Thomas's Guestbook

hi thomas - something i hadnt envisaged was my irritability. the drugs and anaesthetic had quite an effect on my personality. i found i was very sensitive to noise, smell and touch. they made me very irritable. the sensiitivity on my skin was very difficult but its easing now. my daughter told me its a known phenonemon after major surgery so its not 'you' its just your body getting rid of the drugs. i had a wonderful kalaidescope of dreams and colour display whenever iu closed my eyes shortly after surgery but it became quite annoying. but mood swings, well e have undergone major trauma to our bodies also had to face our own mortality so i am sure your wife understands. our spouses become incredibly patient and its great to see another side isnt it. i guess we take our partners for granted and its only under these sort of stresses that our relationship truly stands. love to you and onwards and upwards

Thomas, My wife said the same thing when I came home and it is true. I was moody and grumpy but at the time didn't fully realize it. The body and mind are still heeling! Even though you will start to feel better soon your emotions and mental state will still be fragile. Patience is a very hard thing to deal with. I had a very short patience when I came home especially when my #2 young boys were running around screaming and carrying on. It is hard not to over do it and even harder to try and fight your emotion's. It will take time for this to pass but it will! Just stay positive and let your wife now how much you care for her as like my wife she has been thru a lot as well and has to put up with us! Best on your continued recovery!

Be kind to yourself, your body is healing and your mind is trying to catch up with what went on while you were "out". I think our spirits will lift back up as our bodies heal, and the moodiness dissipates. That is my wish for all of us.

Aren't symptoms strange?! I relate very much to the blahness you mention, and having never been this way before, I know it is the medicine, which is comforting somehow. I know it won't last, I relate it to the overall feeling of being kind of a robot, without full use of my arms, can't really lift things or bend over too far, slightly light headed, and with what psychologists call a "flat affect" aka blahness. I can't wait to see the cardiologist on the 18th and see if I can leave off Metoprolol and take something more familiar to me, as I had high blood pressure pre-surgery and got along fine with other meds. Time will tell. I always imagine the shock that our hearts underwent, and am proud of what a good job they did, and are doing, in bouncing back. Before you know it, you will be chasing your little princess around the house. Keep healing.

I hear you. I suffered same symptoms. I was initially taking 25 mg long release daily then twice daily. Then back to 25 when bp was so low then weaned off. I read several articles about weaning off to mitigate the withdrawal effects and so I did. Depending on the amt. you should ask dr whether you need to wean off. I also read it takes about two weeks to get totally out of your system so I marked my calendar. The dizziness and sadness were the worst. Drinking lots of water helped the dizziness as did realizing my sadness was caused by the fact I thought I would feel better faster. I also realized I was reading results of all on this site and became more realistic when I compared myself with recovery of MV repair folks especially robotic. But even then we are all different. I didn't have headaches but had auras. I had no valve symptoms going into surgery so thought I would have few coming out. Wrong!! Wonder if I had selective listening going into surgery. Hang in there. It gets better and you are really still so recent from surgery. I swear our bodies are saying what in the world did you do to me, I am in shock. Even with boo-boos we can give and receive kisses, hold hands and with finesse hold love ones on the left side. Again feel free to ask. Hope today is a great one!!!!

Same surgery (2/20/14) same result so will share. To be clear my bp is about 85/50 and hr about 100-110. Cardio rehab would not dismiss me until 88. Gave me water which has fast result to raise bp. 1. Only way to raise low blood pressure I found is lots of water and reasonable amt of salt during day. When I cut out salt bp was very low. 2. Feeling great then not great for no reason is the norm and demands patience. Go with the flow. Fortunately I had a new cardio dr who said 6-12 months is the norm. Be patient. For me after 5 months and two days I started feeling really good. But who's counting?? 3. metoprolal was tough on me and after it was out my system (about 2 weeks ) I started to feel better. 4. Current stats after 5 months bp 97/65. And hr 83. It's getting better. Let me know if you have questions. I understand and can hear frustration. Sorry so blunt I am one finger typing on my phone. Have a great day!!!

Hi Thomas! I'm glad you're on the mend. I haven't had heart surgery but I've had several spine and knee surgeries. It all just takes time for the body to rebuild itself and the nerves take the longest to regrow. I'm glad your little girl is keeping you entertained. I have a three-year-old and she's amazing. But I'm on the side of waiting on doctors to determine my course of treatment and experiencing horrible side effects that are preventing me from being the mom I could be and my little one is feeling that. I can see it in her eyes and it makes me cry sometimes. Thanks for sharing your story and all the great insight! Godspeed, Sarah

Good that you checked in and they have adjusted your meds. They cut my Metoprolol in half, just a tiny half pill can control our BP and heart rate, so I hope they gets yours settled so you have more energy. Do take you BP, though, so you keep an eye on it yourself and can report in. Best of luck to you, to all of us!

