Had my Surgery 10-09-2108.

First, the good news. Being cut open, having your sternum split, and rib cage throw open doesn't hurt too bad once the drains are out and the Foley is out. More good news is that I'm told my Athletic performance should increase significantly and I wont be risking a Heart Attack on the Morning Run.

The bad news is just how weak you are during recovery and how long it takes to get back to full strength. The key issue this early in the healing process is inflamed tissues within the Heart and surrounding areas. The end result is symptoms mirroring those of Congestive Heart Failure. Right now taking 40 steps will leave me out of breath and needing to rest. Good news I am getting stronger but it's a slow tiny increment of gain each day. I am also at the where I am nearly 100% Pain Free. BTW, by Pan Free I am currently not using any pain killers at all.

I'm probably looking at 10-12 weeks before I will be able to walk a full mile without stopping to rest. Cannot even consider shooting Skeet, Trap, or Clays until month 4.

Tips

First, recovery is slow and the first 2 1/2 days after surgery the pain of the drains is about a 6 or 7 on a scale of 10. Once those drains are out it becomes a lot less painful.

Second, dose yourself with Miralax for a week before surgery so you are having rather loose BM's. I wasn't told to do this and as a result I went 5 days without a BM. By that time it was getting rather painful and when I was finally able to pass that hardened mass it felt like pooping out a football.

Third, the Incentive Spirometer IS YOUR FRIEND. Yeah, it does hurt to use it the first week but the alternative is Pneumonia and think about how much worse it would be to have someone beating on your back twice a day to break up the congestion. The breathing treatments also suck but it does help with keeping the lungs clear. BTW if you aren't given a Cough Pillow ask why you don't have one to use. This pillow is placed right over the chest, squeezed against the chest while you are coughing and it eases the pain of coughing by a notable amount. BTW, I had my sternum repaired at age 13 and back in 1968 coughing without a cough pillow was pretty much agony. To Sum it up preventing pneumonia is all on you and failure will be pretty horrible. Use the Spirometer at least every 1/2 hour and try to stay up on accumulation of fluid in the lungs.

Finally, push yourself a bit during the recovery period. Exercise early on will be simply walking around the house, later on you'll start walking outdoors. By doing so you'll speed up the process and be stronger quicker. Just don't push too hard, if you feel and any point you may fall down or trips it's time for a rest. If you don'[t push yourself a bit you will lose muscle mass quicker and be week as a 4 year old coming out of the other side. BTW, today I am at 1049 steps and yesterday it was 917, so I am seeing gains. However it is frustrating for someone who averaged over 17,000 steps per day prior to surgery.

PS; the trigger for all these events was a Tachycardia attack last March with the Heart
Rate cycling between 160 & 170 BPM. That event led to a full cardiac workup with the result being an LAD 80% blocked, a second artery blocked 100% at the terminus, and a third that was 60% blocked AND a Mitral Valve with enough leakage to cause Pulmonary Hyper tension. All while maintaining a Fitness level with a VO2 max of 40. This means I had an Aerobic Capacity in the top 20% of my age group. Real helpful towards recovery but also an illustration of how much Heart Disease can mask itself until wham, you are having a major Heart Attack. DO NOT pass off a touch of chest pain or decreases in you level of fitness over time, TELL YOUR DOCTOR ABOUT ALL OF IT.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Scooter123,

I think your walking will come back more quickly than you anticipate. I had my mitral valve replaced May 9 2016 at the age of 60. If the surgery fixed your problem you will be amazed. Get to rehab as soon as you get the green light. Good luck.

Hang in there. It can only get better. Good days ahead to you.

Yes, to feeling very weak after having open heart surgery, I have BTDT.

Day after my operation nurse had me walking. Second day, walking morning and afternoon. Third day, more walking around, etc....

When I got home, my 2 hour meals consisted of a can of Ensure, a mini Snickers bar and a multi vitamin.

Saw a lot of movies on TCM, too.

