Mark's Posts

To add another perspective, my cardiologist told me not to use the cardiac rehab. He said they only tell you to take things easy (purposely slow you down), then increase the activity and tell you how much of a progress you made... I didn't go for cardiac rehab for neither of my surgeries. However, your situation might be different so follow what your surgeon/cardiologist tells you. As for this website/Adam, I can't say anything good enough. This site led me to Dr. Castro who is an excellent surgeon from what I can tell so far.

Congratulations Mark. I've heard mostly good things about cardiac rehab. Personally, I wasn't able to participate because I had a lot of complications. If my heart rate went up, I went into Afib or Aflutter and then had to be hospitalized. But I'm glad it's helping you and that you are doing well.👍

Congratulations on 5 months!!! I agree with you that Cardiac Rehab has been the best thing for me too. They did not slow me down. They got me going both physically and mentally. Also gave me confidence to push myself by monitoring my heart while increasing intensity to Make sure all is good. I started at 1.8 flat at my gym and now doing 3.4 at 5% incline.

Thank you all for your comments and encouragement. Everyone has different needs and abilities. Yes, rehab does start you slow for evaluation, and, in my case, I moved ahead quickly based on my ability. I am a "young" 77 year old, not athletic but active. Others in my class haven't improved as fast, but are better than when they started. I have also learned that there is no "cookie cutter" cardiac rehab program, that each hospital and clinic has their own unique combination of machines and protocol, despite their common goals. YOU know your own needs, and, like everything else, you need to be your own advocate. In my case, I asked for the referral; it wasn't automatically offered. A few years ago I also had to argue with my primary care doctor about a PSA test that he said I didn't need... but I got my way, cancer was discovered and treated (thus my photo ringing the bell at the completion of 37 radiation treatments). Five 1/2 years later I am cancer free because I knew what was right for me. I also had to challenge my initial discharge after heart surgery because I was having problems and they wanted to release me too soon. Trust your instincts and don't be intimidated. After all, it's your life and that also affects the lives of those who love you. God bless you all.

Thank you, Marie! Nice to hear from you. I haven't posted here for a very long time and it's nice to see a familiar name and face. Recovery is going well and we're mostly back to a normal routine, with my "unfortunate incident" moving quickly into the past. The "bump in the road" that I mentioned in my first story turned into a big pothole instead. But the problems have been solved, fixed and repaired; and everything has been put back together again... with many years of happiness still ahead. Best wishes to you.

Wow! Mark, all I can say is thank God for modern medicine. Most of us warriors (and you are a super warrior) would not be here if not for the doctors and researchers that kept making heart surgery more routine. God bless you and your wife. May the rest of your journey be uneventful....👍

Thank you, Rose! Nice to see another familiar name. Thank you for your posts in the past years, as well. You and Marie and part of the pantheon of posters who I read and benefited from during the time I was active on this online support group. You are right about today's cardiothoracic surgery teams... they work together as one even during surgeries such a mine, which turned out to be more complicated than anticipated. I share with you the hope of an uneventful future! Thanks, and may God Bless you.

Hi Mark I had TAVR two weeks ago. I had a work up with my local Structural Heart Team(CTs, carotid US, PFT, angiogram, echo, blood work). I met with the interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeon as part of the process. I was very symptomatic but ended up having only severe AS (I've had a heart murmur for many years). They recommended TAVR with a large valve for future valve in valve. It all happened in less than 2 months with problems with Covid -19 and insurance issues. I feel great now and I was in the hospital overnight. I've been walking 4 + miles a day for the past week.

Thank you all for your quick responses! I wasn't sure whether my cardiologist was getting ahead of himself, or not. Now I can relax again. It has been a while since I posted regularly on this site and am happy to see some familiar names, along with more recent ones. I appreciate the experiences that you have shared here over the past few years. It is because of people like you that I can face my own surgery and recovery calmly and confidently. That deserves an additional "thank you!"

Mark, my cath was on March 2, surgery March 4. Stress echo one month earlier showed all clear, but it's only 80% accurate. The cath showed one blockage, which was fixed two days later as a bonus round. (Apparently it lengthened the procedure by 7 minutes.) And BTW, the angiogram is a piece-o-cake.