Had my Pre-OP appointment

[TheGymGuy]

I went to get my pre-op 2 days ago. Things felt pretty real this time, and my calmness was replaced by a certain amount of fear. All is normal as far as my logical side can tell.

Some good news that came out of the appointment are as follows.

My blood type is AB+ and I banked a unit of my blood 2 weeks ago, just in case. What's cool is that Type AB individuals can receive red blood cells of any ABO type. Those with type AB blood are known as “universal recipients.” In addition, AB plasma donors can give to all blood types. Perhaps, I will start donating plasma once I recover to help out those in need.

My heart-rate is pretty good and stays around 60-62. I can get it to low 50s on the order of 52-53 if I meditate. My surgeon puts most people on 5 days of Amiodarone pre-surgery and with me he said the heart-rate is stable enough to not have to lower or stabilize it pre-operatively.

3 more days till surgery, and while my logical side is cool as a cucumber, my emotional side is on a slight freak out. I would say that my most nervous moments would be before super heavy set of squats or crossing a very busy intersection, but now I find myself matching those feelings emotionally with anticipation of the surgery.

Either way, the logical side is beating up the emotional side and I am calmer. Meanwhile, I am spending quality time with my wife and baby girl (she will be 10 month tomorrow).

How is everyone else doing? Looks like next week will have 4 surgeries. I hope everyone is fairing well and kicking it back and relaxing.


Vadim

 

[ElectLive]

Vadim - Pre-op makes everything very suddenly real, so that's certainly understandable. I had a somewhat similar pre-surgery range of emotions, and at least in my case, the cool cucumber was able to win out in the end, particularly the morning of. So certainly hope the same will be true for you. For many, the last few days often bring a heightened calmness, believe it or not, as the focus shifts to just getting it done, and moving into recovery mode. My last 3 days I focused entirely on family, in many ways a vacation of sorts, after what had been a pretty tumultuous few weeks prior of preparation.

For what it's worth, you've been about as cool of a cucumber as I've witnessed around here pre-surgery. You seem to have dotted all the "i's" and crossed all the "t's" so to speak, and appear very prepared. And speaking from experience, here, nothing makes the recovery process better than having a young daughter to share time with and keep a smile on your face. Wishing you all the best, and look forward to hearing good news of your recovery experience.

 

[Phil]

Vadim,

Great news. I'm sure you'll get through with flying colors and your logical side will be the dominant force. If your emotional side breaks through from time to time - go with it. Tears aren't bad and have a healing and therapeutic value. I wish you and the others having relacements next week every success and healing and calm vibes, and look forward to hearing from you from the other side.
All the best.


Phil.

 

[Ovie]

Vadim, you're a healthy guy, and you'll be great.

I had nerves all the way up to the day before, than I kind of freaked out in my last pre-op appointment, and felt like I just could not do it, I was an emotional wreck. I went out and had a good, long meal that night. Went to the hotel and tried to calm down, it was a rough night. But from the minute my alarm went off in that early morning, I felt as calm as could be, more calm than I had felt in years. Strange I know, but you know that things are on your side. While I was in my pre-op room waiting for my shave, laying in my gown, the TV was on, it happened to be on The NHL network while i was waiting for an operating room to be ready,I saw it as a sign of good things to come. The surgery was cake. It's the healing that's no fun.

You'll do great, you're a healthy young guy who seems to have all of his angles prepared. We're all rooting for you.

 

[dtread]

Vadim, good luck with the surgery - I'm sure you'll do fine. Regarding donating plasma, I don't think there's a blood bank around that will take your blood or plasma if you're on Coumadin. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in Bethesda, MD called me after my surgery to donate because I used to donate pre-op with them two or three times a year, and they indicated that they couldn't use me if I was on Coumadin, even for blood for research purposes (i.e., non-patient use).

