Geoff Owen
The full journey from discovery, diagnosis, operation and recovery (hopefully!)
WARNING - If you have any pains - especially in the chest area or difficulty in breathing - get them checked out by a professional medical person - don't be an idiot like me & ignore them!
Yes - It's started - this could go on for a LONG time!
I'm out of the hospital now so now the Recovery Phase of the journey starts.
There a LOTS of restrictions on what I can & cannot do for the first 6-8 weeks & even up to 12 weeks!
Such as lifting heavier than 10ibs if using 2 hands & 5ibs for one hand which is NOT A LOT!
Thangs not to do - carrying bags of shopping - pushing shopping trolleys, carrying buckets of water - Ironing, vacuuming, lifting a full kettle etc
The reason for this is to help to protect the repair of the sternum (the breast bone) that was split in half to give access to the heart for the operation.
Things you can & MUST do in order to aid your recovery is exercise - namely - Walking.
However it has to be controlled - the amount, the speed & the time - start slowly with short walks & build up every few days!
The reason for this is it aids the blood flow & the repaid of the heart also it will help to straighten the longs and make breathing easier
I started on the walking plan on the very afternoon that I got home - a couple of short ones.
Then this video below shows my first official 'walk to health'
THE RECOVERY
Day 1
Then this video below shows my first official 'walk to health'
Day 2-3
Continued with my 5 minute walks - 2 days of maximum walks - so that was 6 on each day.
Then back home did a couple of arm & neck exercises and then the breathing exercises - still doing the 3000ml level on my lung function toy! 😂
BUT from tomorrow (Sunday 22nd) things will be better - I CAN DO !) minute walks - officially 5-10 minutes, but for those who know me - I don't do minimums 😂 But I can only do 3-4 of them - so guess which I'll be aiming for 😂.
Below is my recovery walk guide - the highlighted bit is what I missed - I thought I'd got a week of 5 minute walks - I feel a lot happier now! 😂
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Day 4
Now I've seen that I can double my time from 5 minutes to 10 minutes I've added to my route.
I've stayed in the estate (2 roads) at the moment just as a safety measure until I know I'm stable with my walking.
Later this week when I get to Sep 3 or 4, I intend to go to the canal towpath to do my walks - so if I do any more Live videos it will give you something better to see than the same houses! 😂
Here is today's 10 minute walk - I'm not bragging put check the length of this video 😂 Sadly it was pure fluke! 😂
Day 5 (May 23rd)
Yes all went well today - did 4 x 10 minute walks.
Also in the afternoon I popped down the doctors where the nurse took out all of my external stitches - she had a quick look at all of the scars & said they all looked good.
Hopefully I'll do another Live video tomorrow as on Tuesday (Recovery Day 6) I'll be doing a 15 minute walk - not sure how far I'll get - but you should see more than just a load of houses! 🤣
Day 6 (May 24th)
Today I've moved up to Step 3 of the walking programme - 3 x 15 minute walks 🤣
Finally as promised I'll be breaking out from all of the houses & giving you a bit more of a scenic view - you may even get to see the pub!
Day 7 (May 25th) - 1 week from release
Well that's it - my first full week from being discharged from hospital 🤣
All looking good - On track with the Physios walking programme - today I've finished Step: 3 10-15 minutes - 2 -3 days per day. As I've said previously, while I can I'm always doing the top level so it been 15 minutes 3 times for the last 2 days.
Now tomorrow I can move on to 20 minutes twice a day. So there may be more videos with more views coming your way! 🤣
Other than still having a pin in the back of my neck going up to my head when I take a deep breath everything else Bypass wise seems to be fine - scars are looking good - I may do a photo on Friday at the 2 week from operation so that people can see just how quick they can clean up.
Anyway - here's a a quick video showing the scenic countryside view along the canal.
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Day 8 (May 26th)
Only 1 20 minute walk today as I waited in all day for a delivery - that never came! A new dishwasher - I don't suppose I'll be installing it anytime soon! 🤣
Day 9 (May 27th) - My 2 week Operversay 🤣
The missing delivery came today - at 06.45am 🤣 It was early but at least I don't have to wait in all day again!
