Ken Zipf - Heart Valve Journal

My Journal

Ken Zipfposted an update

3468 days ago

hi all,3 months after valve surgery i'm doing well,the only question is my resting hr is in the upper 90's is anyone else having the same problem?

Bill Cherry Yes, mine was high for a while. I came out of the hospital with no beta blocker. After 6 months post ... Read more

Bill Cherry Yes, mine was high for a while. I came out of the hospital with no beta blocker. After 6 months post op, phase II cardiac rehab, and now phase III for a couple of months, it is now in the 50s at home.

Lewis Garlisi A rapid pulse seems to be pretty common post surgery from what ive heard, and read on this site. Mine ... Read more

Lewis Garlisi A rapid pulse seems to be pretty common post surgery from what ive heard, and read on this site. Mine was in the 90s for 3.5 weeks. They switched my beta blocker to Bystolic. Whether it was the drugs or just the passage of time, it dropped significantly after that. At 5 mos post surgery I was taken off all bp meds. Hope that helps.

Laura Metrano I'm 3 mos post-op also, my HR has been high 90s to 105. My cardiologist just put me back on 25mg of m ... Read more

Laura Metrano I'm 3 mos post-op also, my HR has been high 90s to 105. My cardiologist just put me back on 25mg of metoprolol (I had been off for last 6 or 8wks). I noticed a difference immediately- HR dropped to high 80's / low 90s and I feel better. I'm hoping consistent exercise will continue to lower my HR even more. Good luck!

Terrie Syvertsen Laura- At only 3 months post-op I bet you will find with time and your exercise you will eventually g ... Read more

Terrie Syvertsen Laura- At only 3 months post-op I bet you will find with time and your exercise you will eventually get off of the metoprolo as well. Time heals! Happy Healing.

Wiliam Height It's normal to be high post op, with the valve working as it should now and heart needs to adjust. A ... Read more

Wiliam Height It's normal to be high post op, with the valve working as it should now and heart needs to adjust. Are you on meds and exercising?

Bob M When are you checking your heart rate? The first thing in the morning, my heart rate is in the 90's. ... Read more

Bob M When are you checking your heart rate? The first thing in the morning, my heart rate is in the 90's. During the day and evening, it's in the 70's. My cardiologist is not worried about. He is more focused on blood pressure in the right zone.

Brian Walsh It will take time to come back down. Once I got fully active again it quickly came back down. Now a ... Read more

Brian Walsh It will take time to come back down. Once I got fully active again it quickly came back down. Now almost 3 years and I am down around 50 at rest.

Ken Zipf wow everyone I guess I'm in the same boat,one other thing is my sleeping,i can't sleep through the ni ... Read more

Ken Zipf wow everyone I guess I'm in the same boat,one other thing is my sleeping,i can't sleep through the night if i get 2 hrs a night I'm lucky

Ken Zipfposted an update

3578 days ago

Has anyone gotten sick before surgery,a week away from surgery and have a sore throat.I'd hate to have it rescheduled!

Wiliam Height I had a wicked cold and sore throat one month out. Manuka honey MGO550+ will fix you

Robyn Tatu I got your post over on my journal about your persistent sore throat .... Worrisome indeed! Is it t ... Read more

Robyn Tatu I got your post over on my journal about your persistent sore throat .... Worrisome indeed! Is it too late to talk to your primary care physician? Is it a virus? or perhaps something they could treat with antibiotics? Help kick the healing into gear?

Ken Zipf Feeling pretty good, leave Easter day for CC with pre op tests on Monday and meet my surgeon on Tues. ... Read more

Ken Zipf Feeling pretty good, leave Easter day for CC with pre op tests on Monday and meet my surgeon on Tues. hopefully surgery on Wed.

Ken Zipfposted a journal

3586 days ago

1 person reacted to this

Get sliced and diced in two weeks,just wanted to know how long until you can go back to work.

Daniel Spurgeon It varies a lot between patients, but after my David valve sparing procedure I was working full time ... Read more

Daniel Spurgeon It varies a lot between patients, but after my David valve sparing procedure I was working full time by day 10.

Ben Hyman Wow! That's really fast! What did you have done?

