Luke's Journal

Yumiko Ishida  Looking good, Luke! Is the one from a year ago Sedona? Today’s look familiar, too, but I can’t quite place it. I live in Phoenix.

Rose Madura  Happy Anniversary Luke.  That year flew by, didn't it?  Your outlook is marvelous. And your priorities are renewed.  Godspeed!

Deena Z  Happy, healthy, anniversary!   Glad that you checked-in. So good for those going into and healing from surgery to hear your advice.

Luke Rodriguez  Deena, I live in Phoenix Arizona, this was taken at Lake Pleasant, a bit northwest of where I live. I love hiking in Arizona and I get up to Utah at least once a year. 

Rose Madura  Hi Luke, I got the vaccine, booster 1 and 3. Can't remember why I skipped booster 2.  Still, in August 2022, I had a mild case of Covid.   So who knows?? 🤷 But I did not have any side effects other than a sore arm with the first shot.

Travis Ederer  As a public safety guy, I had to toe the line a little more during the pandemic so I am vaccinated and did receive the first 2 boosters. I had no noticeable side effects (so far). I never contracted COVID, and did plenty of testing. Nonetheless, I think you should do what you're comfortable with, as long as the facility and doctor you want to use are not being hardnosed about it. For what it's worth. Any sickness could complicate your surgery and recovery, but we can't live life for all of the what ifs....

Richard Munson  Had the first booster now i’m done. Agree with luke. The president had a few boosters, enough said. Lol. 

Jason Hyrup  I got covid in Aug 2021. I was not vaccinated at the time. I was waiting for the fda approval, that just got approved right before i got it. I dont know if getting a shot or not would of helped me but i was in icu for 40 days. My wife was told i was going to die, and to come and say your goodbyes. All i can say is, if there is a chance it will keep you from getting deadly sick, its worth the little side affects that i got from the shots. I Now have my first series, plus the updated booster. Covid messed up my lungs, kidneys, and heart. I Was in a wheel chair for months after i got home. Its no joke.... if your one of the unluck people that get hit hard with this virus.

Jason Hyrup  Thanks Richard.

  It was a hell of a ride i can tell you. Now i need a Aorta Valve Replaced, and adsending Aorta repaired!!! I'm still not fully back to normal from covid. Its hell getting older. Hopefully i can get all this behind me and start living again.

Brady Busch  I'm up to date with all the boosters.Everything was Pfizer.The last one,in December,caused a little weirdness,along with pain at the injection area,maybe because they gave me a flu shot at the same time.What concerns me,is the long Covid.

Susan Lynn  Oh no, Jason! I'm so sorry to read about your experience with Covid. Glad you recovered. That must have been such a difficult time for you and your family.

Luke - I had the initial two shots, but I don't think I'll know for awhile if I had any long-term reactions. I know several people who refused the shots and are doing ok, so far. I also know a couple people who received the vaccine and, unfortunately, succumbed to that terrible virus.

Pamela Gregory  I have had all the Moderna vaccines and boosters. I got sick for a day with the first 3 but the last booster just a sore arm. My Cardiologist said to get it

Jason Hyrup  Thanks Richard. 

.  I'm not to old, i'm turning 52 in March. I didn't have any major medical problems, until 2017. It all started with kidney stones, from a weight  loss diet, And snow balled from there. Gallblatter stones and removal, kidney stones with Surgery, Covid and now bavd. I hope it get better after my recovery.

Thanks Susan- Yes.... it was a stressful time for my family, and myself, after i woke up from my induced coma.( I don't remember anything from that time). But i did have some weird dreams. I'm just getting back to my old self, and now i will have to have valve replacement surgery. I will have to start all over. I hope i have a good recovery that some people here had have. There storys do help.

  

Tom Everson  How is your heart rate now.  I assume the diitiazem was for that but caused your very low B/P.     I found your system changes and adjusts to your NEW  YOU. Less pills the better if you are aware of your body ( but keep the doctors informed)

Angela Meletiadis  Hey Luke, I'm glad you're feeling good. Anytime you want to come over and clean my kitchen and reorganize my cabinets, you're most welcome. I'll provide coffee and baklava. 

