Open heart surgery question
 

I am recovering from recent heart repair surgery. I was wondering if any here have had it or know of others, and were you/they able to return to a normal schedule of umpiring, especially plate work?
It's the beginning of October and our season starts around February.
Thanks in advance.

SWFLguy:

I glad to hear that you came out of surgery okay. I think that is something that you need to discuss with your cardiologist. I would also think it would be a function of your age, the type of surgery you had, and the type of damage that the surgery repaired. Good luck and hope that you can get back out on the diamond.

MTD, Sr.

As the father of a now 6-year old that had open heart surgery at 4 days old, I second this recommendation. First and foremost discuss with your cardiologist and any other physicians involved in this aspect of your care. I mentioned my son because he doesn't have any restrictions or limitations based on his surgery and healed relatively quickly (a function of his age and the nature of the problem and surgery).

Generally speaking with the assumption that the long-term prognosis won't include any permanent restrictions, the time frame you are looking at to be able to return to more strenuous activities is going to depend on how long it takes you to return to basic day-to-day activities (walking progresses to jogging and then to running, etc). I would, however, recommend specifically discussing with your doctors any potential risks of umpiring such as heat related illnesses and blows to the chest. Even with a chest protector, a sudden impact to the chest may cause irregularities with the heart even in a healthy person. The risk is really small, but not knowing the details of your situation, I can't say if the risk for you might be higher than for the average guy.