Post Surgery

(Surgery << Previous Page

10/18/2008 to Present
The days immediately after surgery were very restless. Every 2-3 hours there was someone in the room either taking blood, checking an IV, bringing pills, or taking vital signs. The drainage tubes remained in my chest for 2 days. They were still very painful. Any movement of the chest muscles promted a run-away full contraction which is almost indescribably painful.

I was able to walk the cardiac ward (the triangular walkway was was 1/4 mile for every 41/2 times around). daily. I walked a mile every day since post-surgery day 2. Every since hearing that Dr. Glower was likely to release patients early that did alot of walking, I made sure to walk in the morning when he did his rounds.

On post-surgery day 3, Dr. Glower removed the 2 large chest tubes. It was a huge relief not to be tethered to the large tubes, and much of the pain went away. However, any contractions of the muscles in that area still led to alot of pain. I still wasn't able to lay down and sit up on my own. Fortunately, either my wife or brother were there 24/7, for which I will always be grateful.

After 4 days of sleepless nights, I was finally given the OK to go home. A long list of medications and instructions was prescribed prior to discharge. That day, the last drainage tube was removed, along with the IVs and EKG monitoring sensors.

The first week at home, although liberating to be away from the hospital, was pretty rough. I still had the painful chest contractions near the drainage tube sites, which meant needing help getting in and out of bed. I also ran a fever every day of at least 99.5 - 100.0 Fahrenheit. I called the nurse, who said that it was normal to have a fever after surgery - due to the extensive internal healing. Also according to doctors, the younger you are, the more likely you are to have a fever after the surgery.

Around post-surgery week 2, the fevers subsided and the pain around the drainage tube site was gone. The medications were done with and life was rapidly returning to normal. I was already back to work with my consulting job (work from home), and was driving the car.

At week 4, my heart started racing one night. It was beating at 150/minute. I went to the emergency room and was admitted. It turned out to be "atrial flutter" which was causing my heart to beat out of rythm. I had to sit in the hospital over the weekend until the staff was available to do a "cardioversion", which is essentially applying an electric shock between my chest and back. This snapped my heart right back into rythm. During this hospital visit, another echocardiogram was performed. I met again with Dr. Glower while in the hospital. He said that based on the latest echo, everything went as planned with the repair. He also said that he now considers me to be on a normal lifespan curve.

Here are some post-surgery pictures taken in 1 - 2 week intervals:

2 weeks after surgery (three scars at the bottom are from the drainage tubes)

5 weeks after surgery

11/29/2008 (42 days post-surgery)
I now feel much better than before. I never feel fatigued and seem to have more stamina than before the surgery. It may be too early to tell, but I seem to have boundless energy and am ready to get back to normal physical activities next week.

12/4/2008 (6 weeks post-op)
I started back to full sports activities. It was much easier to get back into it than I thought. I sometimes just could not catch my breath. I have much more stamina - able to continue longer than before and catch my breath much quicker, even though I haven't been to class in 6 weeks. I was told things would be better, but I wasn't expecting them to improve this much.

1/5/2009 (11 weeks post-op)
My heart rate is now consistently between 60 and 90. I rarely think about the surgery anymore. I am back to all physical activities now. Sometimes people ask me how I am holding up - as if they still identify me as the "heart-surgery patient". I tell them "much better than before the surgery". That is usually the last time they ask. All-in-all, so far, so good!

3/9/2014
It has been over 5 years since the surgery. I've had several echocardiograms since then. Over-all, things are going well. The echo from 1 year ago reveals mild regurgitation and an LVESD of 41mm. Prior to surgery, it was 51mm. The interpretation was that the mitral valve was functioning normally. I no longer experience the palpitations - which, prior to surgery, happened often. Recent accomplishments: I received a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Quon Do in 2012, which required among other things, a demonstration of vigorous aerobic capabilities. It wasn't easy - but made it through. I run a 5K about twice a week now and keep it under 30 minutes - not olympic level by any means, but for having had open heart surgery - not too bad. It could be faster, but why push it? More later.

If you'd like to contact me by email, an image of my email address is below. I will be happy to email or call you back - time permitting. Thanks.

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