Klara Čičić  Haha Angela :))) Hi, Luke, we have missed you, nice to hear from you. It's amazing how one strongly memorizes those people whose stories are read first, in that preoperative state of fear and the unknown... Your posts stuck with me. Continued good health and all the best! 

Rose Madura  Luke, glad you are doing so well!  It took quite a while to get on the regimen of meds that worked well for me.  Tom gives great advice.  Thanks for the update and positive post!

Luke Rodriguez  Tom - My heart rate is about 15 bpm lower than pre surgery. I agree with the less pills is better.  
I have not posted in a while because I've been visiting elderly parents and was just too busy.  Dad is 89 and mom is 87. I was giving my sisters who live near them a break over the holidays.  
My main goal is to lose the 20 lbs of weight I put on during recovery and over the holidays. Visiting family ensures you get plenty of food too good to resist....my family is from south Louisiana so lots of amazing food. Now back to diet and exercise. 
Next time I wont wait so long to post. 

Angela Meletiadis  Luke, you should tell him that. You're not impatient. Perhaps you need a good explanation to set your mind at ease. I usually write my questions down before I go for a follow up, because I forget. You have a right to know what's going on.

Marie Myers  I agree with Angela. Maybe he will cut the dose on the metoprolol next time you see him if you stay out of flutter…

Luke Rodriguez  We did discuss it...he said he was being cautious.  In December he is setting me up with a take home monitor after I am off the Amiodarone.  WHY?  Because I am taking a conservative approach was the answer.  If my out of pocket on insurance was not already maxed I may have pushed back harder.  But OK....I will do this.  Four months ago I work a take home monitor and zero.....ZERO issues.  I was on another blood pressure pill that I had to stop because I was almost passing out when I stood up.  I was at my GPs office and they took my BP three times, two different machines because it was too low.  My GP stopped my BP med and my Cardiologist was OK with it.  I am on enough meds and I am tired of not being able to push myself.......

Having said that, my energy level is off the charts but when I push hard the meds...I feel like its the meds....make me have to back off.  

Rose Madura  Take it easy Luke. Best to err on n the side of caution. Trust your doctors. They've been through this many times with other patients and while no two people are alike, recovery can have some similarities. All will be ok soon.  

Deena Z  Great way to celebrate the healthier you and the miracle of this surgery, Luke!   Awesome. Soon Klara and Tom will be able to say the same.  .  😎

Richard Munson  I have so many wise guy answers swirling around in my devious mind, i decided to just shut up as my wife often tells me. 

Rita Savelis  Nothing is too sensitive to be talked about. Most men can take both anticoagulants and meds for erectile dysfunction. But you might want to ask your doctor if you fit into the category of "most".  

Rose Madura  I dare say Luke that it may be that you are doing too much. If I were you, I'd try to knock it down a notch or two and see if it doesn't get better.

Luke Rodriguez  I know, I'm the problem....I  hate sitting still and I  hate the constant pain.  Just put me in a coma. Lol

Sandy Harvey  You will heal. I  would not worry about the few accommodations you have to make to protect healing or your scar. I had a full sternotomy in March and it's my stamp of the strength I had had to ensure and survive a major event in my life ... be proud of yourself for beating the odds. We all heal at a different pace and it requires patience. 🙏🏼 

Marie Myers  You could try an over the counter lidocaine gel or ointment to see if it desensitizes the scar. Look in the topical pain relief section at the pharmacy.  Hope it helps!

Richard Munson  The trouble with a pain killer is that it is only masking the problem, not fixing it. When you get sliced open, a lot of stuff gets cut. It takes time to heal. I agree with rose to cut back a notch and give it time to heal. It will. Bite your tongue, i wear t shirts at 80. They just look different on me now. Lol. 

Deena Z  You will get there, Luke, need another 4 weeks. I had a sternum cut too and found a heating pad on the low setting was helfpful.Use your legs for movement and less your arms🤪

Linda Hanson  Luke you sound like me 3 1/2 weeks and every time I do too much I pay with muscle pain chest and arm.  Take it easy.

