Time for mitral valve replacement

dornole said:

Ya know that moment post surgery when you’re trying to go to sleep and suddenly realize you have no pain at all????

Paradise.

Thanks for the reassurance Nelle!

Click to expand...

That's great to hear! Chest tubes out and no pain at all are game changers! Well done!

Going on 7 years with my pacemaker <similar scenario : AV replacement->Heart Block>. Not a big deal. Extremely robust hardware and a good backup 'just in case'. Still have another 8 years on the battery, amazingly.

Woo hoo day 10 post op and I am headed home. There was a bit of drama when I developed yer another rhythm problem post pacemaker (atrial tachycardia) but that seems to have resolved with just some metoprolol. Wearing clothes and waiting on final meds and transport.

I felt very prepared for surgery thanks to my participation and am grateful for all the info, good wishes and support I received.

dornole said:

Got the chest tubes out and that’s a game changer for sure. A lot less pain. Have some av block, still on heparin pump but INR is coming up. It’s good to rest more comfortably.

Click to expand...

Day 12 and hubby is still on the heparin drip.... you are not alone out there.

dornole said:

Looks like I’m gonna be in the hospital a couple more days. Developed heart block so they need to put a pacemaker in.

Click to expand...

Hope it goes well!!

dornole said:

Ya know that moment post surgery when you’re trying to go to sleep and suddenly realize you have no pain at all????

Paradise.

Thanks for the reassurance Nelle!

Click to expand...

Or that moment when you FINALLY fall asleep and your medication drop alarm goes off? The exact opposite.

They put hubby's second iv port right by where he elbow bends and everything's he bent it the beeping would start saying occlusion- patient side. I got there at 4am this morning and he hasn't slept AT ALL. I asked them how they expected his body to heal if he couldn't get any sleep? They were just letting it beep. Not even coming in to check. The worst part is they told me they heard it! Grrrr... anyway after I kept saying he wasn't going to get well without sleep they finally got someone to change out the IV to a better site.

He doesn't trust his nurses to do the right thing at all. It went seriously downhill when we left ICU. But hey, at least he can poop on a toilet without the nurse having to look at his poop everything. I swear it was every half hour to an hour for awhile and we would have to call the nurse everytime so they could unhook him, bring over the bedside toilet and help him. I think i would have been constipated the whole time. I just can't...

dornole said:

Woo hoo day 10 post op and I am headed home. There was a bit of drama when I developed yer another rhythm problem post pacemaker (atrial tachycardia) but that seems to have resolved with just some metoprolol. Wearing clothes and waiting on final meds and transport.

I felt very prepared for surgery thanks to my participation and am grateful for all the info, good wishes and support I received.

Click to expand...

You are a lucky duck! Going home will be nice.

SatoriFound said:

You are a lucky duck! Going home will be nice.

Click to expand...

Wish I weren’t leaving you guys behind! I hope he starts to improve rapidly and can get home soon.

@dornole Great news you're going home! Wishing you the best in your recovery!

dornole said:

Wish I weren’t leaving you guys behind! I hope he starts to improve rapidly and can get home soon.

Click to expand...

His hemoglobin went down to 6.8, dangerously low, but they ordered another test and we are waiting on the results. If they come back slightly higher they will let him go home. He says he is leaving either way. I don't know if he actually will, but from what I read a risk of death becomes very real at 6.5. The levels have been fluctuating a bit. We will see. He is completely dressed and pacing the room.

SatoriFound said:

His hemoglobin went down to 6.8, dangerously low, but they ordered another test and we are waiting on the results. If they come back slightly higher they will let him go home. He says he is leaving either way. I don't know if he actually will, but from what I read a risk of death becomes very real at 6.5. The levels have been fluctuating a bit. We will see. He is completely dressed and pacing the room.

Click to expand...

Hoo boy well at least he has the energy to pace?? My hubs had to go get a snack - he was so antsy when we were waiting on pharmacy and transport. I’m like dude, you KNOW this takes hours to get discharged. Go get a donut and let me regulate my own emotions in peace. lol.

dornole said:

Hoo boy well at least he has the energy to pace?? My hubs had to go get a snack - he was so antsy when we were waiting on pharmacy and transport. I’m like dude, you KNOW this takes hours to get discharged. Go get a donut and let me regulate my own emotions in peace. lol.

Click to expand...

LOL We are FINALLY home! Hubby will probably post later, but it is so nice to have him back. So, his anemia was still worrying one of his surgeons, but the lead surgeon overrode her and said he could go home, she wanted to keep him. So he promised to come in on Monday for a CBC and his inr check and she reluctantly let him go. He told me this morning the afib was back, he could feel it, but it has since stopped. He didn't have any of the symptoms on the chart that say to go to the ER, so we think we are good. We bought him a smart ring a couple months before surgery and he can pull up his stats and see what his heart rate, blood oxygen and blood pressure has been doing. It takes intermittent readings every so often. I don't know how often he has it set to. We picked up the MANY prescriptions and I was pleasantly surprised that it didn't cost me hundreds of dollars. It was a total of $60, so not too bad. It definitely could have been worse. Not that I could ever put a price on having him next to me, alive and well.