I did a 20 minute walk in the morning up the canal towpath through the fields - then I thought it better to do the 2nd one in the direction of the Drawbridge - hoping to get some action shots of the bridge going up or boats mooring, sadly neither - again!
Anyway - here's the FB Live video where I show you over the side of the Aquaduct! 🤣
Day 9 (Saturday May 27th) - Scars at 2 weeks since the Operation 🤣
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I think they are healing quite well - already starting to fade away in places. Still a little raised & numb to touch - especially the arm.
The crosses below the chest scar are not markings they are where various drains were inserted & stitched when removed. 🤣
Day 10 (May 28th) - Something Completely Different!🤣
After 2 weeks I've got a bit of an issue! 🤣
Over the last few days I've got a bit of a pain in the neck - not sure if it's a pulled muscle or trapped nerve - perhaps slept funny on it!
I rang the ward I was on as they said RING if you have any issues - thought it best just to get it checked out - they rang the surgeon and they said it should be OK but take some paracetamol - I don't normally but I thing I will this time as it is literally a bit of a pain! Also restricting my breathing a bit.
Not bad considering how well it's all been going so far.
BUT it wasn't going to stop me doing my first 30 minute walk - yes I can now do one 30 minute walk a day for the next 6 days. So today I decided to break away from the canal & go somewhere completely different - take a look at the video (sorry about the pixilation again - poor signal!).
What do you think?!
Day 11- 12 (May 29th & 30th)
2 x 30 minute canal routes - opposite directions - both very consistent - Started to use Strava to record & measure the routes. I used to use it but the signal kept cutting out - so far it's been OK.
Day 13 (May 31st)
Another 30 minute walk - decided to mix this one up - road & canal 🤣 I think I may have walked a bit faster today! 🤣 1.7miles compared to 1.5 miles in the same time 🤣
Day 14 (June 1st)
Well that's it we are in another new month - Yes it's the 1st of June already - nearly half way through 2022 🤣
Had some good news (I think) this morning a - a letter from the hospital - I've now got an appointment to attend my consultant's Cardiac Surgery Clinic on the 29th of this month - not much detail other than that but I'm assuming (hoping) it's the meeting to see if everything is OK and possibly be given the all clear to drive again! 🤣
Just done another 30 (31 - I went over) minute walk and a Facebook Live. It was good to get out for some fresh air & a bit of exercise! 🤣
Day 15 (June 2nd)
This was my last 30 minute walk. So I've now progressed through the first 5 Steps of the General walking programme guide (it's in a post further up on this page). So now I move to Step 6 - more than 30 minutes for 5 days a week.
I put a bit of a hill in today as there was one on the way to the shops where I wanted to go - I was sure it was in my 30 minute limit and it was!
Ironically this was the route I took just before I got an appointment to see the doctor last year to see if it was Angina that I'd got (see The Lead Up page for details) - today I walked that route FASTER than I did before I had the operation! 🤣
Here's todays route:
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I spoke to the Physio today and she says I can keep increasing my distance and speed now (walking-NOT running). She said try to get some hills or steps in as well - not so many down here but would be easy if I was up Stoke! 🤣
Basically I can keep going as long as I can talk & walk - if I start to get a bit short of breath then that is a sign that I've reached my limit - so I should slow down. If I over do it I may need a rest the next day 🤣
So now 8 can start to plan some different walks - I will slowly increase the distances over the next week to see how things go
Day 16 (June 3rd) - 3 Weeks since OP Day!
Well - That should have been a celebration day - not a Platinum celebration like the queen's but my first 'More than 30 minutes' walk - YES I'm now on to Step 6 of the recovery walking programme that I was given!
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But it didn't quiet go according to plan as I got told off (check out the end of the video!) and my Facebook Lives didn't work first time. 🤣
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The route & activity recorder didn't work as I had to reboot the phone to make the lives work!
