About to have a septal myectomy with valve repair/replacement in December with Dr. Derani. How long did the surgery last and how long did it take for people to recover? How long were you out of work etc…? Thanks so much!

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Everyones recovery is different. I was pretty conditioned beforehand so that made it easier for me. But the first week in the hospital is the worst, the next week at home is better. I was able to do my walks 3 times a day, each time I went further (measured in houses I passed). By 3 weeks I was walking in miles. At 4 weeks I began using the bike at the gym – doing working up to 10 miles. The pain at home was tolerable. I used narcotics the first week and then only at night the following weeks with Tylenol as needed. I didn’t have sternum pain so much as back pain. It took 4-5 weeks for my back to feel better. I went back to work at about 6.5 weeks.

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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.

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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

Jump to this post

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

Jump to this post