Pat Bluemel I got cut on 2/12 and am returning on 4/9. My mental horsepower is just starting to come back online ... Read more

Pat Bluemel I got cut on 2/12 and am returning on 4/9. My mental horsepower is just starting to come back online. There's no way I could have gone back any shorter than 5 weeks as I haven't been able to concentrate well thanks to pump brain.

Nancy D Cardiac brain for me was real as well. Things just didn't process like they used to for a while. I ... Read more

Nancy D Cardiac brain for me was real as well. Things just didn't process like they used to for a while. I was between jobs when this whole thing started, so I have had the luxury of not having to rush back to keep a job. I have been ready for a couple months where I know I could have worked successfully, and am still looking for the right placement that I can keep until I retire! ;-)

Angelo Varrone Ken, I was back to work in about a month.

Duane Beeman You forgot "spliced".

Ole Bore Got cut on December 11, back to work January 22. 6 weeks was perfect for me

Ken Zipf Thanks to all!

Meredith Bray Depends on your job, eh? I'm a CDL driver so I was out for a mandatory 12 weeks.

Barry Van Gemert They don't make steel out in Johnstown anymore, so I am guessing you have a desk job. I would say don ... Read more

Barry Van Gemert They don't make steel out in Johnstown anymore, so I am guessing you have a desk job. I would say don't commit and see how it goes. When you are ready, you will know. (listen to your body).

Jennifer Stover I'm stay at home mom of three girls one being only 2 years old and my mother stayed with me till I wa ... Read more

Jennifer Stover I'm stay at home mom of three girls one being only 2 years old and my mother stayed with me till I was able to start trying to pick up my youngest again and take full care of her which was around six weeks.

Brian Walsh I think I waited 9 weeks. My recommendation is take as much time are allowed/can afford. Thankfully ... Read more

Brian Walsh I think I waited 9 weeks. My recommendation is take as much time are allowed/can afford. Thankfully I work for a company that put me on Short-term disability with full pay while I was out. I was entitled up to 12 weeks based on the surgery or whatever the doctor ordered. After 4 weeks the doc said I could go back if I wanted to but in general the 9 week mark seemed to be a good spot. The extra 5-weeks just gave me time to spend with my family while actually feeling pretty good and not add that extra work stress on too early.

Patrick Schweitzer I was operated on Feb 18th. I was initially given the OK to go back on week 5 and have been feeling v ... Read more

Patrick Schweitzer I was operated on Feb 18th. I was initially given the OK to go back on week 5 and have been feeling very good. The clinic at work though wanted to make sure I had some rehab and also wanted to know what my travel restrictions were. Cardiologist wanted 2 weeks of rehab before clearing travel. All this required a stress test to start rehab which I was finally able to get done today. Hopefully will start rehab Monday and it looks like I will be out a total of 8 weeks.

Lewis Garlisi Don't be in a rush to get back to work if you can afford it. After 4+ weeks I tried to ease back int ... Read more

Lewis Garlisi Don't be in a rush to get back to work if you can afford it. After 4+ weeks I tried to ease back into it. I found my concentration to be limited (I was placed on the heart-lung machine twice during my OHS), and I would tire very easily. Eventually, I caught a flu (which may or may not have had anything to do with going back too soon) and sat out for another 3 weeks. As mentioned above, the effects of surgery do linger for a while. It does go away, but I've found it to be a slow process.

Pam Driggs I plan on taking 8 weeks off. I am lucky because I have the sick time at work coming to me. It has be ... Read more

Pam Driggs I plan on taking 8 weeks off. I am lucky because I have the sick time at work coming to me. It has been one month since my surgery and am just now starting to feel like myself. I still can't sleep well and need to get that taken care of before going back to work.Starting rehab next week.

Upcoming Surgeries

Deepika Malhotra
Aortic Stenosis
January 20, 2025

Erin Bolanos
Mitral Regurgitation
January 21, 2025

Kurt Schuler
Bicuspid Aortic Valve
January 21, 2025

Surgeon Finder

Find and research over 1,500 patient-recommended heart valve surgeons.

Search Now

HOME

ABOUT US

COMMUNITY

LEARNING CENTER

DOCTOR FINDER

HEART HOSPITALS

VIDEOS

ADAM'S BLOG

NEWSLETTER

STORE

CONTACT

JOIN US

SIGN IN

Ken's Journal

Ken's Journal

Upcoming Surgeries

Surgeon Finder

Heart Valve Hospitals