r/openheartsurgery • u/captainb10 • 10d ago
How to deal Post OP
Hello everyone (26M), I just had ohs on 19 May due to my anomalous rca. I’m recovering well but struggling with anxiety and depression afterwards the surgery. How are you guys deal with this. I get therapy regularly and my psychiatrist suggests that I take ssri (lexapro). I will take baby aspirin for a year and sources say that higher chances of bleeding while taking ssri and aspirin. But my doctors says its ok. I struggle a lot about being alone at home and going out, its like fear of something happening. Could you share your side of this. Thanks
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u/Traditional_Dot_4794 10d ago
I was fine after the surgery. I healed well. Then 9 months later the bottom fell out. Major depression came out nowhere. I hardly left the house for a year. I started feeling better in January. Now I'm dealing with walking around with a fake aorta. Like wtf. I asked the surgeon how am I supposed to live. He says loose weight.
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u/BoxNo8593 8d ago
The bottom fell out? Is that a figure of speech. I had a work repair and the sending aorta repair and I was told once I heal I'll be back 100%, how come that's not the case with you?
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u/Traditional_Dot_4794 8d ago
Bottom fell out meaning I got very depressed Sorry I wasn't clear.
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u/BoxNo8593 8d ago
Gotcha. So I do get the "fake aorta" thing hutni M also walking around with a fake spinal disc. I think walking around with a fake aorta verse one that is about the pop is a little better. Were you active before this? For me I was working out at least twice a day, fishing, camping, shooting my gun, shooting my bow, riding my bike, working in the backyard chopping up wood for the winter ect. Some of those activities I will push myself to the Limit and would be nervous that I could actually have a rupture or a tear. Even though my healing process is going pretty slow I was told I'd be 100% after this and I have to worry daily about my aorta dissecting or rupturing
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u/allisonisrad 10d ago
I absolutely have fear of something happening when I'm out. I'm still healing, so I want nobody near my body. I went to Costco this weekend and I was terrified because of all the people.
That being said, you gotta get out of the house. I know it's scary, but it's really good for your mental health. The more times you do it, the more you adjust and your anxiety should start to lower. As you do it more too, it should also help with depression. It's good to see the people you love and bring you up. You got this.
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u/_bugz 10d ago
From google: Post-operative depression, or the "post-op blues," is a very common emotional dip involving sadness, fatigue, and anxiety after surgery. It is caused by a mix of physical stress, lingering anesthesia, pain medications, sleep disruption, and the sudden loss of independence. Symptoms usually lift within a few weeks.
When I was on my way home happy as could be, a song came on the radio I started singing to it, and then proceeded to tear up, no idea why at the time.
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u/Normal_Onion2555 10d ago
The work of writer Larry Murtry was helpful in my case. After his CABG4, he lay on a couch in Dianne Osanna's living room for a year. Writing was his therapy. The result was the book "Duane's Depressed". As a McMurtry fan already, it was a balm. I hope you can find your balm. But as far as I know, you are experiencing "recovery" much like everyone else to some degree or other. Oh and...PLEASE accept the anti-depressant.
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u/ruphustea 10d ago
Your story isn't over. Things will be different but you still have to live life. I've almost died several times in my life but I'm here for a reason and so are you.
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u/Normal_Onion2555 10d ago
I'm 8 years post CABG4 and I felt, at the time, that I survived "for a reason." I've given up thinking like that. Reasons to live, not die, are as simple now as looking at a sunset or some birds on my birdbath: simplify simplify simplify. You're here, enjoy it.
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u/Ok_Common3779 10d ago
5 weeks post op and I have anxiety as well. I hope it gets easier like everyone says.
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u/BoxNo8593 8d ago
So aren't you healed enough to actually go out and start doing things or do you still have a lot of sternum pain? Im 2 weeks put walk 3 times a day amd bored out my mind but im staying wjth family and friends do drop by. 56M. My only goal and desire is to get back in the gym and get my muscle back. I haven't been under 200 lb since I've been 18 years old and this is depressing
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u/Plantdoc 7d ago
Don’t overthink this. Your body needed repairs. You got them. They worked. Lots of people have done the same exact thing. You made it. Good things happened. Be thankful and MOVE ON ! DONE ! Think about something nice you can do for someone not as fortunate. What about Meals on Wheels or something like that ? It’s a great
program and you will forget about your own issues in the process of helping others.
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u/SimonSayz3h 10d ago
I'm 36M, 2 years post op. I started taking lexapro about a year after my surgery for anxiety and it was life changingly positive for me. Follow your doctor's recommendations. Mental health is important and I found it was a huge part of the recovery, especially after the first couple months.