So, there I was, recuperating in my mom's house, and sleeping in a recliner. To be fair, I should note that the hard mattress wasn't the sole problem. For many years I've had trouble sleeping on my back. I have a tendency to wake up unable to breathe, to the point where even after waking it is sometimes a matter of 10 seconds or so before I can get my lungs going again. I used to think it was sleep apnea, but recently my doctor suggested that I have an unusually broad tongue that can block my airway.
That wasn't a problem in a hospital bed where I could elevate the head end. On a flat bed it's a major issue, but sleeping on my side was too painful unless the bed is pretty soft. After all, I'd just had my chest split open.
To continue, I had been sent home with a list of followup doctor appointments, one fairly shortly after my release, and a referral to a local cardiac rehab center. So, Denise took me to the appointment, only to discover it didn't exist. Not only did the office not have a record of the appointment, the doctor I was supposed to see was on vacation. Turns out the hospital gave me the wrong month, it was supposed to be in August, not July. But we did get in to see one of the other doctors and he was able to answer all of our questions, questions that he was rather annoyed to discover we hadn't gotten answered before I was discharged. I believe I noted in a previous post that we trouble getting my doctor at the hospital to hold still for more than a few minutes.
Later in the week, it was off to look into rehab. That visit was fairly short, as it wouldn't be covered by my insurance and would run $1500 a month. Since that was only a bit less than our average monthly take home pay before my heart attack, and our income has been cut in half because I am not yet medically cleared to work, that was not an option.
So I embarked on a home exercise program, primarily walking. I started off making sure that instead of vegetating in one place all day, I frequently moved around the house. I shortly started walking about the neighborhood, moving from a short trip up the street, then walks to the corner store, incorporating walks around the block, then covering multiple blocks. I also started doing light stretching exercises. As of now, i can walk respectable distances without difficulty, and have recovered most of the range of motion in my arms. Reaching across my body is still a bit uncomfortable, though.
1 comment:
Wow....It does not seem possible that all of this has happened in just one month. Things have been so crazy since that first morning. Between working, hospital times, doctor stuff, and running around trying to stay sane....it must have been at least a year, right???
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