Before my open heart surgery, I detested running errands, but now that I'm getting stronger and feeling better I'm extremely grateful to be well enough to go to the grocery & drug store. I've been going to the pharmacy for a few weeks, but this is only the second time I've tackled a big two-week grocery shopping excursion.
I now consider errands as opportunities for outings. Believe it or not, I actually enjoy getting out and seeing other people. There is always an adventure around the corner if you will focus on the moment at hand. I use my outings as opportunities to make the other shoppers smile. You never know what a smile or a kind word will mean to another human being.
We really don't appreciate all the everyday activities that our marvelous bodies perform for us countless times every day unless we lose the ability to do our regular daily routines, do we?
In three more days, it will be two whole months since my heart valve repair surgery. I can remember when it was all that I could do to walk to the end of my driveway and now I'm doing 60 minutes of cardiovascular exercise three times per week. Good for me, right!
The point is, don't get discouraged during those early weeks of recovery. If you are like I was, although progress seemed slow, it was progress nevertheless. And, there is a compounding cumulative effect too, the more you do, the more you are able to do.
My sternum area is still pretty sore, but it takes longer for bones to heal than it does for tissue, so I'm not worried about it. I'm not supposed to lift over 10 pounds, but who carries a scale with them all the time. The telltale knot at the top of my sternum which gives away any open heart surgery is almost gone (the surgeon said it would be 3 months). My scar is healing and is almost invisible at the top now.
All-in-all, I'm perking along pretty well these days. Grocery shopping this morning and rehab this afternoon. WOW! It's still hard to believe that I can do both in one day.
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