C
Caitlin
The time has come for me to rejoin this positive and loving fraternity of friends who have had valve jobs. I first knew 3 ½ years ago that this day was coming, so I used to visit here and learned so much that I lost a lot of the fear I had back when I first found this site.
I have already done a lot of ground work, which I will describe. I know it is a long post, but for those of you who have the patience to read it, I am wondering if I have forgotten anything important in my countdown list
When I first got the news the day has come or I will keep getting worse, I had new waves of fear. This would be my second opening of the chest. I already knew what it was like and I almost fainted more than once at the enormity of my fear of dying or of a stroke.
Then as I tried to gather my fears up and face them, I began to remember things I learned here. I remember Nancy said more than once, that this was a perfected operation in terms of technique and procedures ? it is other factors that influence the outcome more. I remembered I should get a lazy boy for sleeping until I can lie flat comfortably. Already some of my fears began turning into plans.
I did not have a happy experience in the aftercare of my first operation, which was an emergency, so I thought about each part of it and how I would like it to be, given a second time around like this. I had a lot of opinions, many of them from discussions I read here, as well as from the things I didn?t like about the first experience.
First, I wanted to pick my surgeon. Other than competence and experience, I was hoping for someone who would relate to me. Since I had 3 aftercare surgeons doing procedures on me last time, I knew which one I liked best, number 3 who was Dr David Arzouman. The cath doctor wanted to refer me to my first surgeon and I asked him to refer me to Arzouman instead, and he did, even though he was better buddies with the first guy.
Next, I wanted valve approval. My card and the cath doctor were both talking repair maybe an annulus if possible. I know that is becoming more and more accepted, but this was sternum cut number 2 and I wanted something that reduces the odds of another re-operation to as close to zilch as possible. I had a gut feeling I just wanted a good old, time tested St Jude mechanical valve.
I had a great nurse on that shift who expressed approval of my choice of Dr Arzouman. She said he taught her everything she knew about valves and she proceeded to demonstrate she knew a great deal about them. This meant Arzouman had to be a talker, yeaaa! She said Dr Arzouman also did the Maze procedure and I should ask him about that, too.
(I looked him up online when I got home and he is a teacher at the UofA med school and is on the heart transplant, mechanical heart teams there as well. Well, I guess I didn?t get to research it before I went in, things developed so fast, but my gut instincts and memory were good, so I am satisfied.)
Arzouman consulted with me shortly after the cath procedure. He started off by saying he would prefer to put an ATS 2nd generation St Jude valve in me to reduce the odds of having to go back a third time. This was my man. I began to feel relief that we already agreed on that without a discussion. I am already a lifer on warfarin and comfortable with that- thanks to vr.com, so that is a non-issue for me.
We had 2 consultations. He is a teacher at heart. He loves to explain anything to do with his passion of thoracic surgery. He told me to write down questions for the second visit. We will have a third visit so he can meet my husband Reggie, the day before the operation. He also told me he wanted me to feel good about the operation and being in his hands. He said that if I, or any family members, had any bad feelings or premonitions, or if he did, he would postpone or call it off.
Somehow, I liked this guy and trusted him. He reminds me a bit of a pilot. I can let him fly the plane that will get me over the mountain. Even though the risks are higher, I am in much better shape than I was the first operation. My ejection fraction was 10-15% last time, now it?s been at least 40% since the first op.
I had so many concerns starting with barfing the Percoset and then having to do the first operation on Tylenol!!! I shared my concerns with Arzouman and he said he would help me find pain relief better than Tylenol. I also had a lot of concern about the agency substitute nurse who worked there my second night in ICU who sat behind her desk and let another 1st nite patient go code blue at least 4 times before she would tend to him each time! (My first nite nurse had not left my side for more than a couple of minutes at a time). I told him I wanted a really good ICU nurse my first night, because I heard the hospital had hired that awful nurse from my second night. He said it was not the first complaint about her. I think he will make sure she isn?t there and I have a good ICU nurse my first night. I hope I get the same guy, Ron. He still works there.
I think at this moment, as I write, I am almost fearless. I think I will live, I think I will improve, And If I do live, I promise to use the speg-thingy and to walk around with my box without prompting. I had serious depression issues last time and I ordered that book on the resource list.