FYI: Blood Bank website for NIH: http://www.cc.nih.gov/blooddonor/

 

[Greg~]

Vadim
You have the spirit of a lion and I know you'll do really well. You and your surgery team will be in our prayers during the surgery and then after, during post-op. Please keep us posted as time permits

 

[karla]

Hi, Vadim,
I had my AVR 2 and a half weeks ago and felt exactly as you describe a few days before....the morning of March 7, my logical side won out - I was even able to joke around with the anesthetist! That's the last thing I remember before waking up in the ICU.
You, too, will get through this, Vadim. This is a very routine surgery these days. Get this: the day before my surgery a nurse called and said they would start at 7:30 am sharp and i would be done between 1:05 and 1:15. I started to laugh because i thought she was kidding me for some strange reason......how in the world could that be pinpointed almost to the minute?? But guess what?? My surgery ended at 1:10. Honest!! My point is that these surgeons live and breathe this stuff and they have done it so many times they know all the ins and outs....even to the minute how long any given surgery will take.
I hope that appeals to your logical side!
All will be well.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Thanks everyone for the comments and words of encouragement. Things are pretty calm over here, just chilling with the family and making plans for the recovery at home. EL, dtread, phil and others, truly thank you.

Karla, how are you doing? I was looking for a write up of your surgery and recovery and seems you have not written it yet. Do share if you have something to write.

Ovie and Greg, I will be sharing my post-op adventures with you mates soon enough.

By the way, during my pre-op they asked us to arrive by 6am. Surgeon mentioned that we will start before 8am. It would be awesome to be done before 2pm and somewhat awake by 5-6pm.

 

[Bill B]

6am? They are letting you sleep in. I had to be there at 5:30. Look forward to hearing from you after it's all over. I was wiped out enough that I could not work the computer to communicate online for 4 or 5 days. Just saying, don't try to be a hero like some others here who were posting the night after surgery! Focus on recovery, time with family and friends. You are ready. I wish it was the 27th or 28th already.

 

[TheGymGuy]

Yeah, can't wait for the 27th evening. My wife will post up here as me, after everything is done and done. You will know it's not me as her writing is a lot more eloquent.

 

[Bill B]

Yeah, I see you are burning the midnight oil. The anticipation is nerve racking. Us asymptomatic guys have it a lot harder because we lack that critical evidence that this is a real problem that needs to be fixed now. Hang in there!

 

[TheGymGuy]

Actually, I am finishing my taxes. I started several weeks back and has been too busy to finish them out. Figured today is a good day to get me and Uncle Sam all squared away. I would hate to do it on the very last day in case I have "pump head" and forget all about it.

 

[Bill B]

Oops! Thanks for reminding me. I need to finish mine! I'm another middle class fool whose tax rate is higher then Romney's.

 

[karla]

Thanks for asking, Vadim. it sounds like you and I have a very similar history...I was also born with BAV and somewhere along the line developed an ascending aortic aneurysm - just a tad smaller than yours. On March 7, I had a mechanical AVR and repair of the aneurysm at Presbyterian Hospital in Pittsburgh by Dr Lawrence Wei. Recovery has been pretty much textbook perfect so far for me. Pretty tired the first few days but that has gradually got better. The pain was not nearly as bad as I was imagining it would be and am only taking Tylenol a few times a day now. Expect to be REALLY thirsty postop. Ice chips will taste like the best thing you ever had! Removal of the chest tubes and pacer wires felt "funny" but not painful at all. The only "glitch" has been a little bit of afib that started a few days ago but was easily controlled with some adjustment of my beta blocker. Other than that, the hardest part has been to keep to the activity restrictions that are in place right now - but it is important that we listen to what they tell us we can and can't do. Some of the exercises they gave me postop to do seemed so simple I thought it was silly but I'll tell you what - they help the muscle soreness from the cutting and stretching. I went home on day 5 and while I had lots of help if i needed it, I could shower, get dressed, etc without any help at all.
You'll be awake later tomorrow at times and able to respond to people but you won't remember a whole lot about the first few days.
Well, Vadim, good luck and keep us posted! You will be healthier this time tomorrow than you have been in a long time.

 

[karla]

Oh, one other thing - I have not had "pumphead" or "anesthesia brain" at all. I was worried about that preop but can honestly say that hasn't happened. It did after I had a hysterectomy a year ago and lasted about 3 months but nothing this time. Go figure!
My hope for you is that your recovery will be as easy and uneventful as mine has been.
Karla