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But anyway - you can finally see the Drawbridge In Action
Day 17 (June 4th) - First proper measured over 30 minute walk
Yes - my phone worked OK today so I managed to record the full route - just over 2.5 miles in 40 minutes. Did at quite a good pace as well - faster than previously - probably because I didn't try to do a Facebook Live at the same time! 🤣
Day 18/19 (June 5/6th) - Rest day & longest walk so far
Well yesterday (Sunday 5th June) I had my first 'Rest Day' since coming out after my Op - I think I should have had a couple more but I didn't want to stop. 😀
As the forecast was rain all day I thought I'd take advantage of it & do the rest day - which I did - I basically did nothing all day 🥲 although I was tempted to go out a couple of times! 😂
As I had a day off yesterday I thought I'd push the distance a little higher today (Nonday 6th June) - so I planned a different route - on pavements not muddy tracks or towpaths.
I went to the 2 chemists where I do some work - just to see if any of them still remembered me 😂.
Unfortunately on the Strava I messed up & clicked Finish instead of Resume - so this route is in 2 parts - but I was quite pleased with it - 3.51 miles in 59.35 minutes - I did purposely do a slower walk just to see how I coped with the distance - even though there were 2 stops for a bit of chatting!
Here's the route/s
Day 20 (June 7th) - A walk with visits & business thrown in!
The Aquaduct from below.
This is to go with the video I did last week when I showed the Aquaduct from the canal above.
Juts been on a nice steady recovery walk (Day 20 from discharge) - used it to visit friends and do a couple of deliveries - saw a few customers on the way round - a quick chat & waves from cars!
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51 minutes - 3.12 miles & 148ft Elevation - that's about it for height round here - a pity I'm not up Stoke 🥲
Day 21 (June 8th) - A flat 3 mile walk
This was a flat 3 mile route that we sometimes do for a short fast run - but today I did a steady walk - the pace was 15:42/mile. In the long distant past it was only a couple of minutes longer than that to do all 3 miles!
In fact - I've just realised that this route was the route we were running when I first got my chest pains (about 3 years ago) - I had to abandon the handicap race we were doing and I walked back 🥲
This was a non stop walk where as the 2 previous 3 miler (just over) did have a bit of stop & chat on the route. Tomorrow I'll probably do another 3 miler but with a bit of a hill to see how the time compares and see if it makes my heart work any harder!
Day 22 (June 9th) - 5k with 'hills'
I wasn't going to do a live today - but I did.
The signal wasn't very good in the valley so some got cut out - you missed the speeding motorist having fun through the ford!
Thankfully I was away from the spray!
There is a health warning in this video!
Day 23 (June 10th) - EXACTLY 4 WEEKS from the Op day
4 weeks from the Operation - in fact it would have been virtually the same time as they were sealing me back up!
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There's a bit of a quiz in this video and also a guest visit from a local star! 🥲
Here's the route - of todays walk - it was going to be a slow steady one - but after the first 2 miles looked at Strava & saw that to that point it was my fastest so far - so thought I may as well carry on at the same pace! 🥲
Although in the last male I had a couple of distractions that slowed me down 🥲
Sorry, (for those who don't like them) but here is an update on how the scars are looking - if you scroll up you can see how they were at week 2. 🥲
Now 2 weeks later they are definitely improving - the bruising colour has now gone from the chest area but the arm (& wrist) is still numb to the touch apparently something to do with nerves that may have been cut and haven't yet fully regenerated! But the good thing is - it's not painful 🥲
Day 24 (June 11th) - THAT WAS HARD!
That was a hard day as I'm trying to stick to the Physio's walking programme & it specifically says REST DAY - I find it VERY hard doing nothing and going out on these walks is definiely a BIG help to me.
Unfortunately I think it's knowing that I 'shouldn't go for a walk today had put me & my body in a mood that made me think that my Get Up & Go had Got Up & Gone!
There were bits & pieces I wanted to do - but then realised that - I couldn't do that - it's too heavy - I'd have to stretch etc.
I WON'T be having another rest day tomorrow - no matter what the weather! 🥲 So be prepared for another Strava map post 🥲
One thing that I did get was a phone call from the hospital (on a Saturday) - arranging for a telephone consultation to speak to a prostrate consultant - at least I won't have to pay for parking! 🥲
Day 25 (June 12th) - A slow walk - with my camera!
