Re-valve time!

What's Hot
2»

Comments

  • notanonnotanon Frets: 604
    I've known a couple of people that have gone through heart surgery. They looked absolutely shattered and looked like 100 years old.

    Just a few months later they looked better than ever.

    Wish you a speedy recovery.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • BlaendulaisBlaendulais Frets: 3316
    Bicuspid Aortic valve - shared with Arnold Schwarzenegger - thats what he had and fixed the same as you. Glad you're OK
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    edited August 2019
    Bicuspid Aortic valve - shared with Arnold Schwarzenegger - thats what he had and fixed the same as you. Glad you're OK
    That's the baby! Just reading he apparently had his made from his own tissue. He also opted for tissue as he reckoned mechanical would limlit his fitness. Hadn't heard about that being an issue, but then again I'm not aiming for Schwarzenegger levels of fitness.

    notanon said:
    I've known a couple of people that have gone through heart surgery. They looked absolutely shattered and looked like 100 years old.

    Just a few months later they looked better than ever.

    Wish you a speedy recovery.
    Thanks, my consultant did say I might not have been noticing many effects pre-op, but that I'll be sursprised how much fitter/stronger/better I'll feel when fully recovered. Without wanting to sound too cocky, I did think I'd look more destroyed after surgery than I did. I think I must have got off quite lightly, Doctors kept saying to me "you look great, you'll be going home in a couple of days"!

    I've never been super fit, but have always been naturally quite strong, rarely ill and heal quickly plus I'm towards the young end for open heart surgery. The other thing is my condition was congenital, the consulatant was quick to reassure me I don't have heart disease. Other than that valve issue, they reckoned my heart and main arteries are in good condition.

    Managed a 15 minute/0.7 mile walk today. Was careful not to push it, but averaged 2.7 mile an hour . Find it hard believe, it was only 11 days ago I was sliced open.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    edited October 2019
    ESBlonde said:
    Brilliant ride, and now everyday is a bonus. Congratulations and have a wonderful life.

    In some strange perverted way it has been. Don't get me wrong I was dreading the whole thing in the run up to it and was preparing for the worst week of my life. I even went as far as to write a card for my daughter telling her much I loved her, wishing her good luck on her first day at school in September and giving some tips for life in case I didn't come back. I don't want to tempt fate so I'll leave the card where it is for now and won't destroy it till I get back from taking her to her first day of school in September.

    In some ways getting through this makes me think "fuck yeah, I had open heart surgery and came out the other side, bring it on". On the other hand the whole thing only reinforces how much our lives hang by a thin thread most of the time and you can suddenly find yourself in a life threatening situation out of the blue.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    I've found the mental side of recovery quite interesting.

    My focus on things has become narrower - the list of things I don't give a rat's arse about has grown exponentially - but within that focus the things I care about I REALLY care about. This is possibly because I've had a lot of time to think and in so many instances I've found myself saying "oh, who gives a fuck" to the telly, radio, newspaper or book. I'm still polite to most of my friends but in times like these you find out who your friends are.

    Octafish said:

    Managed a 15 minute/0.7 mile walk today. Was careful not to push it, but averaged 2.7 mile an hour . Find it hard believe, it was only 11 days ago I was sliced open.
    I used google maps to map out my early walks to the nearest foot. I know that from the pavement outside my house to the top of the road is 293 feet. I know that once round the block is, eerily, 666 yards.

    Hang on to those milestones and keep passing them. :)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    scrumhalf said:
    I echo the comments above about the NHS. I had my op at Barts. There was a private ward just down the corridor from my ward and I cannot think how they might have got better treatment than I did.

    That said, I was always polite to the staff, but why would I not be? I've seen too many people mistake a nurse for a personal slave. "Please" and "thank you" shoud be mandatory when dealing with people who are keeping you alive, although people really shouldn't have to be reminded of this. The lack of basic courtesy these days is appalling.
    Indeed. At Basildon they had signs everywhere saying something along the lines of 'It's your choice which service you deal with' accompanied with a picture of a nurse and a copper. Hard to understand the mentality of those who think it's fine to be an arsehole to NHS staff.

    scrumhalf said:
    I've found the mental side of recovery quite interesting.

    My focus on things has become narrower - the list of things I don't give a rat's arse about has grown exponentially - but within that focus the things I care about I REALLY care about. This is possibly because I've had a lot of time to think and in so many instances I've found myself saying "oh, who gives a fuck" to the telly, radio, newspaper or book. I'm still polite to most of my friends but in times like these you find out who your friends are.

    Octafish said:

    Managed a 15 minute/0.7 mile walk today. Was careful not to push it, but averaged 2.7 mile an hour . Find it hard believe, it was only 11 days ago I was sliced open.
    I used google maps to map out my early walks to the nearest foot. I know that from the pavement outside my house to the top of the road is 293 feet. I know that once round the block is, eerily, 666 yards.

