It's official, I'm having heart surgery on Feb 18th...wow, it's real now.

[Revvy]

I did a good rehab session, my highest settings yet. 10 minutes on the treadmill at 4mph with a 6 degree angle, 10 minutes on the nu-step, setting 5 at 1,000 steps, and a 10 minute, 4 mile recumbent bike ride. Woo Hoo!

Charlie, can you do non alcoholic beer? Homercidal and I are talking about doing some n/a brewing experiments. And even holding a contest maybe.

 

[glenn514]

Wowzers, Revvy! It takes me SIXTEEN minutes to pedal four miles; you got 'er done in ten minutes! Wowzers! Keep at it, Dood...you seem to be healing and recovering well.

glenn514

 

[passedpawn]

Wowzers, Revvy! It takes me SIXTEEN minutes to pedal four miles; you got 'er done in ten minutes! Wowzers! Keep at it, Dood...you seem to be healing and recovering well.

glenn514

I don't think that's what he said. That would be a 24mph average, which is hard to sustain even on level ground.

I think he said he did 4mph for 10 minutes... that's .7miles (on an incline)

 

[Homercidal]

I did a good rehab session, my highest settings yet. 10 minutes on the treadmill at 4mph with a 6 degree angle, 10 minutes on the nu-step, setting 5 at 1,000 steps, and a 10 minute, 4 mile recumbent bike ride. Woo Hoo!

Charlie, can you do non alcoholic beer? Homercidal and I are talking about doing some n/a brewing experiments. And even holding a contest maybe.

Sounds like he did 4 miles in 10 minutes to me...

Must have been downhill!!

 

[passedpawn]

Sounds like he did 4 miles in 10 minutes to me...

Must have been downhill!!

wups, I was just reading the first part. sorry, I'll butt out now.

 

[Revvy]

But that's what the digital readout on the counter read. It shows mets, rpms, total miles, time, crap like that, by the end of 10 minutes that's what it showed. And I had cleared it before starting. Of course there was little resistance set on the bike, but I was pedalling really fast and trying to maintain a consistant yet high rpms. I don't know if the bike is accurate but that's what it showed, just like the treadmill showed I walked a tad over 1/2 mile in the 10 minutes. So I don't really know what to say. I just was going by what I saw.

This was the first time on the recombant bike, I gave up on the other ones, I have very little padding on my rear, and the seats on those were killing me, it was torture to sit on the other ones for 10 minutes, so they said I could switch to the sit down one.

 

[charliec]

Revvy, Hadn't thought about the non-Alcoholic beer. I'll look into that. I know the transplant docs. are pretty anal about the alcohol, I had to sign a statement agreeing to be tested for alcohol and tobacco use,aand could be disqualified fro the transplant program if a positive test.
Sounds like your rehab program is going well, keep it up.

I won! My prize, I get another angiogram, these transplant people are some real worry warts. I've had every test you can imagine. My insurance my have spent over 250K just in tests with anothe 500K for the Xplant to come. I guess I'm special!

 

[manhattanksbrewer]

I did a good rehab session, my highest settings yet. 10 minutes on the treadmill at 4mph with a 6 degree angle, 10 minutes on the nu-step, setting 5 at 1,000 steps, and a 10 minute, 4 mile recumbent bike ride. Woo Hoo!

Awesome Revvy i have only done 1.5 mile treadmill at 3.7 with 2.0 incline lol and aerodyne bicycle for 10 mins so far but i think im going back to "work" next week or so !!!!

 

[manhattanksbrewer]

OK tomorrow i have 6 week appt with surgeon even though it is 7 weeks LOL will probably go back to work Wednesday!!!! wow time flies.

 

[Airborneguy]

One of my bests friend's father had a heart attack while driving home from camping on saturday and had quintuple, yes, quintuple emergency bypass surgery today. Thankfully, it all went perfect and he is resting comfortably right now. Anyone who goes through that has my sincerest respect! You guys are a lucky bunch.