After a hard day yesterday I definitely wanted to do a walk today & decided to push it up a bit - 4 miles - the longest so far.
However I purposely wanted to keep the pace down - so I took my camera, hoping I'd find something to take photos of! I took a few but not very good ones - I should really have more patience & not always want to rush away - I probably could have got some good ones of the cows if I'd stayed there for a bit of time!
I wanted to go slow as I'd got a new bit of pain in my chest - nothing drastic - but it may have just been that I'd been asleep on my front in bed (that's how I woke up this morning) and I'd been laying on some of the wires holding my sternum together! Or I may have even been sneezing or coughing while I was asleep 🥲
Anyway - the walk went OK and no new pains so it all looks good to continue!
Here's the route & I'll put some of the photos below as well - seeing as there was no video for this one! 🥲
Some Photos:
Day 26 (June 13th) - A quick walk a bit further up the canal
A bit of a recce for future walks & to look at the paths. I wanted to see if it was easy to get off the towpath to a church that I'd like to look at photographing.
Day 27 (June 14th) - A quick short one
That was a strange day today - me and a couple of neighbours had a our heads under the bonnet of my car!
Tests & gauges - and Battery Chargers everywhere.
The day before I thought that I'd better start the car as it was 2 weeks since I last did it - all the dash lights came on - then went off - I tried to start it again - NOTHING!
It looks like I've got a dead battery - thankfully there is no panic as it's going to be 2 or 3 weeks before I get the clearance to drive again! 🥲
Day 28 (June 15th) - A X-Country Walk
That was a nice one - a warm day so I went 'off road' walked one of our X Country running routes.
Day 29 (June 16th) - Chemist - Woods and Cardiac Rehab assessment!
I needed to go to the chemist today - so rather than just walking there up the main road & then back home I plotted a route through the woods & back to the canal.
Also did a Facebook Live to give an update on my potential Cardiac Rehabilitation Program - another part of my Journey!
Day 30 (June 17th) - A walk with a difference - can you spot it?
Today was apparently the hottest day of the year so far, so I planned to do my longest walk so far 🥲
I did make sure that a lot of it would be under the shelter of trees and I put my long sleeved shirt on so I could keep my scar covered up - apparently you are not supposed to let the sun get onto them (at least when it's this fresh - not sure about later).
The route I'd planned was different to ALL of the ones I've done so far despite using some of the paths I've been on before - take a look at the Strava map & see if you can work out what the unique thing was compared to ALL previous routes! 🥲
I did take my camera as I intended to take a few photos - there is a place where lots of wild birds usually gather - however I thing today even the birds wanted to keep out of the sun! So I only did a few photos & they weren't too good - but I may post them tomorrow if I get the chance.
A walk with a difference - can you spot what it is?
This was the longest walk I've done so far - I feel more confident in doing that now after getting clearance from the Cardiac Rehab team - it was a VERY steady walk with lots of rests & stops for taking photos mand I did not stop the timer.
That is not the thing that was unique about the walk there is one major thing that is different - can you spot it!
Day 31 (June 18th) - A rest day! 😢
Yes, it's that time of the week again (although I do adjust them depending on the weather 🥲) - a rest day!
So, rather than doing nothing I thought I'd use today to upload some of the photos from yesterdays walk. A bit of a variety - not as many as I expected to do as I think due to the heat most of the birds went into hiding - however it did bring the fish to the surface!
Here they are - don't forget to use the scroll button to see them all. There is a ghost visible in one of them - see if you can spot it!
Click the image to make them bigger!
Day 32 (June 19th) - done a walk - looking for hills.
Well it's been a bit of a dull Sunday following a wet Saturday & a Scorching Friday!
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was wondering whether I should have a 2nd rest day - but decided that other than the frustrating pain in the neck (yes a pain in the neck) I was better of going for a walk. I did try sleeping with one pillow last night to see if it helped, but still got the pain in the back of the neck!