    Hang on to those milestones and keep passing them. :)
    I've been going a bit that way in recent years also. I am now thinking I just need to get on and do things when I'm better, a lot less thinking and procrastination and a lot more acton... we'll see.

    @scrumhalf what did you do about returning to playing guitar? I'm already having massive withdrawal symptoms. An electric is too heavy to even lift at the moment although I did get my partner to fetch a guitar the another night and place it on my knee. However, I didn't want to lean it against my chest and it was all rather uncomforatable and I awkward and gave up before I did myself an injury. i guess acoustic might be an option, but just not the same
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • Five years ago I went from feeling a bit weird after a 10k run to having a triple bypass at Derriford hospital in Plymouth three weeks later at age 60. I was shocked and amazed this happened to me. Whilst no angel as I'd always enjoyed my food and wine I had always been very active, been a runner and cyclist all my adult life. You can get resentful and think 'how the fuck did this happen to me when I've done an hours cardio every day' .  The docs told me sometimes it's genetic.  Octa.... I know exactly how you feel at the moment; as though you had a slightly different procedure the rehab and recovery are much the same. Every time you go out you want to put a cushion over your chest so nobody bangs into you. You walk like an old man. This will pass. Your recovery will come on leaps and bounds over the next few months. Getting in and out of the bath unaided was a big victory for me. Get on a recovery programme. I was assessed by a cardio nurse after a couple of months, it's  like a fitness step test and scored  9/10. This meant I still had pretty good aerobic capacity. I was then paired  with a qualified fitness instructor  and after 3 months ran 5k on the treadmill in 30 mins.  This was 4 months after surgery. (Just looked this up on my Garmin connect account)  As for playing again  don't play any boat anchor LP's ha ha. I think I used to hold the guitar slightly away from my chest on my lap. Then one day you'll find you are 'cuddling' it again.  Try not to be resentful about  having surgery, it's just life and things happen.   Hope this is of some help to you.     :)
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    edited August 2019
    Thanks, yeah that's helpful to hear @NorthernGooner. I did feel a bit 'why me' when first diagnosed (particularly after all my parents health issues over recent years) and I also felt like I was a failure. I think the fact it's a congential condition did make it easier for me to deal with ultimately as I can console myself that I didn't bring it on myself.

    Accompanying my dad to an appontment with his oncologist at the local cancer centre a few months ago also help put everything into perspective. Although my condition and op were quite major, it at least had a more certain outcome (i.e we fix your valve and you almost certainly will be better than ever) and a lot less long term impact compared to months of radiotherapy and/or chemotherapy.

    The chest vulnerabilty thing is now becoming my main issue. I've almost forgotten I had my heart operated on and am mainly concerned about the wound (which is healing well) and the vulnerability of my sternum, paranoid I could snap down the middle with one wrong move o .

    I'm aiming to get back into rehearsals with my band in October - 12 weeks will up then and physio thought this should fine. We have EP that we had to put the launch for on hold. All being well hoping to get a small local EP launch gig lined up for end of October/beginning November.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    @Octafish I was given a three-month embargo of lifting nothing heavier than half a kettle so I had to wait a fair bit, plus a few more days for good measure. I was very careful when lifting the guitar onto my lap, and the body was rather uncomfortable as the top horn of the strat rested up against my scar. I needn't have worried, my playing was as crap as I had ever been.

    I have to admit that, as with many things, the joy of music is a bit diminished since the op.

    As for your sternum pulling apart - I had a similar fear of a wrong move leading to a big "booiinnngg" as the wire holding it together sprung out and I had my insides on the outside. The first rehab session cured that.

    My new concern is that if they use a mesh to fix the hernia that I have developed I'll have two sets of metal inside me and I'll be turned into a giant battery with van der graaf generator type flashed of lightning between my nipples. In my defence I have a lot of time, a vivid imagination and precious little scientific expertise.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 1reaction image Wisdom
  • In my week in hospital after the op I developed a chest infection and was coughing up all sorts of crap. Of course at night I imagined that the coughing would either rip open my sternum or rupture one of my new coronary arteries and I'd die in a pool of blood.  Nothing like that happened but of course you can't stop your imagination in the wee small hours.  In a few weeks when you can sleep on your side you'll feel happier. Five years on I have a chest scar which is 80% less visible and a more visible one down the inside of my left leg where they strip out a vein to make your new coronary arteries! My missus calls me Krusty as he's got one.  :s  I don't run now because of knee probs but I do 6-8 mile  yomps on the hills around here every morning which gives me loads of cardio work, and I still have a resting pulse of 45 the same as when I was running marathons.  As an example of the randomness of these sort of things: my brother hates sports or any type of exercise and hasn't run to the end of the road since he was about 16. Also a real ale fan and likes his grub. I've had a lifetime of training and after my episode he wangled himself an angiogram (to check for any artery blockage) and they told him his arteries were like hosepipes with  negligible scarring.   The bastard. Go figure!    :o
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    Cheers scrumhalf. Yeah, I've been told the same about the half a kettle of water, although they said for first 6 weeks and then they will give further advice if I can up my limit at my 6 week review when I get x-rayed.

