Diane's Posts

I'm 5 weeks post AVR, and am a Cardiac Rehab nurse. Make sure you start cardiac rehab and ask them for upper body Theraband exercises. Start with just the movement for a few weeks, then use the bands. If they are not familiar with it, one session of physical therapy can get you set up.

That's rough. Part of why most of us can't wait to get surgery over with is so we can get our energy back, but I have heard that it can take a year for the body to fully recover from major surgery. Are we heart valve surgery patients just more impatient than others? I hope you keep progressing to more energy. Don't be afraid to ask your doctor if this is normal.

I was exhausted for a very long time (maybe a year). My doctors said it would be very long and it was. At least it was reassuring to know in advance. Energy comes back slowly and your whole system has been traumatised. Give yourself the time to heal. Be kind to your body. It's not a problem, it's just the reality of the beast. Everyone's recovery is personal, but I am still astounded by those who claim to be back to "normal" quickly. Can that really be? Again, I was very glad that my doctors were truly honest with me about recovery time and how very very long it can be. That doesn't mean you aren't functioning and working and getting on with life, it just means you tire more easily and need to go easy on yourself and accept that tiredness, rather than feel that you are doing something wrong or that you are abnormal. Take care.

I'm nearly a year post op. I have days of exhaustion still now but they are lessening. Although I have meds and conscious of my beat (ectopics and AF), I can forget I'm a heart patient but that's only been recently. Look to 6mths as a marker, 4mths I returned to work but was only doing a couple of days a week. Just getting back into normal routine is exhausting. At 3mths your sternum will be fused but you have been through so much that your body will take time. You will be doing more and more, reflect on what you can do now when compared to a fortnight ago, rather than what you can't do. If you can, continue with rehab. It will come.