And They're Off!!!!!

[2hartsas1]

hello again!!!! hope everyone has been well....sorry for not comming back, but my hubby (victor), who has the heart problems, simply would not assist in his own health care, so i had to concentrate on my own, hep-c.

BUT!!!! now we have come back from the doctor and the doctor said......that he is in immediate danger!!!! (surprise) we are having angioplasty done monday, and of course the good doc has recommended victor hold the warfarin for 3 days prior to the procedure . i am in the process of educating victor on that little situation now......in the end though, it's his call.....

we had a couple of changes in meds today, stop the lisinopril and double on the metoprolol tartrate, and double up on the furosemide....victor is having constant leg/foot edema (big time)
and we did get some cephalexin for the bouts of cellulitis.

also, doc. said that as of last time checked, victor was at a 1 where he should be at a 3 on the heart valve scale, and with victor being 293 pounds.....that he really is in serious trouble NOW! victor had PLANNED to put all this OFF till june......someone on here told him before that the body does what it wants when IT wants!!!! yep!!!!! doctor said outright that victor may have a 3 year lifespan left, if left unattended. of course, no one knows when they will die, but, still, it's wholesome food for thought i say.....aaaaaaannnnnnnd, the doctor did say that after all the tests are run, (we did an ekg today too, that looked a wee bit suspicious of a mild heart attack a few months/years ago, of course couldn't be certain just from that) the card may not even WANT to do the valve replacement, due to v's extra weight and the complications there of. (bacteria infection, slower healing,etc...) and of course there is the added feature of v's SMOKING!!!!!!!!!!!! (somebody shoot me)
(ahem)

anyway, any input from anyone would surely be appreciated!
i am arming myself and victor with INFORMATION (we are gathering at this point) and after the good doctors make THEIR evaluations, v and i will make ours, ultimately, his.

thanks everyone. it's good to be back here.....to me, it means success in victor finally taking a shot at caring about his health.

~shirley

 

[Ross]

Ain't we been down this road before? Do we need a jack hammer to get this into his head? Yo Victor, do we have your attention yet? Your body is telling you things that you had better listen too right NOW!

All you can do is go through the testing and see what everything reveals and go from there. He better not back out of this any longer. We told him he was in danger before. I hope it's really sinking in now.

I mean all of this in a caring way, so if I come off like someone scolding a child, I'm sorry.

 

[2hartsas1]

ROSSY BABY!!!!!!

ROSSY BABY!!!!!!

LOL!!! yep, you're right alright!!! been down this road indeed!!!!!! and hey, he NEEDS to be scolded honey!!!!!
yeah, he is taking it all VERY seriously now......either way, there is not much of anything else to do at this point ross.......

we will be going back to register for the angioplasty friday and then have it done on monday........aaaaaaaand go from there.....

good to "see" you ross!!! i pm'ed nancy and heard from her too and that was really super as well!!!!!

as i said, it's good to be back!!!!

missed you all.....

~shirley

 

[ccrawford]

Keep it up

Keep it up

Shirley - sounds like victor's on the right track at last. Thats good. If he wants some advice and help on smoking cessation, send me a private message and your email address and I'll share a bunch of web sites and other things I did. I've been smoke free since 1/3/03 and really don't miss it that much. He should be well motivated by this point. Quitting is something he really needs to do badly, and it can make a big difference in getting through some rough times ahead. Chris

 

[2hartsas1]

CHRIS

CHRIS

thank you so much for posting!!!!! and yes, i am pm-ing you now!

(gosh i just love this place.....)

~shirley

 

[Nancy]

Hi Shirley-

I'm very happy to see your post. When you didn't post for a while, I was so worried that something had happened to Victor. I know how symptomatic he is.

I am very relieved that things are moving along.

Good luck, Victor, and you have a lot of friends here at valvereplacement.com who have been in your shoes and traveled the path.

Keep us up to date, Shirley.

 

[hensylee]

Hey Shirley - wondered where you got off to.

Now and again we have somebody who goes kicking and screaming all the way to the OR, but they get there nonetheless. We're right here to help make the screaming a bit less loud and to let the dear one know that there are those who care about him. God bless

 

[2hartsas1]

NANCY and HENSYLEE

NANCY and HENSYLEE

good morning both!!!!!
thank you so much for your posts!!! i missed you all but victor just would not help out, so i had to let go. now is a different story and he is participating!!!!! still kicking and screaming, but participating, nonetheless!!!!!

the V.A. hospital here which we have to use as he has no other insurance, is pretty messed up, so i keep complete track of everything that we go into. even conversing and going over ekgs and meds, etc. with the docs.....i try not to irritate any of them, but i have to keep victors best interest in mind and they are not doing that. it's a cattle prod there. moooooooooove along........LOL!!!!

i'll be here all the time, well, back and forth between here and the hep site i live at! we need all the support we can gat and i find it all at both places! (and hey- every once in a while, i even go outside for fresh air and sunshine! LOL!!!!!)

a great day to all,
~shirley

 

[Ross]

and hey- every once in a while, i even go outside for fresh air and sunshine!

Hmm what is this that you speak of? Can it be found on this planet? Where is it and what is it?

