Lawrence's Journal

Mike Dotson  I just began as if I’d never trained before and then progressed in a linear fashion, addicting distance (and weight lifted progressively each week. I’m 3 plus months post op and don’t feel limited at all. Best of luck to you.

Deena Z  Hi Lawrence, I would be careful comparing yourself to others. I read your story and with both the mitral and aorta valve being replaced, etc, your heart has a lot to heal from. From what I read, about 60% of your heart (efficiency, pumping ability,) is healed at three months and at six months around 80 to 90 percent. So, you have a few months to go, before you hit 6 months. You might speak with your cardiologist to confirm .

Peter Linn  Lawrence, is it an aerobic issue (becoming winded quickly), or is it a strength issue from being inactive?

Marie Myers  Sounds you are doing well! It does take a bit of time for the stamina to build. And I agree with you, that the whole experience was not as bad as my worrying mind had me believe...

Kristy Gary Burleyson  That is amazing! We’re you a runner pre-op? I used to run but no longer can without an uncomfortable amount of palpitations and shortness of breath. I miss running

Susan Lynn  Fantastic news!!! Glad your cough is gone and your recovery is going well! Five miles a day is an incredible achievement at this early stage. Thanks for the inspirational post and giving those in the waiting room and new to recovery a reassuring success story!!! We can never get enough of them!!! All the best to you, Lawrence! ❤

Jim Archer  You had quite a bit of work done. It is great that you are feeling good. After 5 short weeks your recovery is doing well. At this time, there is no need to push yourself too hard, time for that will come later.

Marie Myers  I also experienced bad shoulder/ upper back pain, which I thought was way worse than the sternum. Would have loved a massage. I wonder if muscle relaxants would have helped that...Glad you are feeling better!

Herb Greenberg  Agree on the back vs sternum pain. Mine continued for a week and was finally lessened when the surgeon's holistic nurse did some reflexology on me. I was dubious but... it worked!

  I experienced the left shoulder and back pain for a while. It comes back sometimes and I just stretch it.

Rose Madura  I had terrible right shoulder pain for the longest time. I think it was nerve pain where a major line had been placed in my upper right chest. I agree with Marie, it was much worse than my sternum. Glad they figured it out and you are better.

Lynn Loudermilk  heat and possibly try biofreeze. After my neck fusion my upper back was bad, still is sometimes. Spasms etc. heat worked for me and so did the occasionsal use of biofreeze and I had my hubby massage my upper back. Good luck.

  Sorry about that cough Lawrence. Glad it has gotten better. Good that you are starting to walk and feeling stronger. One day at a time, remember? You are strong and don’t forget to listen to your body. Praying for better days. God bless you 🙏❤️

Rose Madura  I'm curious of you've been on Amiodadrone. I had a persistent cough which ended in a pleural effusion. Take care.

Herb Greenberg  "Not nearly as bad as I feared." That's a recurring them. Congrats. Well on your way. Hard part done.

  Welcome to recovery Lawrence! Start walking as soon as you can but take it easy and listen to your body. Don’t try to do too much and be patient with your body. God bless you heart warrior. ❤️❤️🙏🙏

Susan Lynn  Welcome to the other side of OHS! Good to read you're doing well! The pj pants do come in handy - glad I brought mine to the hospital, too. Keep the progress going - just a bit more each day will get you to the finish line! ❤

Rose Madura  It's a journey and recovery takes time. Listen to your body. Take naps when needed but as Ana said, walk! It's the best thing for you.

Joseph Heinzmann  Hug the pillow when you cough. It only helps a little, but it's better than nothing. Glad you're up and about and doing well!

Mark Abbotoy  For me it was about 4 to 5 week to go 1 mile. I was in good shape, "healthy" going into surgery (AVR), 56 years old. Hoping for the best for you.

Barbara Wood  I think I was told by my surgeon that I should be able to walk a mile, though it didn't need to be continuous, by my after surgery visit, which I think was 2 - 3 weeks after surgery.

