Michelle's Journal

Rita Savelis  Hi Michelle, I'm sorry no one with a similar situation has commented. But I have seen this topic brought up here in the past and there are women who have varying reactions in their menstrual cycles due to anticoagulants. I have 2 mechanical valves but was already menopausal (age 54) when I got them. If you do a search in the search bar above perhaps you can find one of the women who commented on this topic. Otherwise I hope that your cardiologist and gynecologist can answer your questions. Take care.

Rita Savelis  Oh, yes, a rapid heart beat is very comon after OHS and is a side effect of the surgery itself. Betablockers like Metoprolol slow the heart down and are usually prescribed to give the heart a bit of a rest after surgery.
I no longer take betablockers but I definitely still am much more aware of my heart and its beating since before OHS. It also beats faster. My cardiologist has verified that this is okay for me....unless I wanted to be back on betablockers (which I did not like).
I have now gotten used to, and accepted, the rapid heart beat feeling that comes and goes.
Wishing you some peace and a quieter heart in 2018.
Take care.

Peggy Whitecotton  Oh yes, I did... Just out of the clear my heart would pound for no apparent reason. My surgeon said it was normal and the heart actually goes through a remodeling change and has to learn to work with its new changes. also said that even thought the surgery (sternum) heals in a few weeks the heart itself can take up to 9 months to a year to completely heal..

Amy Steele  Michelle, I underwent sternum repair surgery a little over three weeks ago. It was determined via CT scan at 6 months post-op that my sternum never fully healed after my OHS last October. I had increasing pain while doing ordinary things and ended up having my sternum debrided and 3 tritium plates installed. I'm currently not in 'pain', but still a lot of discomfort after 3 weeks. Craig Wise (who is also on this forum) recently also had problems with his sternum not healing and he had repair surgery a few months ago. You're doing the right thing following up with your doctors... especially if you are having ongoing pain.

Laura Shepherd  Amy, why does this happen? Does it come from doing too much too soon or is it blotched surgery? I don't mean this in a bad way...just trying to avoid doing something damaging after this surgery.

Marie Myers  I believe Craig felt his sternal separation was due to excessive ibuprofen post top. I Imagine that doing too much too early and maybe poor nutrition can contribute to separation issues.

Amy Steele  Since this is a relatively rare occurance (<2% of sternotomies), there hasn't been much time spent on research as to why this happens. My surgeon said he sees this happen once every year or two, and he does 350+ surgeries per year. There are some alternative methods which have been developed to assure better healing of the sternum, but they require specialized materials and most surgeons like to go with the tried-and-true (?), quick, easy and inexpensive method of using wires. Also, insurance companies may or may not approve the additional cost of specialized tools and equipment and the additional OR time it takes.
I have not been able to find any conclusive information in my research as to what causes this. Like Marie said, Craig Wise felt that high doses of ibuprofen may have contributed, but in my case, I didn't take many meds at all. In fact I was totally off all pain meds less than 2 weeks post op. I am larger chested, and wore surgical compression bras 24 hours a day for 3 months after my surgery. I am relatively young, eat a very healthy diet, and get regular exercise. I was pretty good about not lifting heavy objects or doing other restricted movements... In the past, I've had other surgeries involving bones which healed very quickly and completely. I was in a very bad auto accident 11 years ago which bruised my sternum severely... As a side note, my maternal uncle had a double lung transplant about 10 years ago and his sternum didn't heal either. He also ended up needing sternal repair surgery. It may come down to an unknown genetic predisposition to the sternum not healing... or perhaps the wires weren't tight enough, or the sternum wasn't aligned properly. At this point, it's not a well researched problem...
Laura - I wouldn't worry too much about it since it doesn't happen very often. The odds are really good that your sternum will heal just fine.