Day 13 After Surgery

Had a great holiday & was happy to have the energy to have my family to the house Christmas Eve & travel to Sue's side of the family on Christmas Day. This has been our Christmas tradition for over 35 years & we were able to have 2010 Christmas!

Back to "My Heart Under Repair"! As I said this is day 13 after surgery - here are a few items:

1 - My stomach is almost back to normal! The constipation from meds is gone & I seem to have established a basic routine for eating - Breakfast a bowl of oatmeal, Lunch - soup, salad or sandwich. Maybe heat up a leftover from the holidays. Supper - what ever Sue has for supper in a smaller proportion then usual(no seconds) And I still am not sleeping through the night, so somewhere around 2-3 AM a bowl of cereal.

2 - Medications - Like I said a few days ago I removed myself from the Percocet(it was after my visiting nurse visit on Friday the 24th) Instead I am taking two tablets of extra strength tylenol about every 6 hours. I feel the pain in my chest more, but I am sleeping better, no constipation, and have a clearer head. I was getting an anxious feeling & did not feel I was myself with this pain relief medicine.

3 - I can walk more & do more around the house - dishes, help around the house, bath & dress myself! On the bathing part, that has als been interesting! When your are age 57, you really do not look in the mirror very close even before surgery! But seeing the "zipper" and all the other small holes in you chest & stomach almost looked like I was a shooting victim for my first shower at home! But, it is truly amazing how fast we heal! Even the zipper is looking better! Probably the most difficult thing to do was put on the special socks they give you for support, today I did it myself!

Monday is my last visiting nurse visit & Wednesday this week I visit the surgeon & cardiac rehab!