Not to linger on my heart forever, but it was a big deal to me and I find myself compelled to continue to comment on it. Also, I had always hoped that this blog would be a resource for younger men as they age, to help them as they go through much of what all aging men go through; at least to provide them the chance to nod their heads as they recognize that someone else felt the same way. Not that there’s a lot of value in all these pages and pages of drivel, but perhaps a single nugget of value buried somewhere within!

My self-devised cardio rehab continues; I am averaging just about 9,700 steps per day now, ever trying to either go farther, or to go faster, but without pushing my body too hard. I have begun mini-hiking as well, which means heading into the woods on dirt trails, but in a “safe” setting. Safe is subjective of course, but my wife remains traumatized by my whole cardio-escapade and is scared to “allow” me to go hiking because it is stressful to the heart and because should something happen, I’d be alone and unseen in the woods. The compromise has been a couple of local parks near the house; both are listed as hikes in my area on AllTrails so I am justified in calling them hikes. But they are very close to civilization and are always well-populated with hikers and bikers so help is usually close by, sort of. I’ve done over 5 miles a number of times and almost 6.5 miles once.

The transition off road to the trails is important for a couple of reasons; there are lots of inclines – not gentle ones as you would encounter or a road, but often quickly steep and capable of putting a decent load on the body. The walking is far more difficult: rocks, roots, sticks, ruts, unpredictably uneven ground, and often either muddy or sandy. All that results in more  energy being expended in covering the same distance; all good for cardiovascular fitness.

Everything about my heart seems to indicate it is finally lost the shock of surgery and is settling into a happy and healthy rhythm. I have not felt or recorded an irregular heartbeat in almost two weeks now. My resting heart rate, which had intermittently been dipping into the mid-30’s for a while, and was averaging 39bpm, has settled in nicely at an average of 48bpm.  My heart rate variability was a concerning average of 204ms for a while, now doing nicely at 46ms.

My breathing is remarkably better now as well. Initially, walking after the surgery caused some difficulty with breathing, shortness of breath and so forth. But now I barely breath heavily at all, even at a 16-minute/mile pace – I could actually hold a conversation without issue. Part of that is healing, the lungs suffer as result of the whole anesthesia and bypass trauma and some resource indicate that it can take 4-6 months for them to fully recover. The other post-op issue is that it is really pretty painful to take a decent breath, the strain of deep breathing on the sternum and chest muscles hurts quite a bit. That is all disappearing now; I can take a full deep breath now with less than just 1 or 2% discomfort. And the pushing pace and/or distance while walking has certainly helped with the pulmonary recovery.

Yet I have always held some doubt in my self-made rehab plan. While I used dozens of thoughts, ideas, and concepts from nationally recognized cardiological hospitals and universities, I do not have a licensed cardiologist directing and guiding me through my rehab. I do have an awesome GP who has given great input and advice. But none the less, I had a concern that perhaps I wasn’t doing it right. And then like magic, I got an email from my GP last night. It was actually a forward of an email and letter she had been CC’d on from my surgeon to a cardiologist. When I was admitted to the hospital, I was asked who my cardiologist was. Of course, I didn’t have one. But, I had a name – the doctor who had overseen my stress test and who had sent me to the ER. I had a copy of that report on my phone so I used his name.

In the letter, the surgeon talked about my case and commented that my post-op recovery was “uncomplicated”. He went on to state that I exhibit no adverse symptoms, that I can walk long distances without problem, and that my physical exam was good with well-performing lungs and a normal heart rate and rhythm. He went on to indicate that I am cleared and ready for cardio rehab.

In her email, my GP asked who the cardiologist it was sent to was, so in my response I told her the story. Of course I now have a cardiologist, one she helped me get in with, so I assume she will send him a copy of the letter. But the gem of it all was her final comment: “Do you want to go to cardiac rehab? Seems like you don’t need it! “ And there was validation of my rehab plan!! My GP agreeing that my progress and healing are spot on track! And that… is a wonderful feeling!

But, while mostly out of this thicket of woods, I am not out of the forest. I still have the kidney lesions to deal with. I had the ultrasound on Thursday (today is Saturday) but have no results yet. I have been checking my portal almost hourly but nothing yet. I would think something will turn up today.

New day, new news! It is Sunday and I hiked – for real – in Arcadia. I did Escoheag and Utter for a total of 7.1 miles. But… I got cocky and overconfident based on all my road walking and the first mile or so today and the next thing I know my heart rate is pushing 150. Now that’s not completely horrible, but it is bad. At my age I should really limit myself to 80% of my maximum heart rate (which is 160). So I then had to stop to settle myself down and then use my active heart rate reading to modulate my pace. And that worked well for the remainder of the hike.

It was magic to be back in the deep of the woods; the ferns were resplendent! I apparently missed the blueberries as I found not a single one, but I did come across some wild grapes which made for a nice snack. I handled the terrain quite well – there are some really steep inclines in several places – and my legs and lungs handled them well. I met a few people along the way including an old friend from work.

One reason I chose to break out of my routine and get into the woods now was the impending kidney results. They said results in 24-48 hrs. and that was up Saturday afternoon. My concern was that I may need a biopsy, a hospital stay, or something of the like that would completely undo all my rehab efforts. So I needed to go before the box was opened to find the cat was dead.

Unlike many previous tests, in this case it was not a case of “is there something there”; we already knew there were two lesions there. This time it was a case of how bad are they? I needn’t have worried. Results came in late this afternoon. I did not fully comprehend the medical terms, but the report ended with “recommend a follow-up in six to twelve months”. So nothing immediately life threatening, or even immediately serious. I still need my GP and my urologist to weigh in, but I did breathe quite a big sigh of relief. Update: both my GP and urologist concur with a follow-up in six months. So perhaps something to deal with another time, but not now!

Since beginning this post, I have indulged in two more hikes: one at 10.1 miles and yesterday, one at 12.2 miles. Neither was eventful from a health or cardio perspective – I watched my heart rate closely and it behaved properly and as expected. I am pleased with both the pace I’ve been able to manage on “real” trails as well as how my body has responded to the exercise. I’ve also shoveled and hauled several wheelbarrow loads of dirt, something I never really thought twice about in the past, but now – it was a noteworthy accomplishment. Little by little, life and normalcy are returning!

And to wrap this up, finally, I can add another 12.2 mile hike today with some decent elevation in it. No issues, no problems, no discomfort experienced at all. I am trying really hard to get myself back into decent cardiovascular condition before I see my cardiologist for the first time in less than four weeks. I have had a couple of minor episodes of irregular heartbeats – most likely PVC’s again – but they were short lived and really little more than annoying. Until next time, stay well dear reader!