Members who have had by-pass surgery.

After years of watching my weakening aortic valve, I went ahead with open heart surgery in april 2011. Had a mechanical aortic valve installed along with 1 bypass and repair of the aorta. Not quite what you will have but the open heart part should be the same. I won't really try to spell out details but you already know there will be discomfort, etc. The worst part for me was lots of coughing(lungs) and some glitches which extended my hospital stay and required readmission; I think not terribly unusual. Once I was fit for rehab then improvement was good. We cancelled a planned seasonal job at Glacier NP because it would have been early for lifting. But we still visited the Park and hiked at 6000 ft. in mid-summer. Also have a pacemaker and everything works extremely well. I do anything I want including hiking, biking and walking. My 77 years is starting to slow me down now more than anything heart related.