Prayer request

[cusoak]

Glad to here everything went well. Had mine on Dec 5th 2012. Had a little trouble sleeping at night caused it hert to lay down. After about a week I was taking short trips in the car riding and then walking at malls and lowes.
Had to wait for 6weeks before driving . Then on the 17th of Jan. was cleared to start lifting more weight but not to get carried away. Was back to work on my Zip then ( had been cheating on working on my Zip my son came over and did the work while I looked on). So It does not take long to get back to normal, what ever that is. Did 8wks of cardack rehab. Was done with that the first of april. Then the first warm day was off to try out my new swing and play golf. Felt Great.
Good Luck. Jeff

[tsmitherman]

Sleeping has been my main hurdle too. It got to the point last night that we made a trip to the ER to see what was wrong. Turned out to be a little fluid buildup in my lungs. Just another little bump in the recovery road, I guess

[John K]

The fluid thing is the same my friend had. Guess it is all part of having the bypass. Hope things start improving for you.

[cusoak]

Tom. I had the same problem only mine was in my right chest cavity. They drained it and then in about 2 weeks I was back in and had to have it drained again.
Both times they drained enough that when I weighted my self the next day I was 4lbs lighter.
Good luck.
Jeff

[John K]

Hey Tom,
Hope this finds you feeling better!

[tsmitherman]

Thanks again for all the thoughts, prayers and encouragement.

Medicine did not get rid of the fluid, and I ended up back in the hospital Sunday night. On Monday they drew off 2.2 liters of fluid from my left lung, which left me very sore but breathing easier .

Hopefully I'll be back on the boat in a couple of months.

[slug]

Tom; Did you check to see if they had the catheter hooked up right?

Just kidding Doug

[slug]

Hey! How're you doing Tom? Starting to feel stronger?

Doug

[tsmitherman]

Recovery has been slow since they siphoned out the fluid.
I keep thinking that I should be getting stronger much faster than I am, but maybe God needs to teach me patience.

I'm hoping that I'll feel up to a 4 hour car ride to the beach next week. I'm told that saltwater has some medicinal properties that will help

[Bill Edmundson]

Tom

I think I'm going down on Thursday. I know you have Glenda. But, if you need a ride just let me know.

Bill

[tsmitherman]

Thanks Bill. I can't go until Sunday, but maybe we'll see y'all down there.
Tom

[cusoak]

Tom.
Was wondering how you are doing. It takes a while to start to feel like your old self but you will feel better than you old self.
Now after about 5 mos I can do alot more lifting and and work on boats longer than before. Did you ever start rehab for your heart.
Jeff

[tsmitherman]

Jeff,
I just got back from a week at the beach. I did nothing but relax (except for a nice walk each day in the neighborhood). I am getting better, but it's going much slower than I thought it would.

I'll start physical therapy next week, and I have an appointment with the surgeon in 2 weeks. Hopefully he will release me to do a little more physical activity and I won't feel so useless (It was kinda humbling to watch my 11 year old granddaughter get my suitcase out of the car and carry it up the stairs at the beach house.)

I am looking forward to the 5 or 6 month time period when everybody says I'll feel better than I have in years! Who knows, I may have another boat building project in store down the road!

Thanks again to all the forum members for your thoughts and prayers - they meant more to me than words can say.

[Bill Edmundson]

Tom

Glad you have good help. And, she can give back what you have given her.

Priceless!

Bill

[leakcheck]

Tom,

I have been praying for you. I haven't been able to log on cuz I am technilogicolly ( and spellilogically) challenged! It kept asking me for my password which I knew was correct but It wouldnt let me on..then it gave me some math problem that seems like a cross between trigonometry and calculus but I think it was a trick question! Oh well....

Hope you are getting your breath back and you get back on the boat soon! Take care of yourself, you only have one of you!

Steve