Debby's Posts

Wow, time flies! I regret not posting earlier because I find everyone else's posts so helpful. My life and health are back to normal. Had a normal stress test with my cardiologist and he doesn't need to see me for 6 months. Still have occasional PVC's but the doctor doesn't recommend any treatment for them. I don't feel them. So, I'm completely off all medication including aspirin. My scars are nominal and basically hidden (bikini line and bra line) but have a little bit of numbness around the incision sites (not worth a complaint). Heart wise, my twinges and heart pains are gone that were so common prior to surgery. I had a few right after surgery but haven't had any for a couple of months. The bone weary tiredness is also thankfully gone. Excercise is still a little bit of a mystery for me. I just don't seem to be able to build up my endurance for jogging for more than 6-8 minutes at a time without my heartrate getting too high to continue (175). I've always worn a heart rate monitor while jogging pre and post surgery. It's been frustrating and snail's pace slow in trying to get back to a solid 3-5 mile jog. So for now it's a good walk with a little bit of jogging thrown in most days. Tough and unfair to even complain about it given some of the other patients who haven't had as easy of a road to recovery as I have. But wanted to share for those that it might help. One of my biggest learnings and changes I've made after cardiac rehab was how much dehydration affects my heart. While being monitored during exercise the cardiac nurses pushed water on me and it almost instantaneously improved my irregular heartbeats. Now, I recognize if I'm dehydrated and try to drink lots of water everyday (especially in the mornings before my walks). Good luck to all of the patients looking forward to surgery and continued heart health to those in recovery!

I'm so thankful to be on the other side of surgery! Recovery is pretty much moving right along with daily walks (up to two miles at a time), driving, and now cardiac rehab. My husband Steve is back to work and the kids and house responsibilities are back with me. I even worked in the classroom 4 hours yesterday. I wonder how long it will take to get the matching socks back together? I'm staying away from lifting heavy things (like the kids) but other than that I don't feel limited in my activity. With that said, I will be sending the dog to get her monthly baths rather than destroying our bathroom with that chore ever again! Thanks Jeane for setting that up! Definitely a positive outcome of the surgery. The first couple of weeks home, I really struggled with the extreme but short dizzy spells every time I stood up. They have pretty much gone down to mild and only once per day. The incision sites are healing fine. I'm still sore where they stretched open my ribs but now it feels good to stretch instead of painful. I even sneezed 3 times today (heater kicked on for the first time) and though I felt it; I wouldn't say it hurt. Coumadin is a mystery. I think by the time my levels get to be 'therapeutic' it will be time to discontinue it altogether. The only other thing I'm taking is Metoprolol .25mg/day. I'm hoping to get rid of that too but the cardiologist hasn't mentioned an end date. I'm still having PVC's but no 'runs' so I think that's considered normal during recovery. I'm looking forward to my first of 24 (3x/wk for 8wks) cardiac rehab session tomorrow. I was sold when the nurse explained one of the benefits is to build exercise self confidence. So when I'm out on my own exercising I know what's normal and when it's time to slow down and rest. I'll be curious to see the age diversity of my group. Good luck to all of you with pending surgeries. Thanks for sharing your journals here. Debby T.