Scooter, that is an excellent testimonial!
Yes the incentive spirometer and cough pillow are your best friends.
Recovery takes time Ut you should be making steady progress.

If you haven't figured it out yet, pull that cough pillow in tight.

Welcome back.

Keep taking good care of yourself.

Had a quad by-pass in May of '03. Recovery can be slow but coughs, sneezes and laughing usually hurt. But it does get better as time passes.

First a thanks to Krazeehorse, it is VERY encouraging to hear I'll be able to start distance walking as early as week 4.

Good news that I feel a good bit stronger today. I am now feeling strong enough that I think I may hit 2000 steps by doing "laps" in the house.

Krazeehorse was correct. This Wednesday I took the dog for a 3.15 mile walk with an average HR of 85. Felt strong enough at the end I probably could have done another mile but right now I am stopping when I start to feel fatigue. Don't see any need to "push it" because fatigue in the legs could lead to a fall, something that MUST NOT happen until my Sternum is fully healed.

What is really encouraging is that I can see a measurable improvement every day. Tuesday the pace was 18:31 over 2.87 miles and Wednesday the pace was 18:15 over 3.15 miles. In another week I might hit 6 miles if the weather permits. Unfortunately it's becoming the rainy season and yesterday I had to get my steps in walking inside the house and doing some laps around the shop at work. Ended up with a bit more than 10,000 steps but pacing the house is getting to be really BORING and the dog thinks I'm nuts.

I have never personally experienced any of that but I enjoyed reading your story because one of my BIL had open heart surgery about three years ago. He did nothing that you said was important. He contracted pneumonia several months afterwards for probably the exact reasons as you described.

Right now he is a shell of the man he used to be. Cain't even bend over to tie his shoes, he wears slip-ons now. Has to use a cpac every night and seldom sleeps for more than 2 or 3 hours in a row. He gets up and watches tv until he gets tired. Never gets any kind of exercise.

He looks bad and I am worried but there is nothing I can do. I've even told him to put his handicapped sticker in the glove box and park as far away from wherever he is going to get a little exercise but he will have none of it. It's a shame.

Great you are recovering.

I had a PTE and double by pass done on 9/18/18. PTE (Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy) is a procedure to remove clots from that lungs which causes pulmonary hypertension. A very tricky and extensive procedure done at only two hospitals in the US. The double by pass was done as the surgeon said, "while we've got you open, will fix that issue as well" A 9 hour procedure and the next day I developed internal bleeding which required back to the OR and opened up again. Thankfully I was asleep for all of that and then an additional 2 days snoozing in the ICU. All total I was in the hospital for 20 days.

Like you, I lost a lot of muscle and it's taking quite a while to recover. PT and a lot of daily walking has helped. I plan on going to the gym for the first time today and ride the stationary bike and do some leg strength exercises. Not supposed to put a lot of strain on upper body core or arms for a few more weeks. I was cleared for driving a week ago as long as I've not taken narcotic pain killers which I'm not. Zero pain. (Like you, once the damn tubes were out I was like a new man)

I don't mean to make this about me. I'm just passing on my experience with recovery. Keep pushing yourself but not to the point of extreme pain. Pain is usually your body telling you what you are doing is not good for you. A little discomfort is fine and if you're not feeling that you're not going far enough. But you shouldn't be doubling over with pain. As you've already seen, you should progress a little each day.

Best of luck and keep at it and keep your spirits up. You'll be back to better than normal in short order.

Glad you pulled through and are doing well.

It's good to see you back and doing well.

quote:

Originally posted by sjtill:
Scooter, that is an excellent testimonial!
Yes the incentive spirometer and cough pillow are your best friends.
Recovery takes time Ut you should be making steady progress.

I could not agree more,I was opened up in Oct. 2007 for an aortic valve replacement (tissue valve) then again in Oct. 2011 to replace that with a Onyx mechanical valve.Also as Scooter stated those drain lines/tubes are a bear & very painful.