 

[2hartsas1]

ROSS

ROSS

uh...um....well, lesseeeee,
fresh air.....well no, there isn't any REALLY on this planet, but if you open your door (careful, there may be dust and spider webs) the stuff you can't see or smell or touch.....well, that is what serves as fresh air here, and as for the sunshine, ok, look up while you are outside (presuming you got that far) big shiney yellow warm thingie hanging up there in the sky......well, that sreves as "sunshine"

ok? now, go out and have a good time! (dont stay too long, there is something called "heatstroke"-you don't even want to know about that.....ok? ok.


~shirley

 

[Ross]

Umm no, not here anyway!

Wednesday Apr 9, 2003


Updated 10 AM ET (14Z) 4/9/2003
Overcast, Fog 100 %
33 °F NNE 12 mph

 

[JimL]

Bright, beautiful sunshine in Michigan!

I picked up some of the downed limbs earlier, it was wonderful to be working outside, but some are still frozen to the ground. Tomorrow will be better!

 

[2hartsas1]

SUNSHINE

SUNSHINE

LOL!!!! silly me, i keep forgetting that TEXAS is not the only place on the planet!!!!!
~shirley

 

[joy]

Hey Shirley, I just went back and read all of your posts. What kind of heart disease does Victor have? Let him read this...

My gramma had rhuematic fever when she was a teenager. She had a valvotomy in 1950(they didn't have the technology we have now)and that took her until 1962...she felt like crap all the time. One sunday morning like 2 days after she turned 31, she was getting ready to go to church, and her heart blew up into thousands of peices. My mom was 2 and home alone with her. Do you want this to happen to you? I don't think you want Shirley to be without you. PLEASE get this fixed!

 

[2hartsas1]

JOY

JOY

well.....i must say, that's quite the eye opener joy!!!!! ....
thanks for the post!!!

we went again to the v. a. today, different doctor as always....i was prepared for an on/off coumadin debate, instead, they hit me with a in hospital/outpatient *** . before it was over, we had 3 different judgements.......1)be admitted into the hospital now and get off the coumadin and let them give something else ( i forget) and just hang out there till thursdays appnt with angiogram/plasty.2)go home, get off coumadin, self inject ....darn it, what's that stuff that starts with an "L"...i'm brain dead right now, anyhow, victor has done that before and it's oh soooo fun!!!!!! and come back thursday for the angio.3) go home, come back monday, get a echo done first , have a look at that, and then decide(appnt is already set in stone) (ahem) to stop coumadin, go home, come back thursday and have the angio. badda-boom. we chose door # 3. i am not happy with holding the coumadin, but it's risky either way, guys, for victor, it really is.
he knows all the risk factors involved, either way, and has still decided to go with the hold. and actually, in this instance, after getting all my data....i'd have to agree with him. (if i didn't, believe me, the "war" would still be "on"-hee hee)

but that's where we stand right now.....that and i think victor has decided to quit his cabby job of 12+ years.....i remember how hard it was for me to give up my working lifestyle and in fact, work alltogether, but he/we will learn to adjust. there are not any really other "good" options....unless any one has a youth potion they can sell us cheap!!!!! LOL!!! we were just reminiscing earlier today about our "good ol days".....and , yeah, they WERE!!!!!! we were cool!!!! LOL!!!!! gosh, i guess it really is time to "settle in".....tell me, does it have to be done gracefully? or can we go kicking and screaming there too?????? LOL!!

everyone, have a great weekend, joy, thank you for the "eyes open" nothing like a fresh, strong, hot cup of coffee, eh? heee hee hee.......

we'll be back monday!!!!
~victor and shirley

 

[joy]

Hi Shirley, my mom wasn't 2, she was 12. I guess the 1 didn't get in there before the 2. Sorry. I would have opted for him to stay in the hospital, because it is easier to get the heparin drip than shoot yourself with Lovenox. Besides, the Lovenox hurts like h*ll going in!good luck!

 

[2hartsas1]

JOY

JOY

LOL! thanks honey for filling in the missing words!!!! just goes to show ya, newer model brains are far more efficient than the older models!!!
yeah, if it were ME, i would have gone that route as well, but victor is (he SAYS) a big tuff guy, and you know, they gotta "take it like a man" hahahahahahaahaaaa!!!!!!!! my main concern is of course that he is taking it all seriously now, very seriously.
oh, btw, he has atrial stenosis and needs arotic valve replacement. and possibly more, we will be finding out soon!!!!!
i'm going to get some much needed rest now. i'm drained.

thanks again joy! have a super weekend!
~shirley

 

[2hartsas1]

ECHO RESULTS

ECHO RESULTS

ok, the echo was "inconclusive" which we pretty well figured on, so we are scheduled for this thursday for the angiogram/plasty.
victor quit smoking, special for the occasion, last night. chewing nicorettes. we have to of course find out thursday morning what his levels are before proceding......so....
now, i have a question. all the doc at the #### va said to him monday (and i was not there this time) was "we are doing the procedure thursday so stop taking the coumadin" nothing about heparin or lovenox (thank you joy! ), so he has stopped the coumadin. should he take aspirin? also, the day he stopped his coumadin, he had a nose bleed.
help! anyone!!!!
~shirley

 

[Nancy]

No aspirin either, Shirley. That will also affect his blood.

 

[Ross]

Stop the Coumadin and no aspirin. Let them get him regulated after the procedure.