  Dear Luke, I agree with Rose and God help me with Richard. Chill out heart warrior. Learn a little patience and don’t try to do too much. You have been blessed with a successful surgery and brought into recovery, now make the necessary changes to your routine so your recovery continues. I’m very impatient but that had to changed after my surgery. You can do this Luke, be gentle to yourself it’s worth it. You are in my prayers and wish you a smooth recovery. God bless you 

Rose Madura  Luke, I love this post! Glad all is so well. The human body is amazing and medical knowledge is amazing and God is most amazing g of all!

  So great to hear your amazing recovery Luke. Yes you will feel good to be back at work even if it’s part time. Congratulations 

Rose Madura  It sounds like an ablation? I had one in 2007 for Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) which was unrelated (as CD ar as I know) to my valve replacement because that came 10 years later. It was successful and have not had issues with it since

Andrew Dial  I had an ablation done about 8 weeks ago to remove an accessory pathway. All went well and was a success. Nothing crazy about it, just need a few weeks tort the entry point heal up.

Marie Myers  External cardioversion is a different procedure than ablation. Ablation is intended as a hopefully permanent fix to the arrhythmia, whereas cardioversion is an immediate but not always long-term solution to getting your heart back into normal rhythms.

Delanee Durham  I also had a heart flutter.  It was actually an extra beat that felt like a flutter.  Mine started gradually after a bout of Afib and progressed to a extra beat every 3-4 beats. I was very concerned but my cardiologist reminded me that the heart muscle does take time to heal and my heart had just been through a major surgery.  Plus the fact because of the severe stenosis my heart had to always work harder and now it was having to adjust.  I do take metoprolol to manage my heart rhythm and Pradaxa because of the potential Afib.  I had the flutter for a couple of months and it gradually got better and now my heart beats in normal rhythm.  Hang in there.

Rose Madura  Luke, YES!  For months certain smells would nauseate me.  But things finally got better.  Hope it gets better for you and I'm sure it will.

  So good to hear of your progress Luke, it’s one day at a time and try to be patient with your body. You are doing great. You are in my prayers always. 🙏❤️

Tom Everson  That is great. Take the time and learn sbout the NEW U.  One thing I found is my food preferences changed after my surgery and my weight stayed steady. ( 15 pounds+less)

Deena Z  Three rounds on the floor already!  that's great.   Congrats. Best feeling ever to be in recovery.

Richard Munson  Can it be done robotically vs. the minimally invasive i had. Plus there is a clot forming appendage that often gets snipped during maze procedure. They did not snip it. Not complaining you understand. I found adam after my surgery. You are on site prior to. 

Timothy Andre  Stay positive Luke, I don’t have any knowledge of carotid disease but will pray for you. Try to trust the process and take any news as it comes with a good attitude. Your strong and will get through all of this with flying colors 🙏🏽

Rose Madura  They checked mine prior to surgery and it was ok.  I did not know that 20% of people with valve issues have that problem as well.  Thank the Lord I was ok.  Please keep us posted.  Good luck with your appointment  this week!

  The only thing I'm aware of are the valves being produced by Foldax.  They are being marketed as having the durability of a mechanical valve but without the need for anticoagulation.

Last I checked the aortic valves are in the clinical trial phase, and the TAVR version will be being tested soon as well.

https://foldax.com/

Marie Myers  I would ask your doc what he/she thinks about it, and take it from there. I think most docs would not want to mix post op narcotics and THC. Post op pain was not a huge problem for me, but sleep was a problem. I might have asked about THC for a sleep aide. I left the hospital with a script for 10 Percocet, but only used about 3 of them. Tylenol was enough for most pain, and if I did take 1/2 of a Percocet, it was at night to help with sleep. Interesting topic!

Luke Rodriguez  LOL funny Richard. I have central sleep apnea and I sleep with a BIPAP machine....basically my brain doesn't tell my body to breath on a regular basis but you just wake up and breathe and go back to sleep, I am totally unaware of it. I say this because alcohol at night has a negative impact on the apnea where the THC does not. Plus my liver thanks me. I didn't plan on mixing narcotics with THC, I guess this is post narcotics.

