Need some Advice

[Achingheart]

Hi guys. I’m nearly at my 3 month milestone following open heart surgery to replace the mitral valve with a mechanical one. No major post op problems but wanted to ask your advice on couple things. So I started to hoover again 3 days ago. And now I have quite severe pain in my right shoulder blade. I don’t think it could be anything else and just seems to coincide. Have I done it too early?

Also I go back to work on Monday. Only 50% of my hours building up gradually. All I’ve known for the past 3 months is my poorly heart and recovering. No I have to return to ‘normal’ life and people. Any advice on how to deal with it because I’m sure people don’t always want to hear about my heart.

Hoping your all well!

[Blackcatsooty]

I took four and a half months to get fairly fit, but I am twenty years older than you.Shoulders are quite often problematical post op.

Could you do just a little vacuuming and use a lighter Hoover.

Building up gradually is the aim.

I assume you had no rehab.

How to deal with people in general and work colleagues in particular.

Resist talking about your medical issues. People tire very quickly of other peoples misfortune. If there are work things that you can not manage then make it clear at the outset and stick to it.

Good luck, do let us all know how you progress.

[Achingheart in reply to Blackcatsooty]

Hey Blackcat. Perfect advice. I think throughout post op and recovering I’ve pushed myself to far, hence not aiding my recovery. When I saw my Royal Brompton consultant in my home town as an outpatient I did say I was getting a lot of pain in my chest. His words were ‘well as I remember, you never sat still in hospital and I doubt you are now’! Such true words lol. I have only been to one cardiac rehab session and am booked in for another one next week so will ask them again then. But thank you for your reply 🥰

[Blackcatsooty in reply to Achingheart]

Dear AchingheartDo please go to the rehab and keep attending.

I couldn’t get any rehab due to the pandemic, and I now suffer from the lack of advice/experience.

I had a double bout of gout then sciatica. I can handle the gout and the sciatica, but I really needed advice on the OHS implications.

Now I don’t know what, if any, issues are OHS related.

I was booked in to the Brompton but it closed before I could get there. Went to the fabulous Cromwell, which appeared the only hospital operating.

I was promised I would get rehab when things got going, but it seems the hospitals were so busy that they couldn’t scoop up the handful of us who had the op late April/early May.

I was eventually offered rehab in Guildford but that’s about three hours drive each way and I could not cope with that.

You have so much of your life to live and it will pay dividends to spend those extra weeks gradually getting fit

Colin

[Hidden]

Hi Achingheart,It's always good when the results of OHS are positive.

Are you doing things too quickly afterwards is always a difficult one to answer, as our bodies recover at different speeds.

I can only speak of my own experiences, my first time I was back at work within 3 months and moved house a month later, with all that involved, but, I was only 33.

Third time I was quicker again as I just wanted some normality back. I went to a music gig 5 weeks later and a football match the following week. Back at work fulltime after about 15 weeks.

The main thing to remember, is that your heart has been repaired.

Other people is just something you have to deal with, some will probably be curious, others it won't mean anything to them. The one thing I've had after each surgery, is people asking why I'm back at work, as if I was beyond working again, when for me it was the exact opposite. Many have no idea that Valve surgery isn't the same as having a Heart Attack.

Have you had any Cardio Rehab, as that is a good way of getting your body moving again. Inaction with your shoulder, could explain the pain.

Best wishes.

[Achingheart in reply to Hidden]

Thank you Heed. Hopefully you can read my reply to Blackcat which is so me. I do expect to much and I honestly forget what I’ve been through. But I think with going back to work, I may stop wallowing in my self pity and instead look forward to my new more positive future 🥰