Tammi's Posts

Good Day to you Tammi- As we all know from reading in our community...everyone's healing process is unique. Your 8 month mark, and congratulations! is different from other peoples whether it be from a full sternotomy(like me) or the mini sternotomy (you had!). I know, duh, like you already know this. But I would be willing to bet that like me, you have been doing things the entire 8 months that you felt you were up to, only to find that you ached or said to yourself "I shouldn't have done that. If so, like me again who was on a ladder in the front room painting one day and picked up the handle of the paint can, paint brush between my teeth, climbing up the five rungs of the ladder balancing it all, then putting the full paint can on the top shelf of the ladder, standing to paint the wall with my little cutting brush and 4 inch brush, fascinated that I was up there doing one of the things I love to do in the house we had moved into just before surgery. There I was.....up and down all day. Ceiling to floor and then I had to get down on my butt and scoot along the baseboards which required twisting towards the wall over and over again and then the final "Finale"! Getting that butt off the floor doing a push up jack knife motion back up onto my feet----ow, ow, ow. The reminder at the end of the day was......Why the heck is my sternum making that cracking, popping, grinding sound now when I am at nine months out??????????? Sound familiar Tammi? Sanding and painting are motions that the "Chest Wall" has to ease back into(so I was told by my Cardiologist when I called asking the same question you did here on site!!! He reminded me that as they open us up, mini or full, it is invading a delicate framework of muscles, bone that takes a long time to heal and even longer if you have pushed it to the limits(even though you thought it was ok to do so. I am sure you have pushed it a bit here and there the past months because you felt pretty good while healing as that is a normal instinct, I think and I did the same. I am just a bit ahead of you and I still have a tender sternum at times. Any extending of the arms with weight or painting, using my cultivator in the garden, walking upstairs with grocery bags, books is pulling on the sternum and it takes quite a bit of time not to let you know it is irritated with the overuse, telling you it is not done healing. The muscles especially take time within the chest wall to right themselves after surgery from the cutting and the positioning we were in for hours that strained many of our "body parts" not used to being in that position. So, in other and fewer words(oh but we know I love to type and I love words, ha ha) I number one am glad you will be seeing your surgeon as he will check you over and two, think you will find the same thing(hope so) that you are still healing! You have been doing great, looking lovely and been a great support for months of your healing process and I commend you and love you for it Heart Sister. As for the lump you are feeling I'm thinking you are feeling what I did and worried about too only to find it was part of the breastbone that was tender from again, the cutting and mending of the sternum but do have the surgeon check it out. I just finished writing a book to you here as I don't want you to worry as the healing of the sternum can be a real "pain" (Pun intended). I have to go let Rylee out to chase Kat who just walked in from outside in the back yard and into the computer room to bug me while annoying Rylee who was sleeping in his little kennel here. Time for all 3 of us to go make trouble. Hope I didn't confuse you and maybe made you smile and worry less. Love ya Heart Sister. Go have yourself a great day and easy on the painting and sanding.

Hey Tammi, it's good to hear from you! I had an episode of the popping or cracking sensation too. I was 7 months post op and had been feeling like I could do most anything again. We were getting ready to have our annual homecoming at church and I was going to re-pot some ferns in a couple of large planters that are on each side of the entry doors. I had re-potted these same planters before surgery with no problem, so I didn't think twice about doing it again. As soon as I lifted the first liner-pot with the fern I was replacing out of the planter, I felt a strange pop in my sternum that I had never felt. It scared me and I was so worried I had done some damage, but I didn't feel any pain and didn't have any problem later with it either. Needless to say though, I haven't tried to do anything like that since. It was a big reminder to me that I wasn't quite ready to do everything I had done before surgery. I hope you continue to recover well. Hugs heart sister. God bless!

Hi Tammie, andTerrie sure not glad you are hereing the cracking but glad you posted it, my doctor has said I'm great but after hearing you I'm putting the brakes on my jobs around the house I'm three months out and might be pushing a little I was on my way out to cut the hedges when I read your post and I think I'm going down the basement and play with my trains instead. Thanks everyone. Tom. ( ELK RIVER LOGGING R.R. )

Hi Tom. I am on the phone with Karen Pineda in New York as I type and she is cracking me up as she said that "all the spouses out there are going to retreat to their "basements" instead of doing all of the work needed around their homes even eight months later". and....Exercise? Can't do cause Terrie said...............Choo ....Choo.... Choo.....

hi tammi terrie's post was great i was in the same boat i started doing to much to soon and had to slow down and adam told me his wife told him to slow down to it takes time for the muscles and nerves to heal and every one of us is different some it may take a year some two years or more remember you are pulling on those muscles and nerves when you move and twist your body

Thank you to all who posted your experiences and thoughts! I so much appreciate it. So often I feel like no one "gets it" - mainly because I look and feel good, I'm young, and other's just assume I'm back to my old self. I also get frustrated when I read so many who are out running, hiking, gardening and generally back to an active lifestyle so early on. Let's just say, I don't like to sit still and have always been a "do-er". So needless to say, I often feel like I'm behind in my healing progress. I do feel better hearing that it's not just me. I need to remember that the healing takes time!! So again, thank you.