Also....does everyone sleep on their back until healed? Seems like sleeping on your side would hurt.

Richard Munson  I got so used to it, i still sleep on my back. Snoring is a by product. It drove my wife to another room of course. 

Rose Madura  I slept on my back during recovery.  I'd sleep about 4 hours, wake up and go downstairs to the recliner with my travel pillow.  I'm a side sleeper but now I find I still sleep on my back from time to time.  We just adjust to our circumstances.  Your questions are great!  Keep asking.

Rose Madura  Personally, I wouldn't take THC in any form, nor do I drink alcohol. Personal choice. As Marie suggested, have a candid talk with your doctors.

Patsy Stewart  Luke, this might sound a tad bit crazy, but I didn’t have that much pain in the chest area. I did struggle a bit with back pain. I was told that this was where they held/pried😳 your chest open during surgery. I was like Marie. I ask for Tylenol instead of the hard stuff while I was in the hospital. It made me loopy and everything on the wall was moving.😵‍💫They sent me home with a prescription, but I didn’t use any of it. The doctor suggested taking the Tylenol right before I went to bed, and that it would help as a sleep aide. I would usually sleep a couple of hours and then have the wide~awakes and lay there for several hours until I could drift back off to sleep. I use a C-PAP and I notice that when I’m not fighting that mask, I can sleep better using it. I remember struggling with weakness more than I did with anything. I honestly felt like a rag doll with only stuffing. I could have used a few prop sticks. 🥳 In my opinion, OHS is nothing compared to the pain associated with kidney stones….or shingles. (Yay for you surviving the kidney stones!!) Double OUCH!! That’s the two worse painful things that I’ve ever struggled with in my entire life! I think you’ll be ok using Tylenol and not have to have THC. I’m sure there are lots of different view points. When I was in the hospital in January, the doctor gave me a prescription of Marinol. I’m very low weight and have been told for several years that I HAVE to gain. I just simply can’t seem to gain anything. They explained to me that the Marinol would give me an appetite and that I could experience the munchies and get kind of high. I’ve never taken the first pill because I was afraid of it. I imagined myself like a squirrel with its cheeks stuffed full and bouncing from one branch to the other….and possibly breaking the branches from all the weight I was going to gain. 😂 No thank you! Ha!!! As for sleeping on your back, start practicing now and get used to it before hand. I’m a side sleeper. You can kind of prop yourself up using pillows if your body insists on rolling to your side. I find myself sleeping on my back anymore. It’s crazy how your body adapts! Talk to your doctor, and I wish you the very best of luck! 

Jose Villarreal  Hi Luke read through your story. I wish  you the best of luck with  everything.  I am a Pain Specialist and this question on THC is unsettled science, However I will say that THC has no known mechanism to provide true "analgesia" which is essentially blocking pain signals. The process by which people feel comfort is likely dissociative, which means in takes your thoughts away from your brain. For that to be comforting you essentially have to be intoxicated. That is probably not recommended in the acute postoperative setting.  Hope that helps. 

Phyllis Petersen  Interestingly, I brought this up to my doctor for other pain, especially at night. He said no smoking, but he didn't have a problem with edibles. I'm in Tucson, so have the option. 

  Welcome Luke, we are here to support you, help you sort things out if we can, give you information if we have and just plain help in whatever we can. If you have questions ask away. Keep on writ ing

Katherine Berry  Welcome, Luke. This is supportive knowledgeable community during a complex time of life and beyond. Wishing you well. 

