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!

Blood Work Day

Today is a big day for my BLOOD! I am anxious to see many readings Cholestorol, Magnesium, Potasium, etc, According to my research and my sister the nurse(Thanks Ginny!) I should get a copy to bring home. The following changes have been made in my medicines since my last blood tests:

Zetia - stopped completely. Dr. Worley says there is not enough evidence that this helps, while my PA at the Mountville Family practice thinks the research says they do. I will go with the Cardiologist.

Lipitor - have gone from 10 mg to 40 mg per day. My sister said that the cardiologists will do this. Their philosophy is the more the better. I think my body is handling this although my back pain is up. I have always had back pain, but the past few days it has been bad. The pain is right below my neck, between my shoulder blades. Will ask the doctors about this.

Metoprolol - Have increased from 25 mg to 50 mg. This is the experiment with the PVC's. The Stress Test Monday showed a run of 4 when my heart rate was up at 130. Before the medicine change I had a run of 4 at 110 and at rehab, February 11th (20 days ago) I had a run of 6! Of course I am anxious to see what Dr. Worley will say from the results of the stress test.

I am beginning to make another list of questions for Dr. Worley on Tuesday next week. Below is my list so far.

1 - Is the increase in Metoprolol working? And will we keep it the same?

2 - When can I return to Cardiac Rehab?

3 - How does my blood test look? Magnesium, Potassium, etc.....

4 - When can I return to work?

5 - What is my risk now?

6 - Is my back pain related to the increase in lipitor?

7 - Are there any other procedures?

If anyone has anymore questions for me just let me know. If you cannot comment on the blog, send me an email at - jwasja0215@comcast.net

Thanks!

PVC's During Exercise

The more I read about PVC's, the more confused I get! I found a couple great medical blogs that have questions and answers about PVC's and exercise at MedHelp:

http://www.medhelp.org/search?query=PVC%27s+during+exercise

It seems there are many people, of many ages, with different situations! Here are some of the issues that I am currently researching:

- some people experience them when they exercise and stop and they go away (This is like me!)

- hydration could be a key

- beta blockers are always mentioned - I'm on Metoprolol

- Xanax - anxiety disorders

- skipped heart beats

- PVC's after exercise - (Do not know if I'm having these)

- avoid caffeine, tobacco, alcohol and stimulants such as those found in decongestants

- wearin a heart monitor

- plenty of SLEEP

- atenolol - another beta blocker

- bananas

- magnesium tablets

- ablation - electrical shock to heart

There are many discussions at Medhelp and I also just found a great website:

Heart Rhythm Society

11 Weeks After Open Heart Surgery & Another Stress Test

Here the the latest:

I had my Stress Test at 8:15 today - (nothing to eat since 10 PM last night)

The new dosage of Metoprolol is now at 50 mg (was at 25 mg)

First three minutes went well. The next three (raising the incline & speed) got the heart rate up to 105-110 range & I had several bigemeny (extra heart beat every other beat). Then the nurse kicked it up a notch to more speed & raised the incline. At a heart rate of 129-130 throw in a run of 4 in a row in the test was shut down.

Now must see the cardiologist March 8th.

That seems to be some improvement. Hope the cardiologist feels the same way! It definitely was a workout, that is the fastest I have gone since July - August of 2010. At that time I was walking & would mix in some jogging & sprints(I guess it is a sprint - whatever you call a 57 year old moving his legs as fast as possible)

So, it will be 25 days when I was kicked out of cardiac rehab to my next doctors appointment. I hope Dr. Worley agrees with my assessment of improvement!

Another Big Day on Monday!

Monday will be the 11th week after bypass surgery. The passed 11 weeks have had many big moments:
1 - Open Heart Surgery - Dec 13th AM
2 - Waking up from Open Heart Surgery- Dec 13th PM - (This was awesome, except for all the tubes!)
3 - Going home - December 17th!
4 - Getting off my pain med - Percocet! Dec 24th - (Made me feel like climbing walls!)
5 - Spending Christmas Day with my wife Sue & sons Jared & Josh!!! - Dec 25
6 - First Cardiac Rehab Session - Jan 6
7 - Allowed to drive car again! - Jan 10 - (Feel like I'm 16 again)
8 - Kicked out of Cardiac Rehab - Jan 11
9 - Another Heart Cath - Jan 19 (All bypasses looking good, need to see Cardiologist)
10 - Dr. Worley says go back to rehab - Feb 1
11 - Kicked out of Cardiac Rehab AGAIN! - (see Cardiologist again - double Metoprolol to 50mg & cannot go back to rehab until another stress test!)
And here we go again! Feb 28th is another stress test! My last one I had a run for 4 PVC's when my heart rate was a 110! We will say a few prayers & head to Lancaster General for my 8:15 Stress Test!