4 Days post op Bloody Hell / mire updates to come when l am up to it !!!

[tom in MO]

They did a study of intensive care patients. They found that patients characterized as "difficult" by hospital staff actually had a higher success rate (# of days in ICU and lower death rate) than non-difficult patients. They didn't assign a cause but postulated better nursing care due to demanding it or more "will to live."

 

[tom in MO]

Harriet, hang in there girlfriend. I’m up for TAVR on this coming Thursday, 9-5-19. I’m depressed about my pending new normal. What you’ve described is what I fear. What ugly surprise will raise it’s ugly head? At 3 AM, I was googling “declining TAVR.” That doesn’t seem like a good option from what I’ve read. I don’t believe for one minute that my quality of life will be better. QOL only looks better in TAVR ads where the post surgical folks are running through lilac fields with butterflies in slow motion.

I know what declining AVR means since I witnessed it. However the person was in their 80s and you are not. Plus, they had comorbidities that could not be addressed with the AVR that I think reared their ugly heads once her valve was fixed and she lived longer. Even so, she had a number of good years before she passed. The problem was not so much the AVR, but the rest of her body.

Take heart, the operation is scheduled. Enjoy the little things of the next 2 weeks. If you believe "Let go and Let God..."

 

[harrietW]

They did a study of intensive care patients. They found that patients characterized as "difficult" by hospital staff actually had a higher success rate (# of days in ICU and lower death rate) than non-difficult patients. They didn't assign a cause but postulated better nursing care due to demanding it or more "will to live."

tom in MO
Oh great so that answers alot of questions for me ... I am very demanding and l am sure all would say difficult. I spent more time in lCU and longer stay both 1st & second surgery.
I have heard/read a similar study.
I had alot of days with private one on one nursing care. Thank goodness .. I did need it one week in heart block & delirium. I will admit I was out of my bloody mind honestly. Scary thinking about it .. Makes me cry !

 

[harrietW]

Ladybug

❤❤❤
Your a warrior !

 

[tom in MO]

tom in MO
Oh great so that answers alot of questions for me ... I am very demanding and l am sure all would say difficult. I spent more time in lCU and longer stay both 1st & second surgery.
I have heard/read a similar study.
I had alot of days with private one on one nursing care. Thank goodness .. I did need it one week in heart block & delirium. I will admit I was out of my bloody mind honestly. Scary thinking about it .. Makes me cry !

My mom was a "difficult" patient, complete with bound book where she wrote down every doctor's name and what they said during their visits to her room. Interns would straighten up when she'd pull out the book, pen and ask for their name. She also recorded all her medications and why they were being given. She did the same when my dad was in the hospital.

 

[harrietW]

I have learned that if l don't advocate for myself no-one else is going to do it for me.
I got tough !!! l've learned l can refuse a procedure a medication or a particular health care provider. And when l do l get the look .. Hmm they think l'm being difficult, l am not. l am standing up for myself. I know my body better than anyone else. I know that l don't want to be pumped full of Hydromorphon or any other opioid. I know l will refuse any and all scopes in the future either end .. No way l have been scope to death without any resolution what so ever. I am done with let's try this for the 20th time that hasn't worked the other 19.

 

[Keithl]

They did a study of intensive care patients. They found that patients characterized as "difficult" by hospital staff actually had a higher success rate (# of days in ICU and lower death rate) than non-difficult patients. They didn't assign a cause but postulated better nursing care due to demanding it or more "will to live."

My guess is the non-difficult people are followers and will do whatever the healthcare staff or DR say, the difficult pole (me) are proactive and fully engaged. After surgery when they had me on Helena I looked at the does they were giving me and read up that it was too low, I kept challenging them and then guess what, they raised it and I got in range. Same with my old cardio, he hated being questioned or challenged and I moved on to my new cardio who is fully collaborative. One person's difficult is another’s engaged self-directing patient.

There is another class of difficult patient and those are the stubborn people that just are grumpy about things or in denial.

 

[carolinemc]

I have learned that if l don't advocate for myself no-one else is going to do it for me.
I got tough !!! l've learned l can refuse a procedure a medication or a particular health care provider. And when l do l get the look .. Hmm they think l'm being difficult, l am not. l am standing up for myself. I know my body better than anyone else. I know that l don't want to be pumped full of Hydromorphon or any other opioid. I know l will refuse any and all scopes in the future either end .. No way l have been scope to death without any resolution what so ever. I am done with let's try this for the 20th time that hasn't worked the other 19.

There are many doctors, not just Cardio, where the office staff are worse than the doctor they are working for. You have to fight them tooth and nail to follow the doctor's instructions of care and they go on about office procedures. And then the doctors' who love to dispense meds like no tomorrow. Glad you are tough and keep doing it. I have to do it with just a GP. I do not feel too comfortable with the news GP, so I will be seeing about getting a new one, wish me luck. Have a great day, hugs for today.