I seemed to be a fit 60 year old cycling 20k every other day and going for 2/3 hour walks in the weekend, until climbing hills became more difficult and the chest/stomach pains started. Within 2 months I was not able to walk to the end of the road anymore. An angiogram showed 5 blockages and I had an urgent quadruple CABG at end of November 2020. After surgery I found my left leg immobilized from the knee down which resulted in a bilateral pulmonary embolism. Last week I celebrated a month out of hospital.
I am now able to walk normally but the flexibility in my left leg is far from what it was before. This past week I have started walking outside and am able to go about 800 m.
The GP and the cardiac nurses team have been really helpful sofar, but it would be great to hear from someone who has gone through a similar ordeal. Having pain 24/7 is exhausting, I fall asleep at any time of the day and then wake up at 4 am. Painkillers don't scratch the surface and I have given up with them. When I do my stretches, tears are rolling down my face. But they are getting easier....
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fit4walks
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It really is early days. And you are doing very well.
I was advised that i should take things very slowly for three months and with hindsight thats about right. Then a further three months to build up.
So are you perhaps pushing too hard too early ?
I am now trying to walk freely. I can do a mile and that took many weeks to achieve. Just a little bit more each day, like one meter extra each day.
Frustrating takes on a new meaning doesn't it.
I work hard on getting good sleep. Consistent retiring time.
I had success using a tinnitus relaxer. It plays my choice of sound (waves on the beach is my choice) overlaid by white noise. It switches off after thirty minutes and i usually miss that stage zzzzzzz.
Why is our wake up call at 4am ?? My much loved cat thinks its breakfast time and i think its sleep time. Actually that stage has passed. I now sleep until 5 or 6 which is good.
Specific suggestion...be ultra careful when you get on your bike. I immediately fell off. Very embarrassing.
Thanks for your quick reply, that is already encouraging.
Having read several posts where people are complaining after 3 weeks that they cannot go further or faster than 6k made my heart sink. But I guess everyone is different.
I will keep your bike advice in mind for when I get there.
You will know your own body, so do what is right for you, we are all different. I wonder what pain killers you are on? I found tramadol worked very well. They do say they are addictive, but I didn't find that a problem or the case.
Hi Woodsie,I had tremadol in hospital, which worked well, but they wouldn't prescribe it to me upon discharge even that they knew that codeine hadno effect on me. Guess I will talk to my GP; he is usually very good.
HiIf you had your open heart surgery you are doing very well. Your body probably thinks it has been in a 6 hour car crash and has a major repair scheme under way. It takes about 8 - 10 weeks for your breast bone to knit back together and until it does you are held together by staples. Take your painkillers before the pain starts and keep on taking them.
If your body management repair system thinks you are getting in the way of recovery it will switch you off and put you to sleep for a while. Don't fight it just go with the flow. Gentle daily walking is great and so is putting you feet up afterwards.
Get yourself a healthy diet going, lots of green stuff and fresh fruit, apples, pears, whole pineapples, berries, walnuts, etc. Get some fantastic salads on the go, with beetroots, spring onions, celery, lettuce , spinach, hummus, along with vinagrette, or olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Treat yourself to fillet steak, or salmon or king prawns to go with it. Your body could do with good quality protein and minerals / vitamins. Avoid sugary foods, white bread (wholemeal is good), cakes, etc, it is nutritious food that you need.
Don't worry. It does get better but it takes time. After about 10 weeks the hospitals used to have Rehab programmes. If they are not available there , they are available on The BHF website. I applaud your impatience to get going, but make haste gently. .
My valve repairs were done about 7 years ago. I now have a fitbit and get annoyed if I can't get 10-12000 steps in every day. Take care.
Hi Ian,I guess having gone into hospital walking and coming out with useless legs was not a great start for my recovery. I have always been a fitness ‘freak’, with healthy eating and drinking habits, but a love for chocolate and sweets. They will be less frequent from now on. It was family history and genes that did it for me.....
