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Tracking Your Progress After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Events · From Recovery to Wellness | Life After Heart Surgery, Aneurysm Repair & Cardiac Healing

• 0:07
  Hello and welcome back to From Recovery to Wellness,
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  a supportive solo podcast for life after heart
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  surgery, aortic aneurysm repair, and major cardiac
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  events. I'm Arnita and today we're talking about
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  something that can quietly make recovery feel
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  calmer, clearer, and more manageable. Tracking
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  your progress not obsessively not medically and
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  definitely not Perfectly just gently in a way
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  that supports your body and your peace of mind
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  if you've ever asked yourself Am I healing the
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  way I should? Why do I feel better one day and
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  worse the next or how do I know if I'm actually
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  making progress? This episode is for you if you're
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  asking yourself any of those questions So, why
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  tracking matters after heart surgery and aneurysm
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  repair? Well, after heart surgery or aneurysm
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  repair, recovery can feel unpredictable. Some
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  days you wake up feeling stronger, other days
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  you may feel tired, emotional, or discouraged,
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  even when nothing is technically wrong. And when
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  you're not tracking anything, your mind tends
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  to fill in the blanks. It tells stories like
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  I should be further along. Something must be
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  wrong. I'm not recovering fast enough. Gentle
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  tracking gives you something real to look at.
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  It helps you zoom out. It helps you notice patterns
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  instead of judging single days. Tracking isn't
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  about control. It's about reassurance. So what
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  do you track and what what do you track and what
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  do you let go of? Let's simplify this. You do
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  not need to track everything. You do not need
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  fancy apps or constant numbers and you do not
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  need to compare your recovery to anyone else's.
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  Now I belong to a couple of aneurysm open heart
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  surgery groups on Facebook and there are people
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  either going through surgery or have a loved
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  one that's going through surgery or coming out
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  of surgery or have have been been through surgery
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  and they're asking well you know did you have
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  this did you experience that and the thing that
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  you must realize is that everyone is different
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  everyone may And each individual has their own
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  situation. Some people may have underlying events.
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  Some people may have nothing wrong other than
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  just the issue that they had surgery with. on.
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  So you know it's really unfair to you when you
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  try to compare yourself to someone else because
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  you know you may not have the same outcome. You
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  may not have again the same issue and so you
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  it's just not a good idea to compare yourself
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  to anyone else's situation. Now here are some
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  general things that you might choose to notice
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  after heart surgery or aneurysm repair. How is
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  your energy today? higher, lower, or the same?
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  How did you sleep last night? Or how does your
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  body feel when you move? How is your mood calm,
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  anxious, hopeful, heavy? Did anything feel easier
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  today than last week? And that's it. You don't
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  need to measure progress in dramatic leaps. Sometimes
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  progress shows up as fewer questions or slightly
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  less fear, or one small moment of relief. Did
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  you know that many people recovering from heart
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  surgery or aneurysm repair feel more anxious
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  when they track nothing at all? Not because something
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  is wrong, but because the brain fills uncertainty
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  with worry. Gentle tracking gives your nervous
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  system something steady to lean on, not to judge
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  you, not to pressure you. But to remind you,
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  I've been here before and I've moved through
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  it. Now, tracking isn't just about the body.
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  It helps rebuild trust. Trust that your experience
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  makes sense. Trust that ups and downs are part
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  of healing. Trust that you don't need to rush
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  yourself. Sometimes the biggest progress isn't
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  fewer symptoms, it's understanding your body
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  better than you did before. I know that I've
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  always paid attention to my body, but now that
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  I've had aneurysm repair and I have cardiovascular
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  disease, I do pay attention to all the little
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  quirks and different kinds of sensations. and
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  movements that I make, you know, oh, did I hurt
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  something? Did I move something around or, you
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  know, I'm just really hypersensitive and hypervigilant
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  now more than ever. But I also always keep track
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  of that and jot everything down in my journal,
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  in my recovery journal. And so again, I had to
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  make one for myself so that I could give the
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  doctor an accurate synopsis of what I had been
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  feeling in the past. months leading up to my
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  appointment and so with dates and everything
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  and so it works very well for me and so I do
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  recommend that you do the same thing just keep
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  track of you know everything and again ask yourself
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  ask yourself the questions that I had mentioned
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  previously again I will repeat them you know
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  How is my energy today? Higher, lower, or the
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  same? How did I sleep last night? How does my
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  body feel when I move? How is my mood? Calm,
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  anxious, hopeful, heavy? Did anything feel easier
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  today than last week? And again, that's it. You
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  don't need to measure progress in dramatic leaps.
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  Okay, now we're gonna go on to our weekly food
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  focus, which is yogurt. It can be supportive
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  during cardiac and aneurysm recovery because
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  it's easy to digest, a source of protein for
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  tissue repair, supportive of gut health, which
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  affects energy and immunity. You can keep it
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  simple, plain, lightly sweetened, or paired with
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  fruit or nuts if that feels good. And if yogurt
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  isn't for you, that's okay. Recovery nutrition
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  isn't about rules. It's about nourishment that
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  feels doable. Now I have a reflection question
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  for you. Here's a general question to sit with
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  this week. What is one small sign of progress
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  that you've noticed in surgery, even if it feels
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  minor? Maybe it's physical. Maybe it's emotional.
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  Maybe it's something only you would notice. If
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  you like, you're welcome to share your reflection
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  by email or message. Naming progress can help
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  it feel real or you can just jot it down for
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  yourself. You don't necessarily have to share
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  it. Now, before we close, I just want to say
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  that a few things that I want you to remember
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  that recovery after heart surgery and aneurysm
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  repair is not linear. Tracking is about awareness,
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  not perfection. You only need to track what supports
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  you. Emotional progress matters just as much
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  as physical healing. You're not behind. You are
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  recovering. Now, if having something structured
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  helps you feel calmer, I'll occasionally again
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  mention my guided recovery journals and wellness
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  trackers I've created for our personal use. They
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  were designed to support reflection and organization,
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  and they're always optional. And then also to
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  make sure that you have accurate. notes and symptoms
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  that you've experienced that you may want to
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  take to your doctor's, your next follow -up appointment.
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  They're simply there if you want extra support
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  at the link below in the notes. Now, next week
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  we're talking about something many people don't
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  expect to be part of recovery but truly is. Prescribing
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  joy after heart surgery, aneurysm repair, and
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  cardiac events. Because healing isn't only about
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  fixing what's broken, it's also about reconnecting
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  with what makes life feel meaningful again. So
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  thank you for being here. Be gentle with yourself
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  this week and be well.