Mia's Posts

Hello everyone-I hope you are doing well! I wanted to let everyone know that I've certainly improved since having the wires removed. It's been so strange getting used to breathing without significant pain-something I've experienced my whole life! I'm still healing and my body keeps telling me to slow down and take naps; however, I am slowly regaining my energy. I'm feeling very hopeful that this will be my last surgery on the chest-I've been told that if my valve needs a repair they should be able to fix it through a catheter. I truly do not think I can go through another ohs-not to scare anyone at all, my second ohs was just a very rough experience! If anyone is experiencing sharp stabbing pains or discomfort around the sternum, please talk to your doctor. It was a bit of an ordeal going through the process to get these removed; however, I am so thankful for it. I truly did not realize just how much those darn little things were impacting me all my life. I'll keep you updated as I progress, but right now things are looking up! My echo last week was good and so far my arrhythmias are the same as they've always been so no need to get on any beta-blockers. I still can't run without having severe oxygen issues, but that's because of my myocardial bridge. I know that heart valves have different life spans but I'm really hoping mine keeps ticking for a long time!

It's been three weeks since I've had my sternal wires taken out. Besides the tired, sore process I'm going through I'm still feeling relieved the wire pain is gone. However, mornings are really rough right now and I find it extremely difficult to make it to work on time. My chest muscles are very tense and sore. Does anyone have any suggestions? The incision is still healing, but I was prescribed lidocaine cream that I am considering taking again since it's almost healed. I'm also drinking a lot of chamomile to keep my nervous system relaxed and I've brought my pain meds down to just ibuprofen. I went up to Stanford pain management today and they would like me to start acupuncture-only problem is, their acupuncturist isn't available with my schedule. So I'll be on the hunt for someone else in the meantime. Thanks for the support-I know its just a phase, but any type of relief while I'm going through this stage will help.