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Anyway - I thought I'd try to find the hills around here so I had to put a bit more effort into the walks - unfortunately from our house there are not any proper hills only slight inclines! It would be good if I was still up Stoke - spoilt for choice up there!
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Had a think & worked out the highest point in walking distance and it looked like I got to a might 60 feet above my starting position! But it was a good loop - think I'll be going for the more scenic routes again next week.
Day 33 (June 20th) - somewhere new!
Yesterday I found (a friend told be about it) another great local place for wildlife & getting into the local countryside with FANTASTIC potential for the future - LOADS of new trees have been planted. 😄
Also - it's a great place ( but keep them quiet please ) to take the kids!
This is a sneak preview of Hope Coppice - a great little adventure playground for the kids & an interesting area to stroll around.
Ironically over the past couple of weeks I 'almost' went that way a couple of times but changed my mind! 😄
It was a very Stop - Start walk as I visited a friend & took my camera with me - see the little video of what I found - Hope Coppice!
Day 34 (June 21st) - doing a delivery & a walk in the woods
Did a late walk today - had a delivery to do so I thought I'd do a walk in that area - had to keep stopping Strava as I kept seeing customers who wanted an update!
If this links to the Strava online select the Satellite view & you can see in more detail where I walked through the woods.
Day 35 (June 22nd) - Canal walk & trip to church to get some photos
Had a walk up the canal as I wanted to take a closer look at a church to see if I could get any good photos of it - I've been meaning to do it for a long time!
I had to walk past it and come back on the road - there were a couple of places where I could have scrambled up and down some VERY steep slopes - but I thought it best not too at the moment - it made me feel like a wimp!
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I took a few photos - not as good as I hoped - I'll post on here. When I got home I realised that I'd forgotten to go in the church to look for some internal shots!
Day 36 & 37 (June 23rd & 24th) - A duplicate walk! 😄
This is a duplicate route!
I did this route yesterday with Martin - my neighbour who picked me up from the hospital and then the next day took to the doctors & did my first medicinal walk - ALL 5 minutes of it!
Yesterday we did one of our old running routes - and made it just over 5 miles - however my Strava had decided to pause itself after the first few minutes & I spotted it about 2 mile into the walk!
So today I decided to duplicate the route and do it at a good pace as it was my anniversary - 6 weeks to the day from when I had my operation (CABGx2).
I also did a FB Live with updates to go with this route & saying what I'd got coming up next week - hopefully some good updates (& FB lives) to post next week.
Day 38 (June 25th) - A Rest Day 😢
Yes it's a rest day from doing 'recovery walks' but it's not a rest day for doing other things - I've now got some catalogues set up and ready to put out (hopefully tomorrow) to collect next week - I hope I get clearance to drive again or I'll be in trouble! 😄
So as it's now 6 weeks since the surgery I thought it would be a good idea to show an update of the healing scars - the last time I showed them was at week 2!
WARNING -a bit of naked flesh & gruesomeness!
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But you've seen it before!
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Here's an update on the healing scars - from week 2 to week 6.
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The arm one is clearing nicely - it's flattening out and blending in to the skin. The area around it is still numb right up to my wrist - however I prefer the numbness to pain!
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The chest one is not so tidy but it has flattened out a lot - it doesn't have the numbness around it like the arm one does. As you can see the predicted forest of hair is sprouting out now so should soon hide it!
Day 39 (June 26th) - A short fastish walk 😢
This was only a short walk - just to keep my mileage up!
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This morning I dropped my first catalogues to some of my customers for the first time in about 8 weeks! So I'd done just short of 2 miles with walking and pottering around home - but now I need to get some proper walking in as I'm in the habit of doing it!
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Still got more to drop - so if I can't get them out before Wednesday I hope I get the clearance to drive again!
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As that was just a short walk I upped the pace slightly and it's the first time I recorded a walk averaging 4 mph - normal speed for me is about 3.8 and with a slight push it's 3.9 - so I was pleased to get the 4.
Day 40 (June 27th) - Sometimes it's hard to do what you have to do! 😢
Before I had the Op I read that you'd have good days & bad days in the recovery time - I've made sure that I always focussed on the things I needed to do as well as getting by daily walks in.
