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Hello tulmkr, I happened to see your post & wanted to say hello. Unfortunately, we do not have a moderator in this forum to keep things active. Myself & a few others try to help out when we can.

I am supposing the cardiac dr & your cancer dr will be discussing things prior to any surgery. Yes, you are in the range of surgery being in your immediate future no doubt. Both my brother & dad had open heart surgery for valve replacement & bypass issues. Both were cut from stem to stern. When you wake up from surgery you will be given probably a heart pillow & will be instructed to use it when trying to cough & when they get you up. Don't be afraid to use it, the slight pressure of putting it to your chest makes doing these things so much easier. At least here they give the heart pillows to heart patients. I have had abdominal surgery & they had me put a pillow against my stomach when coughing & getting up & down.

Other than your PC issues if your health is good you will do fine. No, you are not going to go nuts being home for 6 weeks. You will be busy recovering from your surgery. Walking will be something you will be instructed to do to help get your strength back. Walking is vital whether you feel like doing it or not at first. Get some stool softners to keep on hand, something like Miralax, it is not a laxative. You will be given some pain meds & they tend to stop up the plumbing. Don't wait till constipation sets in either. Other than eating a healthy diet & behaving yourself & being patient you will do well.

Let us know how the Ct turns out. Take care.

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Susie
Moderator in Chronic Pain & Psoriasis Forums

yep i had the pillow. lots to cough up. double by pass. was walking with frame 25mins after waking up. yeah it hurts coughing it up but you must, otherwise no discharge!!!

Good luck to you. My moms friend had the aorta repair. And a friend of my husband. They are fine now. My husband aorta is 5.4. He goes every 6months for MRI. You will be in my prayers.

I had OHS 5 years ago to replace my aortic valve. I had endocarditis at the time, so they couldn't repair my AA. I was 36.

I was in the ICU for 17-20 hours, hospital for 4 days. Walking up stairs at 3-4 weeks and ran a mile at 7 weeks. I couldn't drive for 5 weeks or ride my bike for 4 months....that was the worst part

It was not nearly as bad of a recovery as I thought it would be. Best thing I did was stay on a consistent schedule of pain meds so I could get up and move around. You heal so much faster that way.

best of luck!