Another Update on Recovery

Today starts the 26th day of recovery from my quintuple open heart bypass surgery.  I'm still recovering, and apparently I will be for a while.

My left leg, the 'vein harvest' leg, is still giving me a problem.  Add to that the swelling in both legs.  It just won't go away.  And it makes for some some serious discomfort, and at times, pain to the point of disabling me from doing much.

But I'm trying hard to get in at least one mile a day of walking.  So far the walking has been inside the house.  Yes, I mapped out a route from the front bedroom to the back bedroom, with a loop around the living room to give me 110 steps of 2 1/4' long.  All I had to do was make 11 complete round trips to get my 2,000 steps of 2 1/4' each to equal a mile.  That was enough to get me started without having to go outside to do it.

I gradually increased my stride and I can now do the same course with less steps while traveling the same distance.

But I've also increased my round trips to 15 and in doing so I increased my distance by half again.  Today I traveled 1.4 miles.  And I felt good afterward.

But soon afterward the swelling in both legs increased, as did the pain.

And I've even managed to cook a few times on my Big Green Eggs.  I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Last Friday I visited my cardiologist and his nurse practitioner.  After exchanging thoughts about what to do next, they settled on prescribing more antibiotics and to perform another ultrasound of both legs to see if perhaps there was a blood clot lurking.

Apparently, there is no blood clot and the antibiotics are just now starting to work.  I go back next week, hopefully to display my considerable progress.

Meanwhile, I'm starting to eat full meals again and enjoy the flavors.  I'm also sleeping better and thinking better.  Yes, 'thinking clearly' was also a casualty from all of this.

Mind you, I'm not complaining as much as just expressing frustration.  The legs are what's holding me back.  And each day seems to bring me a little closer to the end of this adventure.

And through it all, my Sweetie continues to carry on with my duties added to hers, along with helping me to stay focused on recovery.  I doubt I could do it without her.  She even gave up her cherished 3rd row seats to see Gene Watson in Biloxi because she knew I would not be well enough in time.  I owe her big time.

If you are even remotely interested in seeing what open heart bypass surgery looks like, this video is pretty much dead on what I went through. It's not for the squeamish.

https://youtu.be/gmZJgMMC2i8