Suzanne's Journal

Hi all, i am nine months post surgery to replace my mitral valve with a mechanical valve. So long story short, hopefully lol.....I returned to work 9 weeks after surgery. 10 weeks later i was laid off. (Coincidence????) The last 4 months i have been looking with no luck. I recently had a very promising interview. I have people telling me DO NOT tell the employer that i had open heart surgery (said i will never get hired) and if i get the job to limit my appointments and dont ever speak about it. I feel this is deceptive and how could i NEVER speak about such a major event in my life? Anyone with a story similar?

Yesterday I received a release to return to work, in 2 weeks. they do not want me lifting more than 10 lbs for 8 more weeks due to pain, swelling and just wanting everything to heal better. Waiting to see if my job will accommodate the light duty. Anyone else nervous about returning to work?
I now have a mechanical valve so I am on warfarin and have been approved for home INR testing. They called to tell me that it would cost $90 every 4 times I test with my insurance. Averages $22.50 per test. For anyone else doing home testing does that sound about right? I was surprised at the cost.

April 18, 2019 i had OHS. I Received an on x mechanical mitral valve, atrial appendage closure and removal of thickened heart muscle. I spent 3 days in cvicu and total of 13 days in hospital due to low blood pressure, high traponin levels and could not get INR into a range they wanted me. I am 48 years old and having a rough time. Still having a lot of chest pain. With activity a portion of my incision as well as right side of chest will swell and get very painful, with sharp take my breath away pains. My activity has been limited more than i anticipated due to the pain, swelling and fatigue.(tylenol for pain) I do not sleep more than a few hours at night and have AFIB. I am on metoprolol but can only take it if my BP systolic is over 100. My blood pressure is usually too low to take it. (pre surgery i had high blood pressure post surgery low pressure) i have had 1 session of cardiac rehab and will be going 3 x week. Hopefully that will help with some of this as well as the bouts of crying. i am very surprised by some unexpected things....people for one. They see the incision and how well it has healed and think i should be back to normal already. I am also surprised by the amount of mental stress. The constant worry every time your heart does a weird flutter or thump, the worry of when i will return to work, will i ever feel good enough to enjoy life and will i ever get used to being able to hear the ticking of my new valve. Sorry for the long post, i signed up before surgery but with the craziness before and after surgery i finally got to a point where i realize i need to connect with others that have been through this experience.