Noreen's Journal

Marie Myers  Congratulations on your anniversary! I remember following your story, as your surgery was just a few days before mine. Great post with some very good advice!

Susan Lynn  Happy Second Anniversary, Noreen! ❤❤ Great inspirational story and excellent advice. Thank you.

Andrea Smith  Great to hear that you’re doing well. We went through the mill two years ago but we’re the other side now!

Barbara Wood  Congrats Noreen! I was right behind you & followed you too...so happy to hear you are doing so well:)!

Steven Perrotta  Thank you for sharing. I am about 2 1/2 weeks out from surgery and I am feeling that anxiety. It is good to know there is more to life on the other side of the operating room. Congrats on your success!

Civita Fahey  Great news Noreen. I also followed your posts as I was about a month after you .. you are right, the stress before is the worst part of it all!

Rose Madura  Sorry to hear about your hearing loss but glad to see you have a very positive attitude. That will help you more than anything! God bless you.

na na  Noreen, I never had a heart bypass but i do have tinnitus due to a blood flow issue that occurred from a drug i was taking. Like yours it was sudden, occurring over night. It's called Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHNL) and is a medical emergency. Multiple Prednisone tapers helped me only a little and after 2 years it has never resolved. If I had known at the time it wasn't going to go away on its own I would have pushed for Hyperbaric treatment. From what I have read has to be started within a few days of onset however, so you would need pursue it quickly. Reportedly it has helped some people, and there really isn't any downside to it, as far as I know. I've had quite a bit of time to research this since it happened, so wanted to pass some options I've learned about. Good luck.

na na  Another consideration occurred to me, the possibility that it's an ototoxic drug response. With the drug i was taking, it was believed that over time the ototoxic components built up in the Cochlear fluid because its fairly static, it doesn't change often. As a result, toxic components become concentrated and the hair cells die. If it's possible, after consulting your physician, see if you can just suspend medications for some period, e.g. 30 days so this concentration can be reduced. Also check your medications to see if any are known to be ototoxic, so many are. I what I've experienced and learned helps you or someone else.

Lilly Black  I have not experienced hearing loss but I experience tinnitus before a migraine occurrence. Drives me crazy! good luck hope you find an answer. Glad you feel amazing otherwise!

Roger Bideleux  I hope your hearing returns to normal very soon. Please keep us informed about the outcome, it is a horrible thing to anticipate. Best wishes, Roger

Laura Jacobs  I have not experienced hearing loss either, but like Lily I have experienced tinnitus. However the tinnitus started about 6 months prior to surgery and I also had sharp recurring pains in my ears. My family doctor told me that my ears were clear and nothing was wrong with them. So far after surgery I have had only one evening of ear pain which is a significant reduction and the tinnitus is not as bad. I remain baffled and would be very interested in any feedback that you get from your doctor.

Phyllis Petersen  It's good to hear you're making progress. Sorry to hear you can't have cardiac rehab. It really helped me a lot.

Marie Myers  Sounds like you have developed your own common sense cardiac rehab program. Just do a little more each time, taking care not to overdo any one day.

Steven A Husted  yes i did have a dry mouth with a cough after surgery after about a week i started taking ludens cherry caugh drops and this helped me also halls honey and lemon cough drops

  I had my Valve done Feb28 and still get occasional dry cough and hoarse "Clint Eastwood" Get off my lawn! kinda throat thing going haha. And the soreness thing I think lasts quite some time unfortunately. Pretty Normal Stuff I Think. Hope it gets better for you quickly. God Bless My Friend

James Roberts  Yes, I've had an awful cough and I was worried mine was fluid on the lungs too. Mine got better after I started taking Esomeprazole for reflux so I guess it was reflux related.

Noreen Kitchen  I was taken off the Ace inhibitors because I had the cough and was switched to a different med. It was better. It's just been since surgery. My Dr said it would be rare to have a cough from what I'm on now so hopefully stopping it will stop the cough. There are a lot of people with colds and coughs around all of whom I've tried to avoid. Perhaps I didn't avoid them enough. Thanks everyone for listening this site has been invaluable to me

Catie B  I, too, had a dry cough for several weeks. Mine finally cleared. I'm not sure whether it was caused by one of the meds--or from when I was on a higher dose of beta blocker than I take now. Hope things ease for you, Noreen.