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A lot of days you really feel like all you want to do is have a sleep - thankfully I've manged over the last 6 weeks to only have gone for a lie down 4 or 5 times.
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However today there were things I wanted to do but due to restrictions still - no driving, no lifting I was unable to do them - also even sitting at the PC is quiet draining and hard to focus for too long.
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So today I had my dinner and felt a little 'drained' so went for a lie down on the bed - 2 or 3 hours lost time I finally got up!
I needed to do one of my walks but couldn't even think what route to do - but I pushed myself to get out and do something.
I'm glad I did - as you'll see form the map it was only up & down the canal but it woke me up, gave me some fresh air, allowed me to plan the next couple of days (Wednesday will be busy - get ready for a few FB Lives!!).
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Now hopefully I can get on the PC and get ready for our Team Zoom tonight.
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So remember if you have things that you don't want to do BUT you know you need to - summon the strength to do them - you'll be glad you did.
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Day 41 (June 28th) - A trip to the shop & POSSIBLY my last walk!😢
Not so much a walk - more like a gentle stroll - I needed to go up the shops to do some Banking (at the post Office) & buy a thankyou card then thought I'd carry on and do a walk.
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So I never intended to walk fast today but this may have been a bit slower than expected.
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2 miles after the shop I realised I'd forgotten the Thank You Card - so will have to use one of my 'In Stock' ones!
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I've just realised why I forgot - my brother rang me when I was in the shop so I walked out and started to walk.
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My mum has successfully been moved to a residential care home now due to her rapid deuteriation with her dementia - we had to rely on others to do the move as my brother has got Covid & I cannot drive - hopefully she will settle in to the new home!
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This may be my last walk - depending on what the Cardiac Rehab team recommend tomorrow and if the surgeon gives me the clearance to drive again!
So future posts may be different - but hopefully tomorrow I can give you some good updates
Day 42 (June 29th) - Cardiac Rehab Assessment
Day 43 (June 30th) - UPDATE on yesterday's visit to the surgeon
Day 44 (July 1st) - Nice call from the surgeon this morning
Yesterday I posted a Live video I did saying about my visit to the hospital to get my post op assessment.
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Well my surgeon wasn't there due to an emergency he was attending - but this morning he rang me (despite him doing his ward rounds earlier and getting ready to do 2 CABG operations today).
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He (Mr Ashoub) has been fantastic from start to finish - so I gave him & his team a little gift (easy for me as we do these in my business) - he rang to thank me for that and to say he was happy with my progress and thanking me for doing 'My Journey' website as it was useful for others.
He also sent me a couple of gifts - my chest X-ray and my Heart video!
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So now the next leg of my Journey starts - Cardiac Rehabilitation - (appointment next week for the 2nd part of the assessment as the Physio was off this Wednesday due to Covid! )
My chest XRay - you can see some of the wires holding it together!
My Beating Heart
Thankyou Gift for the Cariology Team
Day 45-46 (July 2nd - 3rd July) - Getting back to normal!
Yes - now I've had clearance to drive again I can finally start to do the catalogue side of my business - some has been done online (orders & recruitment) - I've started to get catalogues out to all of my customers - don't worry if you've not had a set you will over the next few weeks.
Due to the nature of the business I won't really be able to Strava Maps when I'm doing my catalogues - but I may be able to record the steps or mileage off my wrist recorder thingy!
EG - Friday was a quiet day - 5637 steps
Saturday was my main pick up and I did approx 6.13km so still getting some walking in - whilst working! 😄
Day 47 (July 4th) - Cardiac Rehab cancelled 😢
Had a scheduled phone call this morning at 8.20 am - was programmed in at 9am so it was early 😄
It was the arranged one with the Urology Consultant - he doubled one of my pills and said he'll make an appointment to get another blood test & a MRI Scan - looks like more trips to the hospital.
That was an expected phone call but shortly after I had another call - sadly this was from the Cardiac Rehab Team - they've had to cancel my visit for the 2nd part of my assessment due to the Physio still being poorly 😢So it looks like I've got to wait even longer to do the activity part of the Rehab assessment 😢.
