Trying to Find Balance

So much of life is balance. The balance of sleep & awake, exercise & rest, positive & negative, spiritual & do-it-yourself, family & work, and husband & wife. And as we age, also the balance of our body & mind! This one is an interesting challenge, especially after a surgery like open heart bypass surgery!

Even on a good day, the aging process is a balance that seems to put the mind(I can do it, I feel like 30 in my head) to the reality of your body (hey stupid, your 57 and pole vaulting is not smart). Now after open heart surgery, the mind & body are REALLY confused! The body feels different! The surgical scars are still healing.

The new balance after open heart surgery is what I can do and what I cannot do! It has been almost 12 weeks since surgery. Some days I feel pretty close to normal (and that is a relative term). Since my cardiac rehab has been on hold, I have not done a lot of cardiovascular work except for walking. On level ground and downhill I feel fine! But the up hill walks are still giving me that cause for concern. I think I feel the PVC's, but am not always sure, so I take my time & sometimes stop to slow the heart rate down. Therefore, I think I only get the PVC's when my heart rate reaches 100-110, and then I think it is more the bigeminy types. I think the runs of PVC's are only coming with more strenuous exercise.

Lifting objects I am still limiting myself to 10-15 pounds & watching the angle at which I left things. Found a great weight lifting article at the Cleveland Clinic:

The suggestion for weight was:
A weight-training program should consist of performing about 8 different exercises for one set of 10 to 15 repetitions, on two to three days per week. Most heart patients should start at a low resistance and progress slowly. A 1- to 2-pound increase in resistance, every 1 to 4 weeks, depending on your symptoms and fatigue, is suggested.

So, hopefully, I can start back to rehab this week & start the process again. We will see if there will be any medicine changes. (remember I went fro 25 mg of Metoprolol to 50 mg). And I will find the BALANCE to continue to improve!