Surgery – three weeks ago today!
Today marks three weeks since I underwent open-heart surgery to repair my mitral valve which was prolapsed and had severe regurgitation. These three weeks have had their share of ups and downs but as I look back I see steady recovery and healing. Here is a review list:
My glider-recliner in which I sleep
- Sleeping in bed is still a challenge. I cannot yet sleep flat in bed. Every time I lie flat my heart feels like it is about to pound out of my chest. Since I have been home I have slept in the glider chair in the living room.
- The incision is healing nicely. In a few months the scar will probably hardly be noticeable. One humorous sidelight is that the scar seems to be a bit off-centre on my chest. I don’t know if there was a particular reason why the incision wasn’t centred exactly but it makes it look slightly accidental.
- The bruising on my thigh (where they put the arterial line into my femoral artery) is still quite significant – extending from my hip to my knee and with many of the colors of the rainbow there!
- My breathing is getting much easier and I am getting nearer to pre-surgery intake volume levels. I am still working hard on that “incentive spirometer” – 10X every waking hour (or at least that is what I try for!).
- Any pain from the surgery is now just a bit of discomfort. Sudden sharp breaths are still a bit challenging. I am not taking any thing for pain other than the (very) occasional Tylenol.
- Climbing stairs is coming along. I can do two flights – up and down without breathing too heavily. I am trying to do about 10 such trips a day.
- Taste is also still not functioning properly. Food, especially sweet stuff, has a funny aftertaste.
I managed a walk outside and down the street today. The most difficult part about walking outside is still the sensitivity of the scar. I tried wearing a tighter shirt to see if that might eliminate some of the friction against the incision area but I am not sure that helped much at all. Oh well, I made the half K again – albeit quite slowly this time.