Hi Thomas, I had open heart surgery May 21st this year to fix my mitral valve and a hole between the atriums. I have very low blood pressure normally . After the surgery it continued at about 84/59 but my heart rate was really fast. So I am on a very small beta blocker to keep the heart rate lower. Just last week my blood pressure has finally began rising and I don't have these sever lows anymore. My heart rate creeped up again so they upped the beta blocker but it didn't affect my blood pressure this time. For me I think it just takes to let the heart heal. I thought well they have fixed it so lets get on with business but you forget that the heart itself needs to heel. It will get better so enjoy the naps and rests while you can.

Thomas, Recovery is not linear. Listen to your body. You will get stronger, but might not be as quick as you like. I still have chest pain, which they said it's nerves repairing, 12 weeks later.

Also with ya. Tomorrow, Friday, will be 4 weeks since my surgery. All was full steam ahead, walking 3-4 miles at a time every day. But this morning I woke up with an arrhythmia, so did not do the walking and took a rest day. My cardiologist is also on vacation. I have an appointment with a GP who does have some cardio training on Mon for INR level. Will monitor heart rate and discuss with him then.

Hi, Thomas. I'm right there with you, now at day 25 post surgery, also with varying low BP. In my case, the visiting nurse says it is due to the Metoprolol, which lowers BP and heart rate. That's the only drug I'm on, so must be that. I am supposed to call the surgeon's office, since my cardiologist is also away until Aug 18th, if BP is lower than 105 or heart rate lower than 56. Generally once I start moving around in the morning, eat and drink, it comes up enough to not be scary or have me dizzy, but it does give a sensation of tiredness. I've just been going with it, and doing things I've not stopped to do for years (puzzles, novels, lounging on the sofa. I expect when I see the cardiologist on the 18th he will put me into cardiac rehab, and let that take over. I have to force myself out of the house to take a walk around the block - using the dog as an excuse helps! Hope you keep healing well and are soon stronger.

Hey Mary, I am not good at being persistent but I had to call to follow up to get the answers I needed. As for post surgery, I was able to do most things fine when I got home as long as I remembered to do no lifting over 10 pounds. That would include walking the dog unfortunately. I would suggest trying to get help for that or accept that your dog just won't be walking for a while. Otherwise I can cook and clean just remembering to pace myself.

Thomas, glad to hear you’re on the mend! I also have sever MVR with MVP and my surgery is the 14th. I still don’t know how they’re going in :( Doctor said the results of all my pre-surgery tests would determine if he could do minimally invasive, but it’s been over a week and I still have heard nothing. Reading stories here is helping me prepare. I hate the unknown, not being able to plan! Will I be able to go up and down my stairs? Walk the dogs? Prepare meals? What types of activities are you able to do? Best wishes for continued healing and may your heart beat strong and long.

Hey Thomas, it's great to see different stories and different treatment regimes. I've been learning a lot. You're a guy and you want to keep busy and power through things. I totally understand but this is a different ball game. Generally, i've been seeing that 3 mos. is the norm to "take it easy". Your body has been through serious trauma and deserves serious time to heal. I hope your cardio person is approachable and easy to work with because... Ask him/her how you should approach this problem or ask the rehab nurse how this could/should be approached before you blaze forward. Age is irrelevant but being younger will help. Ask yourself: 1) How long have I had my condition and how has my body compensated for it and developed into what it is pre-surgery? 2) How have things changed for me now that I have had surgery? Increased blood flow means your body has to re-calibrate again. Hope this helps.

I had aortic valve replacement on July 2, a ministernotomy. I think all doctors are different on this. I will be starting rehab Monday, so a little over four weeks. I think you do need the cardiologist to sign on, so I guess it is lots of walking until then, although it never hurts to ask. I guess they will have me doing lower extremity weights and biceps triceps. I am really looking forward to it. Good luck.

I believe you will need your cardiologist to write the orders for your cardiac rehab. I would try to go as soon as possible because it is really helpful. Godspeed and good luck,

Hi Thomas, you sound like you are doing great. Patience is a virtue and not always my strong suite. Sounds like you having to work on that too. People start cardiac rehab when the doctor feels you are ready. There is no set time for it. Hang in there and keep walking. God is looking out for all of us in this community.