your kidding me

[coral2222]

i am 10 days out from quad bypass surgery. i have had 5 spinal fusion surgeries and none of them compare to this. mornings are brutal . i have a friend that helps but i am one of those who find it hard to half to depend on others. just asking for a little ; what to realistically expect the next 4 weeks. thanks

[gilreid1]

you don’t say what age you are our anything about your general health before procedure? Four weeks is not long after such an operation the first six to eight weeks are the time to take things slowly and don’t push yourself. Listen to all the advice you would have been given especially about lifting anything. If you get offered rehab in the next two weeks then go it will help you slowly build yourself back up.

Good luck and it does get better

[gilreid1 in reply to gilreid1]

should have said two weeks

[coral2222 in reply to gilreid1]

i am 66 and have had 5 spinal fusion surgeries since 2010 health is fair. live with chronic pain.

[Qualipop in reply to coral2222]

If you would be willing to tell me about your spinal surgeries in a private message I would be grateful. I'm probably facing one soon but at 75 and a heart attack plus DDD I'm very worried.

[coral2222 in reply to Qualipop]

i have had 3 cervical and 2 lumbar all fusion surgeries. the cervical surgeries seem to work better then the lumbar in the long run. the longest i was in the hospital for any of these was 3 days. but that is because i stopped iv pain meds asap to get to go home. the worst part of cervical is the collar you half to wear for around a month. you can remove it to wash or shave but you need to keep the head fairly straight ahead no bending forward or back. pain was not so bad i would say average 5-6 on the pain scale for a month after going home. lumbar surgery is easier because you do not generally need to wear a brace. you will lose some movement in bending or moving side to side. and if you get on your knees you will need something to grab on to to get back on your feet. i live with an average chronic pain level of 3 daily. i use medical marijuana and it drops my pain levels in half. and with 5 spinal surgeries i am living proof this works. basically the first month after surgery is the worst.

[Qualipop in reply to coral2222]

Many thanks for that. I've replied to you in a private message to avoid going off topic here. I wish you the very best with your recovery.

[gilreid1]

66 is not old for heart surgery. But you must realize that open heart surgery is a major issue. I have it described as the same as being in a head on car crash. As I said previously it gets better and if you follow all the instructions you are giving by the cardio team in eight to ten weeks you will feel a whole lot better. Your sternum can take up to sixteen weeks to knit together so again go easy.

[Anon2023]

hi. I’ve had 2 sternotomies and by the 3 month mark I was able to sleep on my side and the pain had reduced greatly. I still get aches and pains and think it takes a long time for all the nerves to knit together. After 4 weeks I was still very uncomfortable and felt as though my rib cage was held together with sellotape. I’m 51 so relatively young for ohs but it is major surgery and takes a long time to recover from. Hope you feel better soon.

[Jako999]

Hi I’m 55 and 15 weeks post quad CABG and still got lots going on , it still hurts to cough, sneeze or rollover in bed. No matter what ops you’ve had in the past their nothing on this one you have to remember you’ve had one of the biggest bones in your body cut in half, all the muscles and nerves have been chopped up then your heart was stopped while they cut it up and so on. It’s a massive op to your body.

Hope you get better soon the big turning point for me was around 12 weeks but I don’t expect to be anything like normal till 12 months and I was super healthy and fit before.

[coral2222 in reply to Jako999]

the only way my neck is comfortable was sleeping on my side. now i am propped half way on my side which greatly helps with my ability to rest

[Heyjude31 in reply to Jako999]

Hi Jako999, I do hope you are feeling better. I have read your posts over recent weeks and hoping that your recovery was going well. I am just passed my 1 year anniversary. Physically I am much much better. I still get bouts of anxiety but these also seem much better. I hope your recovery continues very well. Take care

[coral2222 in reply to Jako999]

when i was getting ready to leave the hospital they were going to cut my pain meds from 2 oxycodone immediate release tabs every 6 hours to one tab. every 6 hrs. when i seen that i called in the doctors and said you are trying to cut my pm's in half and if you look at what you have been giving me every 4 hours for the last 3 days and i can barley function how do you expect me to be able to sleep at all. they conferred and sent me home with 2, 5 mg. oxy every 6 hours for 7 days then are having me come back in and reevaluate on the 3rd of oct. i find that the quality of life i am now having in regards to pm's is just barley enough to function. i think many health care professionals are still in the old school of make the patient do with the very least possible.

