I continue to heal from the surgery. The pain is continuing to subside and the energy is returning slowly, but surely. Yesterday, we went to the grocery store and I didn't have to use one of their motorized carts. I don't have too much trouble doing these things, but I find I'm very tired afterwards, so I guess that's my indication that there is still a long way to go.
As I continue to heal, I am noticing a very important thing: I am not having any of the heart failure symptoms I had been having. Among those was a dry cough, shortness of breath and tightness in my abdomen from the water retention.
My weight loss has continued since my hospitalization. Prior to that, I was holding fairly steady in the mid-190's which was down quite a bit from my highest weight, which was in the neighborhood of 235 pounds. Once they got the fluid I was retaining from the heart failure and then the fluid they had to give me to make sure my blood pressure stayed at an appropriate level for surgery, I have lost even more weight. I was down to the upper 170's. Of course, some of this weight loss is also likely muscle mass as a result of spending a month in the hospital. So I expect to add some weight as my strength come back with more activity and exercises I am doing. The good news is, although I continue on my low sodium diet, I have not had to take any Lasix (water pill) since my discharge from the hospital. That's a great sign that the pump is doing its job of sending blood throughout my body at a better rate than it has in quite a while. So long as my weight climbs in small increments, things are good. If it jumps a couple of pounds in a day, that could be cause for concern as it may be an indication of water retention.
I still look forward to when the pain is gone and all the energy is back, but it can already tell that I am in better shape than I was prior to the surgery.
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