I did my usual this morning and said White Rabbits 3 times as it was the first of the month! 🤷🏻♀️
Then I realized that the second anniversary of my AVR OHS had been and gone!
January 2021 came flooding back. It feels like years ago now not just two.
I’m back to looking after grandchildren when I’m needed. No 3 is imminent! I set out to do a task without wondering if I’m capable of it. My friends and family have stopped treating me like an invalid. I get greeted with - you look well - instead of the slight bend of the head and a low breathy - how are you? I look at the garden and plan how I’m going to tackle it when the weather here in Yorkshire allows!
Recovery from OHS is slow, painful and frustrating. I was constantly told not to overdo it. Arms above shoulder level, nothing heavier than half a kettle of water, no pulling and no pushing etc. So glad I did as I was told. Walking is my go to exercise and I must do more of that. At 69 I don’t do too baldly.
To everyone else out there who’s in recovery ❤️🩹 there is the other side. Your body will take its own sweet time but one day, like me today, you forget to remember!
Be kind to yourself
Maisie ♥️
33 Replies
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Thank you for your positive post Maisie, it is very uplifting to hear such news at the start of the day and the start of a new month.
I hope you have many more years ahead of you in the arms of your loving family and friends.
Just take one day at a time. An old adage but a good one.
You will have Spring ahead of you for R&R. One good thing about January OHS! As I was writing this post I heard the dawn chorus breaking out. It’s pouring down but the birds don’t mind. They still sing their little hearts out.
You will have challenging days but it gets easier. The support on here is wonderful. I couldn’t have done it without them all as we were in lockdown. Could see family or friends or even medical professionals. This WAS my lifeline. It’s good to be giving back. Ask anything and you will get sensible and thoughtful answers and support.
Happy 2 years. And yes you’re so right - nowadays I barely think about my AVR and the surgery (will be 2 years in May) and I remember you having yours, Maisie a few months beforehand. Can so relate to all you’ve written- especially thankful that people (mostly!) don’t treat you like an invalid anymore!! Here’s to life after surgery!
I also did my version of white rabbits 😂. I am just behind you in that my 2 year anniversary of my AVR is the end of March. What a lovely start to the new month to see your post and the positivity that is so apparent. Keep enjoying your life!
It’s not to be rushed. I have the privilege of being retired. People who are in work often get pushed to go back too early. I often think what I would have done in their shoes.
What a lovely story to read Maisie, before I start getting ready to trundle off to work. You've really brightened up my morning and reminded me to be thankful for my new found energy! It was the one year anniversary of my HA on the 10th January this year and it'll be one year since my triple by-pass on the 18th February - I sometimes forget that it happened at all. It's good to be reminded how blessed we really are. Congratulations on your anniversary and here's to many more to come. Thank you - Carol xox
My 8th Anniversary coming up 😀😀🍾👏👏 And ohhh how I do feel like you sometimes when I do something that I couldn’t even think of doing back then. And oh the panic I felt when a change of medication brought back a hint of breathlessness and angina tightness. This is something the doctors can’t feel. When you have gone through what we have and can marvel at what we can now do and how well we feel. To have a hint of those old times again is just so frightening. Carry on celebrating the 31 Jan. you have travelled a long way 😀😀🍾🍾 But got there and like you say. To all of those out there on the same path, you too will get there but in your bodies own time👏👏 x
Once you’ve been on this journey you feel compelled to tell others that there is hope at the end. In the midst of it you feel helpless and exhausted. There is a light there. Just follow it, slowly!!
Many thanks for your positive post Maisie. Keeping positive really is a key part of recovery.
Anniversaries are there as reminders if we so wish. On a certain date in June I think about my surgeon and his team and give thanks. I do the same when I top-out on the mountains that I climb in Scotland and I often wonder whether I would have been able to do such things had I not opted for OHS. Well, that's a question I will never know the answer to. Something not to dwell on... just be thankful and onto the next mountain!
Hopefully later this month if things go to plan.... just some 2,500ft tiddlers to the north of Perth. I am without a walking partner at the moment, so I'm leaving the Munros until the better weather.
An uplifting account Maisie. I am seven months into my recovery from OHS and knowing what lies ahead is very encouraging. Walking is my exercise too but a little restricted in distance at present. I’m a 76 year old male down here in Cambridge - at least it’s flat here.
I’m a determined optimist so I’m sure one day I’ll arrive at a similar fitness level again to that pre-op.
I have a series of those little individual Collins pocket-sized books on how to identify local wild flowers, fungi, leaves etc. I love my walks in the woods and these make them even more interesting (and I'm educating myself along the way too!😀). Time passes so quickly when I'm spotting different things that I don't realise how long I've been out until I get home and it's amazing how much knowledge stays with you when you're out in the fresh air. Think my brain must work a little better out there! 😅 Carol x
What a lovely, positive & encouraging message! So pleased you are well on the mend and back to doing lovely things with your family 🥰 Enjoy grandie No3 and keep spreading the joy x
What a great and inspiring Post. I feel exactly the same :). It will be 3 years in September since by Bypass and have never felt so well. Good on you!!
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Reined in by rehab - what's going on?
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Recovery
Phased return to work - bit disappointed 