[lawli56 in reply to coral2222]

Yes but you have to realise that oxycodone is an opiate painkiller and it's highly addictive so you really don't want to get hooked on it if you can avoid it. So doctors are going to be cautious when prescribing it.

[coral2222 in reply to lawli56]

i am aware of this. seeing i have had 5 spinal surgeries over the period of 15 years. opioids are very necessary for more then a few weeks in these kinds of surgeries. unless you have gone through them you would only have book knowledge. that is not reality.

[Qualipop in reply to coral2222]

I'm on quick acting oxycodone which is supposed to last 4 hours. IF I'm lucky it lasts 3 but has now started working only 2.5. I'm on such a high dose now after 20 years of it that i can never come off it but it can no longer be increased because it's causing long term side effects. I completely understand their reluctance. IT does work but it's evil stuff. It's not so much about eh addictive properties when it's taken for pain relief. I'd stop it tomorrow if I could but it does have some very nasty long term effects and your body ( but not your brain) does get addicted to it. The trouble is, if you ask for more they treat you like a drug seeker which is simply not true. I just had a blazing row with one GP who was trying to reduce mine after 20 years but they never offer anything in its place and since pain is so subjective they haven't a clue just how bad you are.

[coral2222 in reply to Qualipop]

yeah i have heard that all the time . these people are living in book worlds not the real world of necessary pain control. how can they not see when someone has multiple surgeries like these and then expect them to live on a few pills a day it does not work that way.

[Heyjude31]

Hello, as others have said it does get better, but it will naturally take time. Please do accept all the help offered even if you are very independent. I was told no lifting only half of a kettle for at least a month. I was sitting up going to sleep for at least a month and then slowly was able to lay on my side it was wonderful when I did. As one of the other Hearties has said, grab rehab if it is offered in your area. Apart from that I was told to make sure to take all your meds and eat a healthy diet. I wish you a good recovery. Take care, Judi

[coral2222 in reply to Heyjude31]

1 day home from the hospital and the next morning i blew my nose and it started bleeding and would not stop. er packed it then i had to go back in the hospital for a day and a half. they had to drop the plavix. and right not i cannot use the o2 but i was a smoker for over 50 years so my low o2 has to be copd. my o2 averages 92 % and it really doesn't bother me not using it. like i said the mornings are just devastating but i know that will improve.

[Heyjude31 in reply to coral2222]

I do so hope you feel better soon, sending my very best wishes for your recovery. Judi

[devonian186]

four weeks is no time at all. I still needed maximum paracetamol for the first 4 or 5 weeks then found I didn't need it any more. However it is very easy to do too much then you will regret it the next day. Why not keep a health diary then you can benchmark your progress?

Those things you can't do now you will find you can start doing over the next few weeks and months. In particular walking. that 50 yards becomes 100 yards etc then slight hills can be managed. Hopefully you will start to feel reasonably ok by 12 weeks but will then try to do too much, plateau then make small improvements again.

As Jako says, work towards feeling pretty much back to normal in 12 months and plan your activities accordingly. Whatever you do don't feel you are being helpful by trying to carry shopping or doing anything requiring lifting.

[Razor1967]

Still very early days. I had a heart attack out of the blue end of June last year followed by a CABG x 6 a week later. Diagnosed with acute coronary heart disease. No previous warnings signs and considered myself quite healthy although carrying a bit of extra timber😃. First few months were hard, not gonna lie. No cardio rehab back then and doings circuits of the garden to build up strength. In all honesty didnt really feel myself again until about June this year. Having 2 dogs helped, taking them for 2 miles plus a day. Only thing I suffer from now is numbness on left side of chest where they took out the artery. Thankfully I got sick pay for 12 months and critical illness cover too. I quit work in July and can draw my works pension when I hit 55 this Wednesday. I have also shifted more than 2 stone and cholesterol level down to 3.3. So yes, life does get better, just adjust your diet to cut out the processed stuff etc. Keep up the gentle excercise and keep popping the pills 💊!! Good luck.

[coral2222 in reply to Razor1967]

i am having a really hard time sleeping. hard to explain, it's like i am so tired i cannot sleep and when i do i wake up in a lot of pain. the most i am getting at a time is maybe 2 hours. then an hour here and there if i am lucky. i take a few naps during the day but mostly that is just laying down and just trying to recharge the batteries.