Posted by Carl Plaskett on February 06, 2003 at 08:32:28:
In Reply to: I'm home! posted by Pati Murdock on February 06, 2003 at 07:49:45:
Pati: Congrats on a relatively normal maze "experience". The discomfort may be helped if you buy a Tempur-pedic pillow to place along one side of your body so you can roll over onto it so it supports your chest from that side while lying on your side. (See eBay for the best prices).
Don't worry about the slightly elevated HR and palpitation. It is likely to last for a few months, but gets better with exercise and use of your spirometer. If you are on any post-maze anti-arrhythmic drugs, they seem to raise your HR as well. I felt a lot better one month post maze, when my local (experienced with many maze patients) EP took me off Rythmol altogether. He had already halved it to 75mg/3x/day, at 12 days post maze,which helped lower my resting rate.Keep working your spirometer until you can get the little "ball" up to the top most of the time. A week from now, your report is going to be "a-mazing".