: Hi everyone,
: I had my open heart surgery for
: aortic valve replacement 2 weeks
: ago. Six days in hospital, and
: five more in a hospital rehab
: hotel. Got home 4 days ago.

: The surgery went well, the doctors
: are very pleased. If you ask my
: sensitive body, it doesn't quite
: know what hit it. Rather
: traumatic. Getting back to myself
: is a slow, slow process.
: My heart rate has zoomed up to 90-100
: beats at rest (used to be 60).
: Feels like I'm climbing mountains all
: day without moving out of my
: chair, LOL. Quite winded.
: The doctors say it's normal after
: this kind of surgery, and it will
: eventually balance out.

: I weighed 95 pounds before surgery,
: which concerned the doctors a bit
: (I'm 61). Was eating very well,
: but that's my weight. I think if I
: had a more robust body to begin
: with, the surgery might feel like
: less of a blow to my system.

: Anyhow, just want to report that in
: hospital the food was so-so in
: terms of program friendly, but I
: could barely eat anyway. In the
: rehab place the food was amazing!!
: I devoured excellent proteins,
: browns and vegetables. My
: digestive system couldn't keep up
: with my hunger, it was hard work
: digesting everything I ate.

: Now at home, my amazing DH is cooking
: away and keeping me well fed and
: stable.

: Tomorrow I get the staples removed
: from my incision. Hope that will
: make it easier for me to stand up
: straight, and hope it gives me
: freer range of motion in my arms
: and neck.

: The biggest challenge is doing the
: walking and breathing exercises I
: was given to do. With a heart
: laboring so hard at rest, I can
: only do a bit of the physiotherapy
: at a time.

: It's good to be post-op. Now it's
: time to focus on recovery,
: physiotherapy, and cardiac rehab
: which will begin in several weeks.

: And the food program is spot on for
: what I need for healing. I was
: told to eat lots and lots of
: protein, LOL

: Sarit

Wonderful to hear from you, Sarit. I am glad it went well and that you are progressing. I have been thinking of you a lot.
it sounds like you are in good hands, have a great attitude and will just do one mountain at a time!

Kathleen