Thanks for your encouragement and advice. I am thinking to put a sign up near my bed to remind me that every day is a new day and to take it as it comes🙂👍
Just a comment on what you mentioned on how they fix the breastbone. In my case they wired the sternum together and this wire stays in the rest of my life. The physio and cardiac nurses have told me that the healing of the sternum can take up to a year; the total bone re-formation can take a lot longer than just 8 to 10 weeks, especially if it needs to withstand the movement of the ribs and colarbones that are attached to it by tendons and muscular tissue.
You are right though that good food and exercise is helping to get me going again. I am 3 weeks further now and am walking 3km every day and am hoping to move up to the next level in the exercise program next week.
I was fortunate in that I just had my valves done - A lot of people say getting your heart done is one thing, having blood vessels ripped out of your legs is something else again, takes a lot more recovery and is a lot more painful.
Take time, don't expect super quick recovery and keep on with the exercise. You will get there but there is a lot of plumbing and re-routing going on in your legs. Keep plodding on - it does get better -slowly.
After my operation I saw folks 20 years my senior, jump out of bed and get on with their lives. 'Plodding' is exactly the word I am doing at the moment . I guess my patience is running low, but l have to remember to look back where I started from.
'Just your valves' is not nothing, but I am pleased for you that it wasn't a major invasive surgery. I don't wish this on anybody.
So sorry to hear your surgery wasn't straightforward. It's a tough time, I know. I had my double bypass on 8 Jan after a month in hospital following a "small" heart attack, and felt institutionalised and lacking any muscle at all by the time of the surgery! My leg feels ok apart from some weird sharp pains, but my chest is sooo heavy... I'm trying to balance lots of rest with regular walks but it's not easy - like you, I was fit and healthy before the HA so really want to push on with the recovery. I will start the rehab programme on 19 Feb (my 6 week point) so will sed how that pans out. One thing I will say is, get your pain medication sorted out. You can't recover if you're crying with pain every time you're active. Good luck and be kind to yourself 😊
Thank you for your kind words and good luck with your recovery. Pain meds were sorted and exercises have become easier now. I have progressed quite a bit now walking approximately 2km every day at a reasonable pace and started the BFH fitness program. I am charting my progress, which is very helpful when I am a little down. Just looking back 2 weeks shows improvement.
That's great to hear, well done! I think it's easy to feel we're not progressing so keeping a log is a really good idea. And definitely not comparing progess with others as we will all get to a good fitness level, just at a pace that suits our own personal recovery level. And hopefully the weather and lighter evenings will start to help too!
Just wanted to comment on your heavy chest. I felt exactlthe same, like an elephant is sitting on top of you. Now that I am walking and my arms have become more mobile, this feeling has become less and less. I also had stabbing pains in the legs; they told me that that were the nerves healing..... the more stabs, the better the nervous system.... this also goes when walking and exercise become more regular and you get your feeling back in your skin.
Looking forward to drier weather, so I can walk in the fields again.
Thanks for that, really helpful. I was thinking the opposite about the leg pain - that maybe I was overdoing things and my leg was complaining about it! I went out for my first solo walk today, and realised my confidence has diminished. My mind was all over the place, so need to work on that 🙄 Today is 4 weeks post-op so that's a good milestone! I'm with you re country walks - bring it on!!
I had a quad bypass on 5th January. I have great days and then a couple of times I’ve felt really tired. I get out for exercise each day, maybe 40/50 minutes walking. Diet is good, sleep is patchy but overall I’ve kept a very positive outlook and that is driving me on. I am 59 years old.Keep it going Brixcos, you will get there
Well that’s very good. The longevity of the grafts seems to be very good plus you have the back up of stents in the future. Was there any major damage to your heart from the HA?
No I think I got away lightly with the HA, in fact the consultants were all realky surprised that I ended up having to have a bypass at all, they thought stents would be enough...
I know what you mean about confidence. The first time I went out I didn't dear to go past the neighbours house (100 meters) just in case something would happen. The first couple of weeks my husband walked with me, but since I am walking longer distances now, I try different routes, which is still scary, but I am taking the risks.
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