Jim's Journal

November 22nd was 10 months from my surgery and a little over 7 months after cardioverting back to a beautiful normal sinus rhythm and I couldn't feel better! The meds are all gone and I Thank God for an amazing set of physicians and caregivers! I truly feel as though I've been given a second chance at life and I'm determined not to waste it - every day is precious.

Well, 2.5 months post-op and the AF wouldn't go away so went in for a quick 200 joules across the chest to reset everything and just like that, back to normal sinus rhythm! Later this month have a consult regarding possible ablation to make sure we don't pop back into AF. Activity has increased by leaps and bounds...it feels so good to be able to walk, hike and work on my property without being completely gassed and unable to breath! Just reduced my Metoprolol from 50mg/2x daily to a single dose in the evening. Doing ok...BP is awesome but pulse rate hangs up around 90-100 as I get towards pill time....prior to surgery my resitng rate was in the 60's-70's - like many others, post op resting rate is higher, 80-100. That was a bit worrisome - until I found that is quite normal and should correct over time (Thanks again Adam, as I found that information on this site).

03/05/2020 - Update 6 Weeks post-op and doing reasonably well.....developed a case of Aflutter a few weeks (Pulse Rate stays around 120-130 all of the time) back that has yet to convert itself to a NSR. Rehab is going well, walking distance and speed are up, although they've been reminding me that I need to not push "Too" hard...guess I'm not being a very patient patient! So we're going to give this Aflutter a couple more weeks and if it doesn't convert on it's own then we'll go cardiovert it and move one! I've got a Spring bear tag and need to be out in the woods in April and May.....

Well, so that irritating increase in heart rate did turn in to a case of atrial flutter. As we've seen in many posts here not uncommon for AFIB or Atrial Flutter to develop during the healing phase. Doesn't make it any easier, having your heart pounding away constantly...very weird and unsettling. Upped the Metoprolol to 50mg 2x a day and added a precautionary Xarelto (now there was a Rx sticker shock!). After a couple of days I will admit that it seems to be working well...managed almost 1.5 mile walk yesterday morning with my grandson and daughter and start cardiac rehab this morning. Just a little bump in the road....slow and steady baby! I can't thank all of the people who are supporting me enough...this would be an impossible task without them!

Little over 2 weeks post-op from AVR today - all things considered it's going well! I'm not very good at being a patient and I did try a little too hard on one of my walks last week and the body let me know I may have pushed it a little too hard...LOL. The only difficulty I've noticed is an occasional increased heart rate - not AFIB by any stretch but noticeable. Keep on keeping and let the healing happen!