Chest pain

[Tickertalker]

Hi all, I was hoping for a little advice. I had open heart surgery two months ago and was unfortunately one of the 2% who suffers a stroke and lost the use of an arm and a leg.. I have just been discharged and I am in constant pain in the chest area. The pain doesn't seem to have an exact home. Sometimes its one of the sides of my chest, sometimes the centre and sometimes my shoulders. My feet and ankles are also swollen. During my two months in hospital I had three falls one quite nasty that slammed my chest but that was in the early days and x-rays showed no bone damage. Should I be worried about about the pain or is it par for the course?

[Wooodsie]

My god, you had a bad time if it, I'm sorry. I had my op 10bdays ago, I am still on aspiring and tramadol. So long as I take both regularly, no pain. Except when I overdo things, then nothing will get rid of the pain. I think 2 months is quite early to expect a pain free recovery, especially given what happened during and after the op.

Keep well

[Tickertalker in reply to Wooodsie]

Thanks for your reply. Yes, it's been a tough road. Asides from the stuff I've already mentioned, I had a second operation to drain fluid from around my heart and then, when I was tansfered to a stroke unit in a different hospital, they told me that my platelets (The things that stop internal bleeding ) had disappeared overnight. Unsure what had caused the loss they took a guess that it was a reaction to Warfarin and put me on a vitamin K drip. A bit like giving Kryptonite to Superman I felt. I was then transfered back to my original hospital where they told me that my platelets were fine but had been counted with the wrong test. This really scared me as a full quota of platelets plus a vitamin K drip must have turned my blood to porridge. The doctor tried to reassure me by telling me not to worry as it was too late to do anything about it. Eventually I was given blood thinning injectons but I had to wait four days before they put a camera down my throat to see if I needed a third operation. Four days when I was convinced that my new mechanical valve was full of blood clots and my time was up. It was a long two months and, because of the coronavirus, one that I had to navigate without a single visitor. Never again.

[Chappychap]

I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles.

Some degree of chest pain following open heart surgery is pretty common. Unfortunately the advice that's often given, you can expect to return to work after 6-8 weeks) frequently gets interpreted as you'll have a full recovery after 8 weeks. That simply isn't the case, and it can take up to 12 months to make a full recovery. In the meantime focus on your breathing exercises, they really are critical, and walk/stay mobile as much as possible. But don't try lifting too much, so no carrying groceries for example.

Do look after yourself, you've been through such a lot, and know all our thoughts are with you.

Good luck!

[Tickertalker in reply to Chappychap]

Thanks for your reply. While, of course, I'd rather be pain free, it is very comforting to be told that there is nothing unusual about my experience. I've got an appointment with my GP in a couple of days to take a closer look. Getting there is going to be quite an adventure as it will be my first post stroke solo trip outside. Am I nervous about that? You bet.

[Alisbabas in reply to Tickertalker]

I’m so sorry to hear that you’ve had a rough time.

I haven’t had that experience yet but I hope you have a speedy recovery

Take care

Ali

[Tickertalker in reply to Alisbabas]

Thanks