Posted by Ken Willis on March 15, 2003 at 00:26:44:
In Reply to: Maze and getting closer and I am nervous posted by Jim Matthews on March 14, 2003 at 22:37:45:
Jim,
Getting nervous before a big event is totally natural. Personally, I was more excited than nervous because I wanted the surgery so badly. I was elated that I got to go to surgery a day early.
The rehab staff will give you instructions on how long to wait before driving or lifting. I pretty much went my own way on duration and intensity of aerobic exercise but felt that the lifting restriction was very important to proper healing of the sternum. But once you're healed, you're good to go. Practically the day the lifting restriction was off, my wife and I went on a three-day backpack where I carried 50 pounds (I checked with Dr. McCarthy's nurse to make sure that this was going to be OK).
I pushed myself hard and got nothing but positive results except for the fact that I went scuba diving two and a half months after surgery. Though I had various arrhythmia during the first three months, they were clearly disappearing before I went diving. After several dives, the arrhythmia got much more frequent and weird for about two weeks. At exactly three months post-surgery all arrhythmia disappeared for good except for the occasional, benign PAC.
I think that you're just going to have to see how your rehab goes and adjust accordingly. No use worrying about it. The main thing is that you're going to get your afib problem fixed for good and no longer is it going to keep you from doing the things you love to do. I'll be thinking good thoughts for you on April 25th.