Thomas Brusstar  I agree, if you run now, you'll recover quickly. You will probably be able to walk a mile within a week or two of getting home. You just need to get steady on your feet and let your iron build up after the surgery (my hemoglobin was quite low, because there is blood loss during any surgery, and they try to avoid transfusing if they can). You're at Northwestern, so they'll do a great job! (That's where I was at age 54, almost 3 years ago.)

Lawrence Kirchner  Thanks for the info. 2 more days until surgery. Hoping to spend some time on the treadmill Saturday and Sunday, last chance for a couple of weeks. Don't know that I am scared. More looking forward to feeling the same as do now.

Susan Lynn  Lawrence- Best of luck with your procedure! As others have stated, you'll be walking a mile pretty quickly. Resist the temptation to overdo it. You'll have high and low energy days. Take it at an easy pace and you'll ultimately recover faster. All the best! ❤

Joseph Heinzmann  We are close in age (57 here). Sounds like you're having a bit more done than I had (just MV robotic repair) so you might have a different recovery. You are in better shape than I was. I shut everything down for two months between a hospital stay and my surgery because I had severe regurgitation and was starting to become symptomatic if I exercised. To put it bluntly, I was dreadfully out of shape, though my weight is/was absolutely fine. So with those things said:
- I walked 1.5/mi on the treadmill 15 days post surgery. I pushed too hard (speed) the next two days and by day 17 I regretted it, had to take two days off and essentially stayed in bed one of those days, which was depressing;
- days 20-24 did 1.5mi/day at 3.0mph, then took days 25-26 off on purpose;
- days 27 and 28 same, day 29 1.2mi outside with hills, day 30 off to recover, day 31 treadmill 1.5mi using incline (2-3 degrees).

Everyone has a different experience. It's not a contest to do better or to keep up with someone else's exercise benchmarks. How YOU feel is the best feedback on how much you ought to do.

I am not a runner but I'm going to think about training for a 5k at some point after my cardiologist tells me that I can give that a shot. I assume that will be months from now at the earliest so the intermediate goal will be to walk nine holes and graduate to carrying the bag for nine holes.

  Wishing you a successful and smooth recovery. You are in good spirits and positive and that will be helpful. God bless you

Pat Bluemel  About 4 weeks, but others do it at a faster pace, don't measure your success and healing with others. It's something I have to remind myself of often.

Herb Greenberg  You should do phenomenally well. The better physical and mental shape going in, the better coming out. My surgery was last March 4 when I was 67. I had been a daily walker of multiple miles and a brisk pace. I walked my first full mile at a slow pace four weeks to the day from the day of surgery. I pulled back a bit for a few days - probably overdid it - but a few days later, did 1 mile + and kept increasing the distance and pace. By 2 months I was fully back to my old route and pace, with this twist: I thought I had been asymptomatic but post surgery my pace and distance increased as if I had reserve power. A year later and I'd never know I had a bunch of things done inside. Just go with it, follow the protocol, realize you may have a setback or two by pushing too hard, given the nature of who you are. On your post-surgery walks if you feel your chest tighten just slow to a crawl and have fun watching the progress. The whole thing, from the minute the roll you in, to ICU, to step-down, to recovery is pretty remarkable and certainly gave me new respect for just how awesome and resilient the human body is. G'luck.

Charles P  Good luck. You will do fine and recover quickly. I believe going into it in great shape will help speed recovery back to normal. It could be as quick as 2 weeks, but take it steady and don't push it. Curious as to which valve you chose?

Joyce Shelby  All the best on your recovery after surgery! Everyone is different but I was able to do a 5K five months after my OHS in 2016. I was 50 at the time.

Deena Z  Thinking of you Lawrence. On your way to a healthier YOU. If you can run/walk up to 8 miles now, just imagine how much better you will be after the healing time is over!