Anyway I've not wasted my 'free time' I went for a walk this afternoon - but tomorrow I'll be going back to work to see if any of my pills & potions customers have noticed I've been away! 😄
Anyway - here's the bonus FB Live video & an Extra Strava Route.
With this walk & a bit of catalogue dropping (only a few stragglers) I've done over 11,500 steps today.
Day 48 (July 5th) - AT LAST
Just a quick post - especially for those who have recently had or about to have Open Heart Surgery (OHS)!
Finally yesterday - my day 48 after leaving the hospital (day 54 from the Op) - I did not have a neck ache!
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I thought I'd leave it till today to see if it was a flook or it's finally gone - but yes - today - NO NECK ACHE
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So yes - it does eventually disappear as others have said.
You may not get it it but a lot of people have said that they do.
Day 48 (July 5th) - Day 53
Well as promised on the previous FB Live I'll put this weeks mileages down - just so you can see I'm keeping my exercising up!
These are measured on my tracker watch - so no Strava images - they are also just my daily 'work' walking mileages - no special walks like the last 6 weeks.
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I'm trying to get back to all of my customers as quick as I can - so it's fresh air, exercise, chatting and earning an income all rolled into one!
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Tuesday 5th July - 4.81km
Wednesday - 6.12km
Thursday - 4.54km
Friday - 4.7km
Saturday (my big catalogue day!) - 8.51km
Sunday - 6.39km
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The next lot may be in miles as I've just found where to change the setting!
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This is all walking - no running yet until I finally get to see the Cardiac Rehabilitation Physios
Day 55 (July 12th) - A Wake Up Walk
This morning I got up had my breakfast - did a few things on the computer and then all my energy seemed to drain away - I was VERY tempted to go and lie down on the bed for half an hour (that may have got longer!).
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My delivery was not coming to well after 12 when I was due to go to 'work' - so I needed to do something to get me out of this lull.
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I quickly decided - GO FOR A WALK - I've not done a proper one for over a week now - so I had a last gathering of energy & got myself outside to do a steady walk - here it is.
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Yesterday I did 2.54 miles (walking) just doing deliveries so that's better than nothing - even better than that - I got paid for it! More of that later today.
ALSO - yesterday I had a call from the Cardiac Rehab nurse - another appointment made for tomorrow to finish the Cardiac Rehab assessment.
Hi all - sorry for the delay but I thought I'd just do a quick post to say THANK YOU to all Friends, Customers, Neighbours & anyone else who sent me a Get Well card or messages in with my catalogues.
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They all helped to keep me on track with my CABG x2 (Double Bypass Operation) - I've gone off track with my running though!
Here are just some of the cards & messages and of course there were lots of online messages & support.
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The Recovery from the Bypass has been a text book one due to many of you telling me directly - Don't overdo it!
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Things are now getting back to normal - I will make sure the website is bought up to date - feel free to share this FB page or the website ( www.geoffowen.biz ) to anyone you know, especially if they are showing any of the symptoms that i talked about on there.
Day 178 - (Nov 11) - 6 Month Anniversary from the Operation
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Here they are - up to date photos of both scars - chest (to gain access to get to the heart & pinch an artery to do one of the bypasses) & arm (where they harvested an artery to do a bypass with).
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As you can see this is exactly 6 months from when I had the Op and they are looking good. No pain or infections, I did not use any creams or oils on them - just soap or shower gel when I had a shower.
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The arm is still number around the wrist & the lower half of the scar - BUT I think it may be getting a little less number.
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If you have the op you may think the scars will never heal but give them time and things WILL get better.
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As you can see from mine - the arm one is almost just a fine white line now. The chest one is getting there - I'm
sure that in another 6 months that will also have disappeared - especially if I don't shave around it!
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Now if you scroll back for 6 months you can see how they started and see the difference.
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NEW - If you look under the RECOVERY PHASE Tab - you can now see 2 'sub tabs' Cardiac Rehabilitation and CABG - 5K.