Luke Rodriguez  Thanks for the support.  What I know so far is I have a bicuspid aortic valve and it has crud on it.  Have seen two cardiologists who both agree, seeing a third who is a surgeon who will do the surgery.  Has to be open heart.  I read Adam's book, extremely helpful.  My biggest questions that cannot yet be answered is how long will it take to get back to work, and, how difficult my recovery will be.  
Having said that....am in pretty good shape for a 57 yr old. I have had a history of kidney stones and I have passed dozens of stones including a 6 mm stone.  Wondering if anyone can compare kidney stone pain to what awaits me.  
The more information I get, the more at peace I feel...with the exception of watching a youtube video of the procedure and it was worse than SAW or any horror movie Ive seen. LOL  While I am not symptomatic, I want to get this over and done and move on.  I have two friends who have had open heart surgery and both said the respiratory therapy was key to getting back on your feet.  

Feel free to give me helpful tips. 

Ginny Turner  Luke, everyone's experience is different, but my recovery from open-heart surgery with full sternotomy was not bad at all, and I'm 16 years older than you. I had very little sternum pain. Only took OTC Tylenol for pain by the 2nd day after surgery. Mostly just a little sore and slow; coughing didn't even hurt. I did tire very easily in those first weeks and had trouble sleeping. I didn't watch any videos prior to surgery - too much information for me! I read what I needed to know and left the rest up to the experts. I'm at 9 weeks now and feeling great. You'll do just fine.

Karen Marvenko  Hi Luke, same age and your situation sounds very similar to mine, bicuspid valve requiring replacement and also had as aortic  root replacement to fix an aneurysm . I was not symptomatic but wanted to get it taken care of so I could move forward. So full sternotomy, and had set backs with fluid in the lungs (sometimes can happen when you’re a younger patient), something I wasn’t aware of prior. I’m 8 weeks post surgery and finally on the recovery path. Still on advil/Tylenol alternating as needed for pain of the pericardial effusion I had. But I’m starting to walk and slowly getting back to normal. All of our stories are different but I will say this has been a constant source of information and strength when you need it.

Rose Madura  I've never had kidney stones but I'd imagine that is more painful than  OHS. I had very little pain. You stay ahead of it with pain meds and switch to Tylenol as soon as you are able to.  The worse pain for me was shoulder pain.  I was 59 when I had surgery.  While I did have complications,  the doctors knew what to do and I'm fine now. It was well worth it.  Godspeed!

Civita Fahey  same as Rose with me, I was 55. My 5 year anniversary is on the 24th of this month! I had no sternum pain at all, but felt like I had chopped a forest down for the first week or so. My shoulders and back were killing me.  It did eventually get better. the only thing I think I had to get used is the exhaustion. I was so tired for the first two weeks, I could hardly talk ( and I can talk through anything lol).  but after the 2 weeks things got better. You will know what your limits are pretty quick. Some days you have so much energy and the next, you can hardly get out of the chair.  I did go back to work to a desk job at 10 weeks. I was pretty tired the first week or two but again, slowly it gets better.  I havent had kidney stones either but work in the medical field, so, yeah, you've got this.!

Luke Rodriguez  Thanks for that comment Richard.  For my kidney stones I ended up getting lithotripsy on both sides in Dec 2021 and Jan 2022...had an 8 mm stone on one side and 6 mm on the other with a sprinkling of smaller ones on both sides.  Iv'e passed a 6 mm stone and once I gave birth to it I felt like I needed to name it and register it with a birth certificate. LOL  I can tell you as far as pain meds go, Urologists and ERs are very, very stingy with pain meds (normally I would get 8 to 12 pills with no refill) and the handful of times I have been in the ER with stones they don't keep you until the stone passes and you end up right where you were in the first place except with a big hospital bill, so I learned to deal with the pain, self medicate with beer and THC drops and gut it out.  I have worked (I work from home as an IT Project Manager) while passing stones and it's a matter of mentally battling back the pain and refocusing one something else while little elves take knives and constantly stab you.....all that said, sounds like I'll be OK as far as pain, seems like they are generous with pain meds. 

Richard Munson  Luke, i had mine a couple of years ago. And it got stuck in between my kidney and bladder requiring surgery. I was rolling on the floor with pain. I think i told my wife to shoot me. After surgery, he showed me the stone. Almost needed a microscope to see it. I may have said “ are you blanking me? All that pain from that grain of salt”.  Hopefully no more in my lifetime.