 

[bgruis]

Revvy and Manhattanks brewer..it's good to hear your both doing well. Cheers and I hope your recovery continues to go well.

Prost!

 

[MeatyPortion]

Awesome progress, Revvy.

 

[GatorDad]

I'm just really glad I got hit in the face with that damn vintage base ball last summer.

Funny how simple things alter your life. Two years ago I went in for a routine physical and found out I had cancer. Two surgeries later I live a "new normal".

Get well, and celebrate the wins. You gotta be tough to get old, so be tough.

 

[charliec]

OK tomorrow i have 6 week appt with surgeon even though it is 7 weeks LOL will probably go back to work Wednesday!!!! wow time flies.

How did it go with the follow up? I hope things are getting back to as close to normal as they can get.
They went in for a look see today and I got three more stents implanted. Still in the hospital but getting real good care.
Hopefully this will satisfy the transplant docs. And we can move forward soon!

 

[Revvy]

How did it go with the follow up? I hope things are getting back to as close to normal as they can get.
They went in for a look see today and I got three more stents implanted. Still in the hospital but getting real good care.
Hopefully this will satisfy the transplant docs. And we can move forward soon!

There's a guy in my rehab class who had 7 stents put in over the period of 3 weeks, so you got some catching up to do.. Not.

 

[ChshreCat]

All right, Revvy. You got me! I went to my doctors office today for the first time in about 5 years. Things looked good, but they're doing the full once over on me. I'm wearing a Holter as I type this, getting labs done in the morning and they're scheduling a stress test for me as well.

 

[manhattanksbrewer]

How did it go with the follow up? I hope things are getting back to as close to normal as they can get.
They went in for a look see today and I got three more stents implanted. Still in the hospital but getting real good care.
Hopefully this will satisfy the transplant docs. And we can move forward soon!

they released me back to work yay not LOL today was my first day and that was the longest 10 hours of my life !! but i did ok.

 

[Revvy]

All right, Revvy. You got me! I went to my doctors office today for the first time in about 5 years. Things looked good, but they're doing the full once over on me. I'm wearing a Holter as I type this, getting labs done in the morning and they're scheduling a stress test for me as well.

I'm so glad buddy. I'm sure you'll be fine. But one of the reasons I did this thread, besides being scared ****less and wanting support which I got 10 million fold, it to maybe get some of you GUYS LIKE ME, to get checkups. I know how we are...how we put off this stuff.

they released me back to work yay not LOL today was my first day and that was the longest 10 hours of my life !! but i did ok.

I start back Monday. AFTER switching cardiac rehab to 6:30 in the morning....ugh.

 

[FromZwolle]

they released me back to work yay not LOL today was my first day and that was the longest 10 hours of my life !! but i did ok.

a ten hour shift after heart surgery, i don't sling the term hero around alot, but that's inspiring!

 

[Shooter]

All right, Revvy. You got me! I went to my doctors office today for the first time in about 5 years. Things looked good, but they're doing the full once over on me. I'm wearing a Holter as I type this, getting labs done in the morning and they're scheduling a stress test for me as well.

Good Job! I go once a year for a basic physical and blood work. I eat well and exercise VERY regularly, but have family issues with cholesterol. So far so good, but the numbers have started to creep up over the last two years. Fish oil tablets are helping and I just feel good about staying on top of it. I had to wear one of those monitors a few years back. Turned out it was nothing, but they're kind of a pain!!

 

[Memorex88]

Happy to see your still around and doing good!

 

[ChshreCat]

Ok, I was feeling pretty good until I went into the doctor's office today. Now I'm freaked out even though she never said anything was wrong. She wants to do a stress test next week and an echo the week after and until then she doesn't want me doing any OT, no heavy lifting, lay off the exercise, etc.

She says she just wants to rule anything out, but now I'm freaked and paranoid and my anxiety level is through the roof. I know how you felt the first few days after you got your nose busted!

