On the road to recovery

The past week at home has presented some unusual challenges for me. Not being the kind of person that stays still, it's been really tough to accept some of the physical limitations placed on me. Next week when I attend cardiac rehab, I will increase my weight lifting restrictions to greater than 5lbs per arm. Basically, I am walking 30 minutes each day with an occasional break. I feel like such a turtle compared to last year when I could walk 4 miles per hour. Luckily, I can say that each day is better than the previous, but building stamina takes time. During surgery I received 9 units of blood during, so it will take a good deal of time to turn it into iron rich blood. My appetite has still not returned, and eating a regular sized meal just isn't happening. I am beginning to feel the surgeon threw in a tummy tuck. Michael has been perfect the chef, but after a couple of bites I am full.

Yesterday, I had an appointment with my cardiologist, Dr. Crammer. Twenty-two years ago, he was my cardiologist when I had the St Jude's mechanical valve implanted, and his fabulous nurse, Diane, is still running the show. The best news he gave us yesterday was that the new pig valve has no leakage. The worst news is that he making me stay on the beta blocker, Lopressor, for a couple of months. Since high blood pressure is not an issue for me, it has the tendency to make me tired. Apparently, the thought process is to relieve the heart of any extra duty for the early months.

The medical plan has really changed in the last 22 years. It used to be something like this:
1) Hopefully, the patient survives the surgery.
2) If there are any complications, we will treat them as they arise.
Today's plan is more like this:
1) Surviving the surgery is a given.
2) If it can be measured, then it will be monitored and managed to the perfect level. A great example of this were hourly glucose checks for first 48 hours after surgery.
I can't help but think that lawyers have had something to do with this approach.

I have really appreciated your cards, emails and flowers. I wish all of you the best suceesses, a wonderful summer, and I look forward to seeing you soon.