able to have my surgery done at Cleveland Clinic by Dr. Johnston. I had a very positive experience and am happy to share it with anyone interested. I've tried my best to follow the hospital's instructions every step of the way, some of which were more difficult than others, especially not lifting anything over 10 pounds and not submerging your wound in water (I've been wanting to go in the pool with my kids every day since I've been back home). But I was very concerned about infection of the wound and have taken care of it exactly how instructed. I have had a few setbacks though. Once the scabs started falling off my incision, I noticed a few sutures sticking out of my chest. Cleveland Clinic was very helpful and explained this is not uncommon then instructed me to have the sutures cut off as close to the chest as possible and that they will eventually dissolve or fall out. Additionally, monitoring my INR has been a bit burdensome. Insurance makes it as difficult as possible to get a home testing kit so until I'm able to get one I am stuck going to the lab once or twice a week. I had one mouth bleeding incident but that resolved itself after a little bit of pressure and ice. My resting heart rate was very high when I first got home (in the 80s), but now it's back in the low to mid 60s. I have been walking at least 15,000 steps per day in the sand without getting tired. I wanted to start more aggressive cardio but my doctor told me to pace myself and reminded me how much trauma the inside of my body has undergone and that it's still healing. Good advice, and I'm happy that I finally have a cardiologist who I like. I've been through a couple now and I strongly suggest to make sure you like your cardiologist because if I hadn't switched I likely still would not have had my surgery unless I passed out or had a significant issue. Anyhow, I'm grateful to not have any real complaints so far. My valve is really loud though. My kids say they like listening to it. I've been using white noise or a loud fan to help me sleep. I guess that is my biggest complaint. It's difficult to sleep through the night (as I'm writing this at 2:30am). I start cardiac rehab this Friday and go back to work after Labor Day so I'm hopeful that getting back to a normal routine will help my sleep cycle. That's it for now, but feel free to reach out. I'm happy to answer any questions and to help you through your journey in any way.

So far, so good. Just waiting for my clothes to get here so that I can leave the hospital. They asked if I wanted to get discharged yesterday, but decided another day of monitoring and room service couldn't hurt. Yesterday, I did a lot of walking in the hallways as well as a few flights of stairs. The nursing staff at CCF has been amazing. Everyone I've encountered here has been so friendly and seem to genuinely prioritize taking care of patients. I still have a lot of trauma to my body that will just take time to heal, but otherwise, I'm relatively pain-free so long as I don't cough. Coughing is the absolute worse! Also, my deep breathing still isn't back to normal. I was told this will take several weeks. If anyone has any questions about my experience, please don't hesitate to contact me.