Steve's Posts

I'm a retired nurse, but def NOT from Seattle altho I too had my surgery on Aug 31 at Cleveland Clinic sooooo we must have passed each other in the hall at some point!! How r u doing??? I'm doing pretty well, except developed pericarditis 2 weeks ago 😩😩😩- still HURTS when I cough. Otherwise feeling generally maybe 85% recovered! 7 weeks today! Happy Anniversary!

God bless Steve...I am not sure I will even do surgery...I am on so many meds that...My quality of life is a 3-4 out of 10...At least you gave it a try...I have a huge hernia as well...which will affect me...A fib sucks..as it destroyed my life....Are you on a blood thinner.....

I found 6 weeks to be a real turning point, just as my surgeon told me it would be. The beta blockers slow your hb & can make you very tired. I was on metoprolol (a beta blocker) almost a year before surgery, it took me a month at least to adapt to the side effects - I was extremely fatigued at first. It does get better though as your body adapts. Hang in there, you will get stronger & you will feel better!

You WILL feel stronger and better. OHS is a very invasive surgery and our bodies all react differently. Try to talk one day at a time. I promise you will feel better. I had a rough ride and it took me a while (with lots of hospital admissions) but I finally am starting to feel better. God bless you. Keep us posted.

Hi Steve. I just had an abalation three weeks ago. It was weird. I was rasping a bit at night and I have a nice size umbilical hernia about 5cm or so. I went to a lung doc on the 2nd of August found out I have at least mild COPD. She told me to get a CT scan. A week later I was told I had an enlarged heart. She mentioned I should go to a cardiologist. I waited a day and try to book an appointment. It would be in October. So I went to my GP and she got me an appointment for the 19th August. I bought a blood pressure machine and saw that my blood pressure was kind of high a few days later it showed that I had bad afib 145. I went to a med center and they called an ambulance. I was tortured given 2 IVs and lots of meds nothing worked and I was shocked....I went back to sinus rhythm. Released next morning and told I had a good heart. Just in time for my first ever cardiologist appointment. I was back in afib and they did an echo and I have some pretty heavy mitral leakage and moderate tricuspid leakage and some calcification in my aorta. She mentioned would I be interested in an ABALATION. I was told to come back the following Tuesday and get a halter monitor. Well the same night back to the hospital again and shocked nothing worked so they kept me in did another echo and ask me if I wanted an ABALATION. I know they knew I was kind of screwed with these bad valves and they could not stop my afib with meds. I was going to have it Monday but went into Vfib. The doc freaked out. So they got the expert doc who handles ABALATION surgery to do it the next day. In the meantime I had a TEE no sedation...just shoved it down my throat. The doc was nice and felt no entry pain in the groin and I was semi sedated ...the procedure took about an hour an 10 minutes. I was released the next day on tons of meds as well. I am a zombie and depressed. Having a huge umbilcal hernia, COPD from radiation therapy not smoking is scary. I have seen my cardiologist since then and was shocked that I had ABALATION surgery so fast. And basically sat me down and told me that I will need to get open heart sooner or later...or basically have a short life. MAN within 3 weeks just finding out that I had an enlarged heart I have gone through so much. I am curious about my ABALATION as I am on meds...to see if it will take. I don't think I have any major AFIB but my pulse has creeped up to the 80s from the high 60s and low 70s. Blood pressure seems to be better diastolic seems high in the morning. I am taking Elquis and concor and diurectic. BUT STEVE ABALATION was nothing....I ate an hour after the procedure and just kept my leg still as could be for 6 hours. I had a bit of heartburn a few days later....Not sure if was the meds or the abalation. My big question is will ABALATION hurt of help me if I get my valves done....since AFIÍB could be a symptom of leaky valves. I would recommend breathing exercises. I need to learn them myself since I breathe wrong. I will take a yoga class to learn how to breathe. Man I really wish I would have taken care of my hernia years ago. So Steve...I needed to let loose a bit here. I am so depressed....night terrors... I live alone. I am in a foreign country...Hungary...I am American. I have no US insurance. In 5 weeks I went from having a "perfect" heart to facing multiple valve surgery with damaged lungs a huge hernia and a crooked spine. And I have lost a lot of weight....not sure why. GOD Bless you Steve...looks like you had some rough days and you are honest about them. I am not sure I can survive OHS. I am only 49....was an athlete. But man waking up not being able to breathe would scare the crap out of me and if they mess me up...I could not handle a second surgery. I admire you for working,,,,I can barely function on all my meds....