I am feeling great today!

[Kelly Luisi]

I am 11 days out from surgery, and today I felt :D great. I got out for a :rolleyes: ride in the car with my husband and 2 sons. It felt great to have even the wind hit my face. I have been moving about the house today too. The couch has gotten a little boring over the last week! Is this feeling :o NORMAL? Because a few days ago I was feeling tired and wondering if I would ever feel like getting out again! Today, I felt pretty good, even had lunch out with my family. When I came home I took a 30 minute nap.... watched an old movie with the kids and just hung out with my family! Do you run through days of feeling great to days of feeling :( PUNK?
Night time is bad for me as I toss and turn and just can not get comfortable. My sternum does not hurt nearly as much as my leg hurts where they took the Coronary Vein from. That is achy, throbbing and sore most of the time!
All things concidered.... the surgery and recovery went much better than expected! I am so happy to be on the other side of the mountain! :D

[Ross]

I call this the false promise zone. You can feel great today, maybe tomorrow too, but if you over do on one or the other, you pay dearly for it on the 3rd day. Yes you do have good and bad days. You'll probably have those for a couple of weeks yet. I just don't want you getting all charged up, overdoing and backsliding! ;)

[Harpoon]

Got one word for ya:


WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK!

Well, it's one word, repeated many times to drill it in.

The absolute very best thing you can do for yourself right now is to walk. Start out slow and do what you can, maybe just walking around the house or out to the mailbox or whatever. Build it up gradually. You might also try going up and down stairs some, but walk first.

The more you walk, the better your recovery will be. I swear by this up and down. I spent a LONG time in the hospital recovering from a VERY knarly experience (I was atypical, I tell this to a LOT of people so they don't get scared off) and as soon as they could the nurses and physical therapist had me up and walking, even before I was cognizant enough to remember it. At first I had a walker and two IV poles in tow along with an entourage (that spelled right?) of nurses, my PT and my OT (occupational therapist) with me.

I slowly graduated to the point where I could walk, by myself, up and down the hallway in the step-down unit where I spent my last few weeks in the hospital.

Once I got home, I was walking again, gingerly at first, slowly. I'd walk about half way up my street and turn around (about 4 houses away from mine) and come back. I carry a cellphone with me almost ALL the time and if you have one, it's almost a must for these first few weeks when you're home and recovering. As I got stronger, I walked more. A month later I was in cardiac rehab and was doing a variety of exercises including a treadmill, stationary bike, and rowing machine, all while wired to a heart monitor and having a pair of nurses around who would check my pulse and BP every so often or take a quick record of my EKG readings.


WALK!

I know of one instance, the son of a teacher my son had for nursery school, who had had some kind of heart surgery almost a year after mine. He wouldn't leave the house, insisted on sitting infront of the TV all the time. He was too afraid of "hurting himself" after having been through such a major surgery.

Well the problem is, sitting around IS hurting yourself. Your heart is a muscle and it needs to be worked to be strong. It needs to be worked to regain it's strength. This doesn't take running marathons or doing hour sessions at Bally Total Fitness 4 days a week. Just walk. A little at a time until you feel comfortable doing more. Get a walking buddy, a family member or friend or maybe even a "small" dog as big ones might go running off to chase something while you're getting dragged along behind on the leash. Whatever it takes.

You will feel better faster if you do.

The summer after I had my surgery was probably one of the best summers of my adult life really. Everything was so fresh and new and wonderful. I took a lot of naps and spent a lot of time taking care of things I had neglected for a long time. I had fun enjoying my new found health and a lot of that came from just spending time walking, regaining my strength.

And I had a LOT to regain too.


WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK! WALK!

:D

[geebee]

Kelly,

Recovery is definitely a roller coaster ride and you will have these "swings". Try not to be too down on the "off' days. Now that you've experienced the "highs" you will know they will be back and can take comfort in that fact when you are feeling a bit punk.

I agree with Harpoon. Walking is the best things you can do for your recovery. This should be done whether you are having a good day or a bad day. Of course, it will be a bit harder to get started on the bad days and a no brainer on the good ones. But be sure and force yourself to get up and go on the down days and you will find them coming less and less.

You have been through more torture in the last 11 days than some people go through in a lifetime. Don't take it too lightly but don't let it keep you from enjoying just still being here. But be sure and remember that you are still recovering if you have the days I did when I was irritated with myself for still feeling weak.

Best wishes,
Gina

[doberman]

Your experience is very similar to mine, I would have a few great days and than it would feel like I was not improving at all for several days, the docs warned me about this but I don't think it sinks in until you are there. my surgeon told me as long as week by week I am inproving all is well. My wife recently bought me a t-shirt and on it the words "this too shall pass" are printed. It sounds as if you are doing very well.
JD

[KathyH]

Kelly,
Glad to hear everything went well with your surgery and you are home. I can't add any different advice. Walking is the best medicine. I found that listening to my favorite CD while sitting around helped keep me upbeat.
Kathy H.