COVID-19: Anyone else dealing with postponed heart procedure?

Hi @inali, I can imagine that the delay for your triple valve surgery and CABG is a mixture of relief and worry. I'd like to bring fellow members into this discussion like @danab @heartbreaker @openheart2020 @harriethodgson1 and @jeanern01

@inali what are you doing to stay healthy and be ready for surgery?

If it's any comfort, I know a lady who refused CABG at age 89, because she figured she was too old. She lived for 10 more years. Personally, I would try to control it with meds of any sort, rather than go through that surgery again. Unless you're having a heart attack right now. Good luck!

@inali Hi and welcome to Connect, I can relate. Waiting is never easy, But I would definitely suggest the best thing you can do in the meantime is stay fit. I myself am not liking this self Quarantine but I can still do my daily walks. I have since transplant always tried to do some fitness and for the time being just walking my 3 miles a day. I can't do my gym since it's closed so I have some small weights to do some strength exercise. Are you somewhere getting outside for a nice walk is possible? Or just spending time doing a favorite hobby will make time pass. Hopefully this time will pass quickly and we can get back to normal. Please keep us updated and I wish you a Blessed Day.

Dana

Your exercise advice is quite timely. While my CHF makes it difficult for me to walk far, I did go out today and managed a block or so. While I was exhausted afterward, the 60 degree weather, sunshine, and quiet lifted my mood considerably. I’ll try to do that daily....maybe even gradually increasing the distance.

I can appreciate where dana is coming from. 20 years ago when I was operated on ofr Stage IV colon cancer I had to wait from Thursday PM until that next Monday. Don't know which was worst, fasting for that time or the anticpating of the operation and diagnoseis.
Because of the size of the tumor they did not know how far it had spread.
As inali said how hard it is waiting! The unknown of what they find, plus wondering how you will feel afterwards, plus worring about what other damage there may be is horrible!'
My Thoughts and Prayers go out to You!
As for what dana has said about this whole issue effecting the world is very frustrating! I like Dana, did the Y four days a week in recovery from the effects of Lyme Disease, not being able to do it is very hard. My Therapy is for balance, flexability, building strength for some sort of indurance from the fatigue. Also, being self employed and not having business is very frustrating!
I am trying everyday to look at different things to help fill my day.
Things in my office that have been waiting to be completed to things around my house are starting to make sense. As we hear more we can plan somewhat! Still the not knowing when things will return to some sort of normalacy is very frustrating. For those people such as inali my heart and thought go out to you!
As I've found over the last year or better there is not a better place to come than Here, Mayo Connect!
Unless you a Blessed with a very understanding partner or family the Wonderful thing about Mayo Connect is you can talk to people who have been through what you are going through and can give you Support and Understanding!
As I have said many times over on my Posts, I truly don't believe I would still be here if it wasn't for all of the help, thoughts, prayers, understanding and kind words I have recieved from this site!!
You are all Truly Wonderful Souls and True Angels!
Sundance(RB)

Thanks for asking Colleen. I’d love to get some recommendations for keeping mentally and physically healthy through this very frightening time.

I’m logging all my food using “Lose-it”, an app that allows me to set goals for weight, exercise, calories, and each individual nutrient. I especially watch my sodium, water, and fiber. I have not been exercising, but did a little walking today. I plan to be more intentional with that. I need to wean myself from watching and reading the news for hours and hours each day. I won’t give it up entirely since I know it’s important to be informed. But too much time spent focused on the enormity of this Crisis - especially when individuals are mostly powerless to have an impact on its spread or duration - is a recipe for panic. And panic intensifies stress which batters the immune system. None of us can afford to compromise that.

@inali yes any exercise definitely helps, I was definitely not able to do more than a few blocks back after my transplant. But as I was told then, recovery will be quicker if I keep myself in shape.

Hi heartbreaker,
Why would you choose not to have CABG? It took me quite a while to work up the courage to agree to the triple valve surgery and CABG. Everything I’ve read indicates my odds of surviving the surgery are not wonderful. But I have confidence that the surgeons at Mayo will give me the best shot possible- at least at living through the surgery. Quality of life on the other side is a mystery and a huge gamble. Right now, I function independently, and while I’m limited physically compared to my personal past (for example, I can no longer swim because I get severely out of breath), there are many who are far worse off than I. I’ve asked myself “should I just roll the dice and skip this massive surgery and enjoy what time I have left?”. I wish I had a more concrete view of what the progression of this disease will look like without surgical intervention. In the absence of that knowledge, my decision-making is driven by faith in the skill of the docs and my own lifelong compulsion to fix what’s broken.

Hi, Inali, I've found just standing up and moving a bit more often during the day, rather than too much sitting is helping me divert my attention to other things to do. I also found that limiting my tv news watching time to once in the early morning and then again in the evening for local and national news has improved my morale. Heard that "whatever we focus on grows" and as you said so well, we probably can better protect ourselves by distancing from the bombardment of news to some degree. Take care.

SO VERY TRUE!
SUNDANCE(RB)