    Have you noticed any discomfort from the wire? A nurse did say to me that in very rare cases some people find it starts to cause discomfort some years later and if needs be they can remove the wire with another op. I suppose the wire is pretty strong and it's more a case of avoiding damaging the regrowing bone rather than the chance of falling apart. Bad luck on the hernia although I guess after open heart surgery it's quite a minor thing.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    In my week in hospital after the op I developed a chest infection and was coughing up all sorts of crap. Of course at night I imagined that the coughing would either rip open my sternum or rupture one of my new coronary arteries and I'd die in a pool of blood.  Nothing like that happened but of course you can't stop your imagination in the wee small hours.  In a few weeks when you can sleep on your side you'll feel happier. Five years on I have a chest scar which is 80% less visible and a more visible one down the inside of my left leg where they strip out a vein to make your new coronary arteries! My missus calls me Krusty as he's got one.  :s  I don't run now because of knee probs but I do 6-8 mile  yomps on the hills around here every morning which gives me loads of cardio work, and I still have a resting pulse of 45 the same as when I was running marathons.  As an example of the randomness of these sort of things: my brother hates sports or any type of exercise and hasn't run to the end of the road since he was about 16. Also a real ale fan and likes his grub. I've had a lifetime of training and after my episode he wangled himself an angiogram (to check for any artery blockage) and they told him his arteries were like hosepipes with  negligible scarring.   The bastard. Go figure!    :o
    Chest infection can't have been fun on top of open heart surgery. I was paranoid about infection. I had day surgery 5 years ago to remove a benign cyst and it got infected a few days later, luckily it was quickly sorted with antibiotics, but it freaked me out at the time.

    I hadn't really considered the anxiety/imagination side of it till a few months ago when I heard an interview with Bob Mortimer about his heart bypass in which he said a major part of post-op recovery was dealing with such things. I also spoke to a friend of my dad who had a bypass at Basildon and said the same, had to get his wife in to read to him. It was helpful knowing this as I at least could anticipate it.

    There was poor chap on the same ward as me who'd survived a massive cardiac arrest. He'd had to have bypass surgery and had a major freak out on my first night back on the ward. He was getting worked up that he was going to have a heart attack and his heart rate kept shooting up which set off his monitor, which in turn made him even more worked up. They ended up having to get his wife on the phone to talk him down.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • scrumhalfscrumhalf Frets: 11262
    Octafish said:
    Cheers scrumhalf. Yeah, I've been told the same about the half a kettle of water, although they said for first 6 weeks and then they will give further advice if I can up my limit at my 6 week review when I get x-rayed.

    Have you noticed any discomfort from the wire? A nurse did say to me that in very rare cases some people find it starts to cause discomfort some years later and if needs be they can remove the wire with another op. I suppose the wire is pretty strong and it's more a case of avoiding damaging the regrowing bone rather than the chance of falling apart. Bad luck on the hernia although I guess after open heart surgery it's quite a minor thing.
    No discomfort from the wire. I an still feel "something" when I cough or sneeze. I almost shat myself hourly when I got a stinking cold about three months after the op. I would imagine it's muscular rather than anything else.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • OctafishOctafish Frets: 1937
    scrumhalf said:
    Octafish said:
    Cheers scrumhalf. Yeah, I've been told the same about the half a kettle of water, although they said for first 6 weeks and then they will give further advice if I can up my limit at my 6 week review when I get x-rayed.

    Have you noticed any discomfort from the wire? A nurse did say to me that in very rare cases some people find it starts to cause discomfort some years later and if needs be they can remove the wire with another op. I suppose the wire is pretty strong and it's more a case of avoiding damaging the regrowing bone rather than the chance of falling apart. Bad luck on the hernia although I guess after open heart surgery it's quite a minor thing.
    No discomfort from the wire. I an still feel "something" when I cough or sneeze. I almost shat myself hourly when I got a stinking cold about three months after the op. I would imagine it's muscular rather than anything else.
    :o I'm glad I had the op in the middle of the summer. I don't get many colds and hopefully will be 4-5 months down the line come winter. I have had a few sneezes, which aren't nice. I try and and cross my arms and hold onto opposing shoulders.

    Walked two miles at an average of 3.1 mph yesterday, wasn't pushing myself and felt I could have done more  =). Got my rehab assessment on Friday.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
  • RaymondLinRaymondLin Frets: 11813
    Wish you a speedy recovery man!  That is some episode.
    0reaction image LOL 0reaction image Wow! 0reaction image Wisdom
Sign In or Register to comment.