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Open Heart surgery recovery time

4K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  tollgate tim 
#1 ·
Late June I had open heart surgery in Seattle to replace the aortic valve and repair an aortic aneurism. I am a couple weeks out and have been very pleased with my progress. No complications so far and now its a waiting game for the sternum to heal enough to start lifting stuff again. I am hoping to be able to draw my bow by archery season but may have to drop poundage from the 70 pounds I currently draw. I was thinking 45 or 50 as I will just be hunting deer with a bow.

I was curious as to any input other Ifishers might have regarding their experience with open heart surgery and recovery time to start lifting and drawing bows. Thanks for any tips.
 
#4 ·
I would suggest care when lifting/pulling too early. The sternum has been broken and is presently tied together, and needs time to heal that bone. You will get a feel for your recovery based on pain from laying on your shoulder sleeping.

Walking and hiking is good. Carrying quarters of elk out of a canyon, not so good. Just ensure you have partners to help with the load.

Blood pressure pills are a killer and can really slow you down. They can also lead to weight gain. Hopefully all adjustments are made throughout the summer.

I hunted that fall, from surgery in March.

Exercise is good, so hunting is also good. But make sure you work up to this task. That means cardio 4-5 days a week.

Feel free to pm me if needed. I am not a doctor.
 
#5 ·
I would suggest care when lifting/pulling too early. The sternum has been broken and is presently tied together, and needs time to heal that bone. You will get a feel for your recovery based on pain from laying on your shoulder sleeping.

Walking and hiking is good. Carrying quarters of elk out of a canyon, not so good. Just ensure you have partners to help with the load.

Blood pressure pills are a killer and can really slow you down. They can also lead to weight gain. Hopefully all adjustments are made throughout the summer.

I hunted that fall, from surgery in March.

Exercise is good, so hunting is also good. But make sure you work up to this task. That means cardio 4-5 days a week.

Feel free to pm me if needed. I am not a doctor.





Thanks for the input. I was originally scheduled to have the surgery in March but thanks to Covid it got pushed back several months. I suspect this archery season will be mostly an exercise in camping and hanging out with the other members of my party. I hope to be able to draw 40 pounds just in case a nice buck chooses to step out in front of me. I have been doing some hiking around my cabin near tollgate and found the elevation and not so flat terrain can be real taxing. I may be relegated to sitting in a stand and watching squirrels. I am still trying to get the blood thinner dosage straightened out so I am not sure I want to be handling broadheads. :)
 
#6 ·
I had a heart attack in late August of 2010, three days later I had a quadruple bypass.

I began pulling a 40# recurve in March of 2011, and didn't get my hunting bow (60# recurve) to full draw until late May 2011. Give your sternum time to grow back together, don't push it. I think it was two months after my surgery when I began feeling sharp twinges in my chest...the nerves were attempting to grow back together. That would usually happen in the evening when I was relaxing and it would scare the crap out of me.

I didn't hunt at all in 2010, but was able to rattle in a great buck for a friend in November. I archery elk hunted a little bit in 2011, but not too hard. then managed to arrow a buck in November of 2011. That small forked horn blacktail means more to me than any of the larger animals I taken.

Take it slow, give yourself time to mend! Good luck!
 
#8 ·
I had a heart attack in late August of 2010, three days later I had a quadruple bypass.

I began pulling a 40# recurve in March of 2011, and didn't get my hunting bow (60# recurve) to full draw until late May 2011. Give your sternum time to grow back together, don't push it. I think it was two months after my surgery when I began feeling sharp twinges in my chest...the nerves were attempting to grow back together. That would usually happen in the evening when I was relaxing and it would scare the crap out of me.

I didn't hunt at all in 2010, but was able to rattle in a great buck for a friend in November. I archery elk hunted a little bit in 2011, but not too hard. then managed to arrow a buck in November of 2011. That small forked horn blacktail means more to me than any of the larger animals I taken.

Take it slow, give yourself time to mend! Good luck![/QUOTE




Holy cow. I have a few friends that had heart attacks and had the surgery immediately afterwards. Thats some damn scary stuff. I was fortunate to have a doc figure out I had a defective valve and was able to schedule surgery to correct it before an actual heart attack. I was hoping for one of the less invasive procedures where they go through the side or one of the major arteries. No such luck, now I have a new zipper on my chest. I have had a couple arrythmia issues that I guess are not uncommon after open heart surgery. Looking forward to hunting 2021 even though the deer population is in the tank out in these parts.
 
#9 ·
I would say it varies with each person. I had a 5 way bypass done in 2008 and it took me two years to get back to normal. But I have talked with a lot of other people and most of them said they snapped right back out of it.