Vanessa Corwin  I am a week out myself,Noreen. I got hardly any sleep in the hospital so I'm glad to be home. I know I tend to push myself hard; I think the key is just listen to your body and go with the flow. I know, easier said...also whatever meds you're on could also affect your sleep patterns.

Steven A Husted  i agree with Vanessa and take it slow and easy listen to your body time is the best healer give it time you have had major surgery it took me some time to get the sleep i needed i had to take cat naps for awhile

Cathy Zuber  Can u get naps during the day?? At nite, I don't think too many people get to sleep ..too much activity, noise, bloood draw, Meds, etc

Charlene Lanigan  I am 7 weeks post op from OHS to repair a leaky mitral valve and hole in my heart! Sleeping has been a horror. Some nights I sleep all night and the next night, I get about an hours sleep. I think the more I move around during the day, the better it is. I'm waiting to begin cardiac rehab so I'm hoping that will help. I started to take pain pills, even though I had no pain, because they helped me sleep throughout the night. But knowing that isn't good, I stopped doing that and rely now on sleeping aids. Good luck! If you discover a good sleeping help, please let me know!

Vicki Hake  I'm 9 weeks out from OHS for mitral valve regurgitation. I had many sleepless night until I started rehab last week. I took sleep aides and still do😞

Adam Pick  Hi Noreen! Sorry to hear about this. I can relate and remember those sleepless nights. Here's another 45 patient comments that might help you and the others in our community! https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/heart-surgery-blog/2009/09/30/problems-sleeping-after-heart-surgery/

Joy Vera  Hi Noreen. I had trouble sleeping for a week or two after my aortic valve replacement in 2010 (my journal is in here from back then). What I found was that I was so exhausted that I fell asleep during the day, then was unable to sleep at night. I suspected that the naps were part of the problem, at least for me, so I tried something else in place of them - guided relaxation. I'm a yoga teacher so I chose a practice called yoga nidra. The idea is to progressively relax (it's not exercise) but not fall asleep. I found I felt better after the practice &, since I didn't actually sleep, I was able to sleep at night when I needed to. I suspect other relaxation methods would be similarly helpful, but that's what worked for me. Good luck!

Judy Freeman  Noreen - I'm over a year out from OHS mitral valve replacement and tricuspid repair. The one thing that I remember is how hard it was sleeping in our bed. I ended up sleeping in a recliner for a few weeks after coming home. Every night my husband would get me tucked in along with pillows to support my arms and I'd get to a point where I'd just relax my shoulders and eventually fall to sleep. Then in the morning because I was afraid to push I had to wait for my husband to get up to help me out of my recliner. I'd move to another recliner in our tv room and after eating breakfast would take a nap with our dog. If you can't sleep through the night be sure to nap as much as you can. But eventually try to scale back the naps because they'll keep you from sleeping at night. You've got a lot going on with your body with healing inside and out. All sorts of new and strange feelings. Especially if your numb around the incision. Another problem for me was the surgical bra that the surgical team put on me right after the surgery. It ended up being too small and added to my discomfort. I had my husband order similar bras but larger size and that also helped me feel more comfortable which ultimately made me able to sleep better. Good luck and know that things will get a lot better before you know it.

Noreen Kitchen  Thanks for all the advice everyone!! I took some muscle relaxant that really helped my sore back and got 4 hours of real good sleep. My mom also told me to give myself a break and that my body had been through major surgery. Instead of worrying about it I'm enjoying the sleep I am getting and if I need to nap during the day so be it. I'm not going to stress about it and listen to my body as it heals. So grateful to have this place to come and express my worries with people who truly understand.

Adam Skaufel  I just put it all in God's hands. My surgery will now be 4 weeks ago tomorrow. Since I didn't have any primary symptoms before surgery, it's hard to say how better I may feel. What I can say is that my Cardiologist said my heart sounded great and my murmur is gone. It's a scary process to go through, but once surgery is complete you can start to focus on recovery.

Valerie Archual  Sending lots of prayers. Hang in there. I am anxious and I have 55 days left (but who's counting), praying for successful surgery, and a fast speedy recovery! Just think this will be BEHIND you in a few days!!!

Kathy Blank  It is normal to feel SO many emotions as the day approaches! Stay positive and confident in your doctor!