Recent content by Gail in Ca

If you are in pretty good shape going into surgery, you should recover quickly. At 6 weeks I was told I could drive. After my 3rd surgery, I felt I could drive 8 minutes to my cardiologist appt in only 4 weeks. But, when released in only 4 days after my 2nd surgery, my then lazy husband pulled...

I have a Carbomedic top hat aortic valve. My surgeon, D Craig Miller MD (now retired) was one of the best. He chose this valve for me for both of my surgeries. The first Carbomedic valve had to be replaced due to bacterial endocarditis damaging the tissue around the valve only 8 1/2 yrs after...

I see my cardiologist every 6 mos, and get an echo every year. During my appointment, he brings out a tiny echo that connects to his phone, and I get a fast echo that shows up on his phone screen. He uses this to see if there are changes in between the official echo!

I was just dremeling my dogs toenails and she pulled back the paw I was working on and the dremel sanding wheel zapped my knuckle. It started bleeding, so I washed it, added a bandage and carried on. Many things I do on a regular basis I haven’t given a second thought that it could cause...

No sewing? Ha ha ha! Since I’ve been on warfarin I’ve sewn coats, dresses, curtains, bed topper for a friend, and lots of hemming. If I prick myself with a needle, I just wash and put a band aid on it. As for gardening, I would never give that up. I only notice that bruises are larger and take...

The first time I missed a warfarin dose, I called the Coumadin nurse. She gave me this advice: If a Coumadin dose is missed, I have a 12 hour window to take the missed dose the next day.

I suggest you contact your MD and whatever number to call for the Barostim person. Doctors always take shortness of breath very seriously. It is true the after mass of the fires isn’t good for air quality and we are breathing in bad stuff. But, I live close to the fires as the crow flies and...

No, she didn’t add stitches after pulling the tubes. Only a bandage.

I had less than great chest tube removal experience for surgery #2. So for my 3rd surgery, I was determined to ask for something to take the edge off before they were removed when the PA came in to do it. She said not to worry, that she was really good at it and I believed her. It went...

This is very interesting. Thanks for sharing!

I’m sorry you’re so stressed. I wanted to address your fear of the ICU. I have had 3 aortic valve replacements starting at age 34. For me, waking up in ICU was just fine. I had my own personal RN and she/ he took great care of me. You find yourself awake, a fog clears, you realize it’s over...

My hospital also kept the culture going so they could see when I returned a few days after discharge the culture had gone from negative to positive. They might give you a plastic picc line cover for taking showers, if not you can buy one. It just slips on tight and voila, you can bathe without...

I’m happy to hear you are doing okay! Too bad that darn bacteria is throwing a monkey wrench into your recovery. My rare bacteria, s. Lugdunensis, also came back on me only a few days after I was discharged on a picc line with gentamycin, vancomycin and oral rifampin. My cardiologist sent me...

Good luck on your 3rd surgery! In 2009, after 6 weeks of antibiotics 23 hrs a day, I had to have my 3rd surgery to replace aortic valve/graft from previous surgeries and mitral repair, because my rare bacteria caused lots of damage. My surgeon at Stanford also said he would use mechanical and...

That’s great to hear! It made me smile.