Prison Quality Fit; an overdue update

Looks like I haven't posted regularly here in a while, which is good in a way, as it means I was out doing stuff. Which was the whole point of having open heart surgery and a  valve replacement in the first place I reckon.....

Anyways, for those of you who have been through this yourselves or have a loved on who is going though it, there is light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Once you get past the first couple of months, things get better fast. Granted it takes longer to get back to 100% (I'm gunning for about 12 months post-op to be at what I consider 100%, pushing 85% plus most of the time now) and 100% may never be exactly what you were pre-symptoms, or maybe it is over 100% of what you were before. Either way, stick to your goals (mine are scuba diving, and getting back to kendo among others) and work at them, one little bit at a time. IN my case, I've been slowly adding to my fitness "regimen", mostly concentrating on diet recently (more on that later...) while adding in more exercises here and there. 

Yay?

Went back in for my semi-regular protime blood test at the doctor's office (my PCP, or GP for you Commonwealth peeps) and was happy to say I am actually pretty stable at this point (2.5 INR). At this stage I've been pretty good over my last couple of tests, so no more blood work till 6 weeks from now. Not sure how comfortable I am with that, seeing as how I am only 4 and 1/2 months out, and things are still changing as I continue to rehab: 6 weeks seems like a long time. However, insurance only pays for so many tests based on how stable I am, and they don't want to contribute towards any home monitoring, as I don't meet the criteria for needed weekly INR testing. I guess that is a good thing, will just have to wait and see. I've been pretty good about keeping things in my diet pretty stable,  and exercise levels are also pretty consistent, so here's hoping INR-wise things stay stable without too much drama till my follow-up....

Overall though, it's nice to finally be in a pretty consistent range that also meets with where my surgeon wants me to be. Honestly, for all the bad rap that coumadin gets, it really hasn't had that much of an effect on my lifestyle: I can eat and drink what I like, and my doctors just adjust the dose to match my lifestyle. The trick is is to be pretty consistent; have a consistent amount to drink (alcohol-wise), if you like greens, eat 'em, just keep the amount you eat over several days pretty stable, without wild swings back and forth. You need or like to take supplements/multivitamins? Take them too, just take the same thing every day. Not rocket science by any means, but it does require some discipline. Nice thing about all this is 1) I still get to drink, I just drink less. This means I can afford to get the good stuff :) 2) As part of getting in Prison Quality Shape/PQF (minus the jailhouse tats or actual criminal record) I have to watch what and how much I eat, which segueways nicely into monitoring what I eat as far as coumadin/wafarin goes. Not too bad.

Rehab Update

Been very busy with work and travel, hence the lack of updates. Good news is, besides being busy, my overall health has been great! With a trip to Paris and Stockholm that was fun, but involved a ton of walking, as well as long days at work, plus trying to be consistent with exercise for rehabbing, I was pretty concerned I was going to either overdo it, or in other extreme, not be rehabbing effectively. Seems like things are on track for the middle path, where strength and energy levels are returning, even faster than I was expecting.

Besides the Bataan Tourist March I felt like I was on overseas (which was good, since I got to see a ton of great stuff) swimming has been about 4 times a week, at least 20-25 laps each time. HR has been at 120-130 peak during the swims, and it hasn't been the repaired heart slowing me down as much as the muscles in my arms and chest and especially my shoulders. I'd like to add more laps, but have been finding the muscles don't really want to cooperate at about lap 26 or so.

Honestly, the biggest part of my rehab so far has been my back and shoulders, rather than the chest and heart. So energy-wise I feel about 80 plus percent most days. Strength and muscle-wise I'm still pushing about 60 percent. But that's why they call it rehab, isn't it?