Postoperative recovery from open repair

I just had open Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm surgery. Yesterday was my 4 week anniversary of it. The first few weeks were very, very tough. Lots of pain and very hard to get any sleep….but I walked every day and ate healthy…This weekend I did a 4 mile walk and felt great. Still very careful about weight restriction..and I keep my heart rate below 130. The bottom line is that I’m extremely happy I did the open so I don’t have to worry about it ever again. I’m 68 and was in good physical shape before the the surgery and I think that helped. My family and faith got me through those first couple weeks! Good luck and hopefully you too will feel better about not having to worry about the future!

Thank you.

When you say "very, very tough" with pain and lack of sleep, did you have any pain medication? If so, do you know why it didn't really help? You also said that you keep your heart rate below 130, is that the heart rate forever now or just during this recovery phase. Finally, where did you do your surgery? Thank you for your post. --Maria

I did have pain meds and I used them for about 10 days, but still very sore. They told me to keep my heart rate at 130 or below to make sure the internal stitches and graft have time to fully heal. As I mentioned, I feel probably about 95% normal now. The hardest part now is not driving for 6 weeks. They wanted this as a precaution, just in case of an accident. I’m surprised how fast my body healed, and you will be too!

Sorry, my surgery was at UVA in Charlottesville, VA. They were superb and they saved my life!

Thanks for taking the time to post a successful experience. I have wondered why most posts are for patients asking of help in what to do and no posts for success!!!

I am coming up on my one year anniversary of my open repair of my abdominal SMA. I have posted on this several months ago. Much success and glad I had it done at Mayo in Rochester. Had it not been done, I would not be here to talk about it😁.

I had open heart surgery on 8/31/2023. I had my aorta and half the ascending arch replaced. In addition, they did a gratuitous bypass for a 60% blockage. I am 81 and the surgeon told my wife it was good that I came in because the aneurysm walls were very thin.
The takeaway- watch aneurysms carefully because as they balloon, the walls get progressively thinner, setting you up for disaster. I have heard 5.0 is the new time to start cutting rather than 5.5. Given thinner walls, it makes sense.

Another takeaway is get a UTI test before discharge. I am still having problems 2 months later from a UTI.
There is something in the anesthesia which enlarges the prostate which can then block your drain hose. Fixing the drain hose can be as bad as having TURP or Holep. Visualize rodding out a sewer line…..cringe…

Congratulations and thank you for posting on your successful surgery and recovery process. It sounds like you had very good care. Where did you have the surgery performed?

Cleveland Clinic. As I understand things, Mayo is #1 in all specialities except heart. Cleveland Clinic is #1.