As far as drawing your bow i would ask your surgeon. Good luck.
 
#10 ·
My dad has had 3 open heart surgeries...the last of which being the easiest to recover from due to proper pain med allocation, new tech, etc.

It really depends on the person...how everything grafts back together etc...you don't want to pop your ribs open...

I believe he was right around 2 months before he could start pushing a mower etc...talk with your doc, though.
 
#12 ·
yeah strawberry, I was surprised at how good I felt within a week of surgery. The only major decision was getting a biologic or synthetic valve replacement. The pain has been tolerable with meds I have been pretty mobile the entire time. The only issue is being patient for 6 weeks while the sternum mends.

I did get a little flack from my wife for jumping on the riding lawn mower during week one but that does not require any lifting. :)


And Abalone I have heard of triple and quadruple bypasses but not a 5 way bypass. I am not really sure what a bypass entails but I know they gotta crack you open to do it.
 
#13 ·
Deer hunting partner had 5 way bypass and just getting healed up and they discovered he had a Staph infection in the bone. They had to open him up again and split his sternum again and clean out all infection.
Then he was on anti-biotics for about 3 months.
 
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#17 ·
Late June I had open heart surgery in Seattle to replace the aortic valve and repair an aortic aneurism. I am a couple weeks out and have been very pleased with my progress. No complications so far and now its a waiting game for the sternum to heal enough to start lifting stuff again. I am hoping to be able to draw my bow by archery season but may have to drop poundage from the 70 pounds I currently draw. I was thinking 45 or 50 as I will just be hunting deer with a bow.

I was curious as to any input other Ifishers might have regarding their experience with open heart surgery and recovery time to start lifting and drawing bows. Thanks for any tips.
I also had an Aortic Valve replacement with an Aortic Aneurysm/Dissection 10 years ago. Aneurysms aren't like the traditional Heart Attack.
1) The most important thing to consider when getting back to normal lifting and drawing a bow is what caused your Aneurysm in the first place. Usually it is High Blood Pressure combined with some Genetic risk factor( Marfans or some other genetic pre-disposition ). You also now have a repair in your Aorta that won't be able to support the same pressure, in addition to whatever caused your problem. So work closely with a doctor when you resume weight bearing activity. This is by far and away the most critical consideration.
2) I don't remember how long it took to heal my Sternum. I do remember it letting me know with pain, when I did something I shouldn't so probably let pain and intelligence and your doctor be your guide. Mine didn't heal fast.
3) Get as much non weight bearing activity as your doctor will allow and that is reasonable for your condition. Walk, Swim, anything that keeps your body moving. For me it was walking. I wish I had done more light ( non weight bearing ) activity with my upper body while my Sternum was healing.

Feel free to reach out if you have any more questions.

Glad to hear you are healing well!
 
#20 ·
thanks for the responses and the input. I am about 8 months out and feel pretty good. I did manage to get a nice young white tail buck during archery season but I did avoid the canyons. I have had a few arrhythmia issues which have resulted in a few trips to the ER. In addition I have experienced some nasty vertigo episodes that may or may not be related to the arrhythmia along with some episodes of serious memory loss which thankfully does not last very long. I had one episode while driving near my cabin and I almost wrecked as things started spinning. Good thing it was at slow speed. I am trying to walk daily and overall I have much more energy than the pre surgery days. It has however come with a new set of issues I deal with. The memory issues cause me the most concern, I keep buying hunting and fishing items only to find out I have the same items in my supplies at home. My wife wont let me near sportsmans warehouse. lol. Well I guess we all have issues to deal with as we get older, but it beats the alternative. :)
 
#22 ·
Every single thing you mention above I experienced. So weird to to see in your post. I am 11 years post surgery. I remember going to a work party and blanking when it was time to introduce a co-worker I had worked closely with for 15 yeras. My memory is pretty good now, but not 100%. Driving down the road and pulling over so I wouldn't wreck, with serious vertigo. The episodes have subsided, but I still get them once in a while.

All of what you are experiencing will progressively improve. What I found interesting was when I asked the doctors why these things were happening, they basically said "We don't really know" but people who's bodies experience serious trauma end up with a variety of side effects. I was just happy to have lived through it.

Cheers!!
 
#21 ·
Aortic valve replacement in 1990. Aortic arch aneurysm, but wall thickness was fine so no repair. The only long term problem has been the arrhythmia, but that is also common with valves. Toprol definitely helps. The vertigo, which is relatively rare in my case, has never happened when I have been driving.
I was 35 when I had the surgery so recovery was quick. The biggest problem is that I went from a decent bench press level to not being able to do a push-up 8 months after surgery. I can do a hundred now, but the bench press still sucks.
 
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