What is the recovery like following septal myectomy?

I had some mega back pain on left side and coughing was painful. Had a lot of mucus to cough out. I tried to sleep in a recliner but it felt like too much pain on my back. I slept in bed with a large body pillow propping me up. I could walk, go to the bathroom and fix a sandwich etc without help. You aren't suppose to lift a gallon of milk or use your arms to lift or pull you up...I had no problems like that. The chest tube holes ( I had 2) healed quickly and without infection. Just take a shower and wash hair and let the shampoo wash your incision ( Mayo suggested that)...no wound dressings...no leakage...I waited for 5 weeks to do cardiac rehab..I used a chiropractor to help with back pain...the back muscles around to the chest were traumatized by the breast plate being cut so it really did help. No rx pain meds after a couple weeks. Lynn

Thank you so much lynnkay. <br />
I truly appreciate your response. Such a brutal experience. I certainly hope someone was with you to help you through. Great idea to work with a chiropractor. My insurance is so pitiful, I'll have to depend on the meds alone for pain control. I'd love to know why you had to wait five weeks to begin cardiac rehab. If you have time and are willing to live through what sounds like an painful journey. If you had it to do over, are there things you would change? <br />
Bless You. <br />
Quinn <br />
<br />

I waited 5 weeks so I could drive myself . You would be surprised how much your shoulders and back muscles are used! I still had some pain and was happy I waited.I also went through a nasty flu bug and was coughing a lot so I was more sore than I wanted to be! A nice hot shower pounding on your back also feels good! It was only very painful for me for a couple weeks. Most people are released with no pain meds...just recommended to take Motrin or other Nsaids.-Lynn

I thought I'd bump this discussion up because I'm thinking of Dave (@lamborama) as he goes in for a septal myectomy today. See his post here http://mayocl.in/2fAIClG. As he looks forward to post-surgical recovery, let's gather your recovery stories.

When did you have surgery? What you wish you had known to prepare you for the the recovery period?

Tagging @cynaburst @lynnkay1956 @ronaldpetrovich @1949 @mbcube @vivian88 @FrancineFafard @woodywood @lepadelford @lisa7 @lucindag

2:30 AM - 7 days post surgery

Colleen and the group - thanks for your prayers, thoughts, and support. I am just back home (5PM, Monday, Nov 7) after having surgery Tuesday morning, November 1 at Mayo Rochester. From everything I have heard, read, and experienced - it sounds like it was a rousing success! Everything the nurses have said to me is that I am on the front end of any of the recovery charts. I do feel better now (7 days post surgery) than I was before the surgery. I am hurting but also healing and feeling pretty good. I went into ICU after Surgery, starting walking the next day and day 3 I moved out of ICU to a ward on floor 5 and was able to walk there with my family and the nurses carrying my stuff! I walked a lot which helped with the chest congestion, lung expansion, and just getting the body woken up in general. I got all my final drain tubes and connections off by Saturday AM so that by Saturday and suppertime we had moved out of the hospital into a hotel across the street and walked over to supper at a nearby restaurant. By the time I got back to my hotel room I was whipped. I will write more shortly - but wanted to say that info I found here helped me to keep a great attitude, appreciation for the nurses, doctors, and staff which made an extremely quick recovery so far.

I am pooped right now - I just got about 3 hours of sleep in and was waiting for the next pain med window before trying to go back for a little more sleep.

Encouragement for recovery:

Listen and respond positively to the work the Drs, nurses, staff give you. Get daily goals and work until they are done before giving up for the day
Get up and walking as much and as soon as you can
Try to get your body waken up by starting to eat and drink what you can
Wean off big pain meds when you can - but not before you need it! Pain is an indication of healing as well You need to heal and pain meds help
Keep positive! Nobody likes a downer - and the stories everyone has can get overwhelming - focus on the positive aspects of each day
Get happy people to visit you and get you to start laughing!

All for now. Thanks for the great group.

Dave @lamborama

So great to hear from you Dave! AND to hear that the recovery is going well. Love your tips for recovery and would like to hear more about the daily goals you've been setting for yourself.

@mbcube @vivian88 @lynnkay1956 @PatMattos @ronaldpetrovich - what would you add about the recovery experience?

Hi Dave, congratulations on a successful surgery! Just like what you said, walking really helps in the post op recovery process. I had my apical myectomy 13 months ago and by now I can exercise for over an hour (moderate aerobic exercise) 3-5 days a week. The only thing I would add to what you have been doing is, consider doing cardiac rehab at a hospital or rehab center close to you. Since I am an international patient (I am from Taipei, Taiwan), I waited for 7 weeks post op to take a 17 hour flight home (even though I didn't have to wait for that long to travel on an plane safely). While staying in Rochester, I went to Mayo's cardiac rehab center almost everyday for 5-6 weeks. I started my first rehab session around 12 days after surgery. The nurses and physiologists at Mayo's rehab center were really nice and helpful (always cheerful and encouraging), and spending an hour there everyday really helped get myself back in the swing of things. I literally started out by only being able to do 10-15 min of exercise (treadmill and bike), but every time I went, I made incremental improvement in terms of the time and intensity of my exercise program. By the time I was leaving Rochester, I was able to do 50 min of mild aerobic exercise. Aside from doing cardiac rehab, everyday I would walk for at least 20-40 min and do a bit of household chores. Doing those range motions also helped quite a bit in terms of reducing the tightness on my chest and around the incision line. Besides all this, I thought getting enough sleep and eating balanced meals were equally important. I waited til maybe 7 months post surgery (until my sternum was stable) to really have exertion on my upper body. At times I felt there was always something weird on my upper body, but eventually everything healed and became 'normal'. We just have to trust that our bodies have magical powers that make everything go back to its normal state. I wish you a speedy recovery!
-- Vivian

Thank you the info I have received. I would like to know how long after a septal or apical myectomy I would be able to return home. I've read that I would be in the hospital almost a week, but since I live in Florida, I need to know when I can travel and whether to drive 3 hours or fly home to Florida. I have a son in Michigan about 3 hours away with whom I can stay, but I'd prefer flying back to Florida if possible.

I flew home to Los Angeles about 8 days after my surgery. I was discharged from the hospital after only 4 days but I elected to stay in a hotel in Rochester for a few days before I flew home just to be sure all was stable.

You can get from Mayo to Florida driving in 3 hours? Wow!
If its a long drive, I'd pass as there is a lot of shaking, potholes, railroad tracks etc. I think (its been a while) that I scheduled flights 7-8 days apart. I flew in solo, had a day & a half of testing and met Dr. D late on the second day. My family flew in that evening, and we walked over to St. Mary's at 5:30 or 6 am the next morning. I was discharged 4 days later and stayed 2 nights in Rochester before flying home. I think I came by the hospital on the last day for them to check on something, then went to the movies (kick out of hotel, and flight was much later), then flew home. Do let the airlines know you'll need a wheelchair. on the return flight - and get a non-stop flight.