Time to heal
Doing nothing can often be the hardest thing.
It’s been twenty-four days post-op from my Aortic Valve Replacement and I’ve been reluctant to provide any updates during this phase. I think because all the previous phases were urgent and moved so fast but I’m now in the stillness and healing phase.
It’s week-three of being home from the hospital. The first week Simon, my husband, was home with me and he’s been a massive help cooking meals, cleaning, basically doing everything for me that first week. We have a 114-year old house with only one bathroom that has a clawfoot tub so he helped me in and out of the shower that first week. We also had a not very successful attempt washing my long, thick hair. I didn’t realize how difficult it was to talk a bald man through this process. I don’t think a lot of the shampoo or conditioner was rinsed out so I was left with tacky hair that felt almost worse than when we started. But I love him so much for even trying. Since then I’ve washed my hair myself, it took a very long time but I have a surplus of that right now.
Simon went back to work the second week I was home from the hospital and I was definitely nervous to be on my own, but it was likely a push in the right direction. We make sure cups and glasses are off the shelves before he goes to work. I mostly reheat leftovers, I attempted to cook and it felt like too much.
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From the onset, I’ve been sleeping like a champ and I credit this with purchasing a bed-wedge, which was recommended by the Facebook group. In the hospital you can sleep upright on your back easily as the bed cups your body and moves to support you. From the Facebook group I learned sleeping is very difficult for a lot people and they often go weeks without rest, which is more critical after surgery than ever. The first few days my neck was sore so I added a heating pad to the top portion where my head rests and I rolled up a cotton blanket to act as a bolster under my knees. I’ve not been able to sleep well for years and I’m sleeping better than ever. I also take 3 mg of melatonin at bed-time, cause why not. I was really cold that first week home so it was nice to cozy up in the bed with the heating pad.
Anyone who has read previous posts know I’m athletic so with a plan from the Exercise Physiologist at the hospital I embarked on a home walking program. Most of the time I walked in circles indoors, much to the confusion of our Australian Shepherd. I was also walking outside with my husband and this week I did my first solo walk. For some reason I was nervous about this, who would have thought this would have brought anxiety but it was without incident. 17-days post op I met with my surgeon and he said everything looked great. When I told him I was walking 30–50 minutes a day he said I was beyond what cardiac rehab could do for me. They also said if I overdid it I would know the next day and realize I needed to cut back. That has not happened yet. I also so squats, crab walks with resistance bands and go up and down stairs. I should note, I was doing this before valve replacement as part of HIIT workouts, I’m not introducing new activities. My lower body is very strong but I don’t do anything with my upper body. If you’re an active person and your doctor is on board, start walking as soon as you’re able.
Mentally I’m good but I struggle to keep busy each day. I was unemployed when I was diagnosed without access to a car so I was familiar with a lot of time on my hands. To fill that time I baked, cooked, gardened, exercised, cleaned and walked the dog. Now I can’t do any of those things as I have a broken sternum and need to act like I have dinosaur arms. That’s been the most difficult aspect of this but if the hardest thing I have do is just “be” then it’s really not so bad.
Most days I get chest soreness, usually in the evening. For this I take Tylenol or ice with an ice roller Simon got me for Christmas which is designed to use on your face but it feels really good on my chest. I also did my first acupuncture session for post-op healing. I received permission from my doc but the first doc said “I don’t like the idea of anyone hacking away at you.” I thought, didn’t you guys just do that and I realized he didn’t know anything about how it works. I’ve been using acupuncture for years to stimulate healing of plantar fasciitis and the occasional tweaked back from gardening. It should also help with getting my digestion back on track, which is still altered from the surgical anesthesia.
Randomly my middle finger on my left hand has been numb since the surgery and they say it should resolve on its own. Also, I get really cold hands mid-day and wear gloves in the house. The doc said this is likely a side effect of the warfarin, she said it’s more commonly cold feet. I stop taking the warfarin the end of March and with the weekly appointments to manage my international normalized ratio (INR), it couldn’t be soon enough.
Last night I got off the phone from talking to an old friend, I also got an email from a high school friend I haven’t seen in decades who had a cancer journey and sent me a lovely gift. We also had finished an exquisite meal from a dear friend who organized a meal train for us. I burst into happy tears as I felt so much healing love from so many friends and I couldn’t comprehend why I deserved it. I’m feeling so much gratitude these days — for the diagnosis, the medical team, the surgery at the exact right time, my caregiver husband Simon, my sister Maria who happens to be a cardiac nurse and the fact that I can walk every day and look forward to my future with a brand new valve.
We have good Anthem insurance, met our 2021 deductible and these are our bills through 1/14/22.