 

[Revvy]

Ok, I was feeling pretty good until I went into the doctor's office today. Now I'm freaked out even though she never said anything was wrong. She wants to do a stress test next week and an echo the week after and until then she doesn't want me doing any OT, no heavy lifting, lay off the exercise, etc.

She says she just wants to rule anything out, but now I'm freaked and paranoid and my anxiety level is through the roof. I know how you felt the first few days after you got your nose busted!

Saying not wanting to rule anything out, and saying somethings wrong are two different things. Did she give you any idea antrhing was wrong?

Don't freak out buddy. But do find out the doc's mindset. No doc is ever the same, some do believe in lots of tests to be thorough, so it may be nothing. It's just a lot to tell you for supposedly nothing.

Keep me posted.

 

[ChshreCat]

Well, part of it was my family history, she kept saying. Both my grandfathers died of heart attacks before age 50. Plus I just quit smoking 6 months ago after smoking for most of 20 years. She would go so far as to say that the tests so far don't show any damage done to my heart. But then she prescribed nitro tablets "just in case".

Talked to my mom and she's convinced the doc was just covering herself so she doesn't get sued if I have a heart attack between now and when I get the tests down and there was something hidden.

 

[Shooter]

Chshre, you are on the right track. I've had numerous tests over the years where it turned out there was absolutely nothing wrong with me. If there is something wrong, better to deal with it sooner, rather than later. Still, I get freaked out every time I visit the doctor. My blood pressure soars when I'm there. I take my blood pressure at home every month or so and relay those readings to the doc so he knows that it's not always that high. I HATE going to the doctor, but I do it, because it's the right thing to do. I bet you're just fine.

 

[charliec]

Chshre, First off, relax and take a deep breath. Keep your doctor's appointments and get those tests, Family history is what it is.
I had five heart attacks before I figured out what was going on. I was to stubborn to believe that I could bee having heart problems.
That got five stents I don't mess around anymore, if something doesn't feel right, off to the ER! Long story short I've gotten Four more since 2006 and now I have nine in there.
Not trying to scare you brother but your ticker ain't no joke.
Keep us informed we care, realy!

 

[ChshreCat]

Treadmill test in the am. So weird thinking that I'm going to have something radioactive injected into me...

 

[B-Hoppy]

They did that to me when they were checking my arrhythmia out. I think it was 'thalium'. It kinda felt like I just pounded a couple 2xIPA's. I think I'm back to 'normal' by now but that's a relative term. You got a bunch of homebrewers on your side so don't sweat it!

 

[Homercidal]

You gotta go get checked out! My dad was "very healthy" for having smoked all of his adult life. he had a decent stress test and had just gotten word that he had the beginning stages of COPD, but otherwise felt ok.

He had complained of a bit of heartburn that didn't seem to go away with antacids and the doctor prescribed some different anti-acid medication. He was actually having small heart attacks and died a few days later while helping out at a nearby restaurant. He was only 58.

Knowing my family history (his brother also smoked and was basically brought back from the dead after HIS heart attack about 10 years ago, grandpa had a couple of heart issues, other grandpa died in his 50s from heart attack...) I am well aware that I should not smoke, and I have my doctor keeping an eye on stuff closely. If I'm lucky, most of the family problems were caused by smoking, not by genentics.

Yeah, and I hear that having a drink or two a day can help, so I'm doing that as well

 

[Revvy]

Chesire, it'll be fine. Try not to stress out about it, they're gonna stress you plenty during the test. That's why it's called a stress test.

So it's day two back to work. I was SO exhausted last night, I slept like the dead. And evidently from 8pm on while watching the Tiger's Game with my GF evidently I would just start snoring on the couch.

M-W-F are going to be tough days, I switched my rehab to the first session @ 6:30 am, I need to get it done in an hour then race to my GF's place to take a shower and try to be out the door by 8am so I can be in work at 8:30.