If you have any tips or see I have overlooked something, I hope you will comment.
I have already done a lot of ground work, which I will describe. I know it is a long post, but for those of you who have the patience to read it, I am wondering if I have forgotten anything important in my countdown list
When I first got the news the day has come or I will keep getting worse, I had new waves of fear. This would be my second opening of the chest. I already knew what it was like and I almost fainted more than once at the enormity of my fear of dying or of a stroke.
Then as I tried to gather my fears up and face them, I began to remember things I learned here. I remember Nancy said more than once, that this was a perfected operation in terms of technique and procedures ? it is other factors that influence the outcome more. I remembered I should get a lazy boy for sleeping until I can lie flat comfortably. Already some of my fears began turning into plans.
I did not have a happy experience in the aftercare of my first operation, which was an emergency, so I thought about each part of it and how I would like it to be, given a second time around like this. I had a lot of opinions, many of them from discussions I read here, as well as from the things I didn?t like about the first experience.
First, I wanted to pick my surgeon. Other than competence and experience, I was hoping for someone who would relate to me. Since I had 3 aftercare surgeons doing procedures on me last time, I knew which one I liked best, number 3 who was Dr David Arzouman. The cath doctor wanted to refer me to my first surgeon and I asked him to refer me to Arzouman instead, and he did, even though he was better buddies with the first guy.
Next, I wanted valve approval. My card and the cath doctor were both talking repair maybe an annulus if possible. I know that is becoming more and more accepted, but this was sternum cut number 2 and I wanted something that reduces the odds of another re-operation to as close to zilch as possible. I had a gut feeling I just wanted a good old, time tested St Jude mechanical valve.
I had a great nurse on that shift who expressed approval of my choice of Dr Arzouman. She said he taught her everything she knew about valves and she proceeded to demonstrate she knew a great deal about them. This meant Arzouman had to be a talker, yeaaa! She said Dr Arzouman also did the Maze procedure and I should ask him about that, too.
(I looked him up online when I got home and he is a teacher at the UofA med school and is on the heart transplant, mechanical heart teams there as well. Well, I guess I didn?t get to research it before I went in, things developed so fast, but my gut instincts and memory were good, so I am satisfied.)
Arzouman consulted with me shortly after the cath procedure. He started off by saying he would prefer to put an ATS 2nd generation St Jude valve in me to reduce the odds of having to go back a third time. This was my man. I began to feel relief that we already agreed on that without a discussion. I am already a lifer on warfarin and comfortable with that- thanks to vr.com, so that is a non-issue for me.
We had 2 consultations. He is a teacher at heart. He loves to explain anything to do with his passion of thoracic surgery. He told me to write down questions for the second visit. We will have a third visit so he can meet my husband Reggie, the day before the operation. He also told me he wanted me to feel good about the operation and being in his hands. He said that if I, or any family members, had any bad feelings or premonitions, or if he did, he would postpone or call it off.
Somehow, I liked this guy and trusted him. He reminds me a bit of a pilot. I can let him fly the plane that will get me over the mountain. Even though the risks are higher, I am in much better shape than I was the first operation. My ejection fraction was 10-15% last time, now it?s been at least 40% since the first op.
I had so many concerns starting with barfing the Percoset and then having to do the first operation on Tylenol!!! I shared my concerns with Arzouman and he said he would help me find pain relief better than Tylenol. I also had a lot of concern about the agency substitute nurse who worked there my second night in ICU who sat behind her desk and let another 1st nite patient go code blue at least 4 times before she would tend to him each time! (My first nite nurse had not left my side for more than a couple of minutes at a time). I told him I wanted a really good ICU nurse my first night, because I heard the hospital had hired that awful nurse from my second night. He said it was not the first complaint about her. I think he will make sure she isn?t there and I have a good ICU nurse my first night. I hope I get the same guy, Ron. He still works there.
I think at this moment, as I write, I am almost fearless. I think I will live, I think I will improve, And If I do live, I promise to use the speg-thingy and to walk around with my box without prompting. I had serious depression issues last time and I ordered that book on the resource list.
If you have any tips or see I have overlooked something, I hope you will comment.
