Well, here we are again. Things have become so "normal" that if my daughter hadn't texted me with a "Happy Birthday to Moo!" (we call my bovine valve "Moo"), I might have cruised right on past the day.
Today is Moo's NINTH birthday! At this time on February 28, 2011, I was still in the OR, having my Edwards bovine pericardial valve implanted, as well as having a single bypass (LIMA-LAD, for the techies). Surgery was rough, recovery was even rougher. I became the "poster boy" for almost every complication that I could have. I think I hit all the speed bumps on the road to recovery. I had such severe heart rate and rhythm issues that my heart monitor would regularly go "flat-line" for up to 20 or 30 seconds at a time. Believe me, it is NO fun to see your own heart monitor graph go flat-line. Each time it happened, I remember feeling very agitated, then "lights-out." The next thing I would see is a circle of very concerned-looking medical professionals looking down at me as they brought me back. Finally, after almost a week of this, they offered me a choice. They could keep trying to get things settled down with a shelf full of various meds, or they could implant a pacemaker. I simply asked them "Do you have one handy? What are we waiting for?" So, I also ended up with a dual-lead pacemaker to keep things going.
I had other complications as well. I had pleural effusion bad enough that I thought my new valve had failed. Heavy doses of ibuprofen took care of that, fortunately. I had massive digestive issues (then anesthesia and then pain meds brought my digestive system to a complete stop). About a month post-op, I had to be re-admitted to the hospital for a week to rule out heart issues, then to get my digestive system re-started. There were plenty of other issues, but I won't bore you with them now.
The moral of my story is that in spite of all these trials and tribulations, with the help of all the folks here (and, of course, the higher power of your choice), I am still here, nine years later. I continue to do all the crazy things I did before (Well, most of them. I'm older now.). I don't run any more - knees told me not to. Also, my beta blocker limits my Max HR, so I have to control the need for speed. I use the elliptical or Arc Trainer, doing 2-3 miles a day. I also use weight/resistance machines, but (at cardio's advice) I use less weight but do more reps. I'm pretty much ahead of the class on all the usual recreational things, for a guy of my now more advanced age (I'm now 72).
In the ensuing years, our only daughter got married, moved out of state, and we now have two grandsons. I got to see this all, thanks to Moo.
Basically, life is good. . . really good. Had it not been for all of my extended family here at vr.org, I am not sure how things would have turned out. Thanks, everyone!
Today is Moo's NINTH birthday! At this time on February 28, 2011, I was still in the OR, having my Edwards bovine pericardial valve implanted, as well as having a single bypass (LIMA-LAD, for the techies). Surgery was rough, recovery was even rougher. I became the "poster boy" for almost every complication that I could have. I think I hit all the speed bumps on the road to recovery. I had such severe heart rate and rhythm issues that my heart monitor would regularly go "flat-line" for up to 20 or 30 seconds at a time. Believe me, it is NO fun to see your own heart monitor graph go flat-line. Each time it happened, I remember feeling very agitated, then "lights-out." The next thing I would see is a circle of very concerned-looking medical professionals looking down at me as they brought me back. Finally, after almost a week of this, they offered me a choice. They could keep trying to get things settled down with a shelf full of various meds, or they could implant a pacemaker. I simply asked them "Do you have one handy? What are we waiting for?" So, I also ended up with a dual-lead pacemaker to keep things going.
I had other complications as well. I had pleural effusion bad enough that I thought my new valve had failed. Heavy doses of ibuprofen took care of that, fortunately. I had massive digestive issues (then anesthesia and then pain meds brought my digestive system to a complete stop). About a month post-op, I had to be re-admitted to the hospital for a week to rule out heart issues, then to get my digestive system re-started. There were plenty of other issues, but I won't bore you with them now.
The moral of my story is that in spite of all these trials and tribulations, with the help of all the folks here (and, of course, the higher power of your choice), I am still here, nine years later. I continue to do all the crazy things I did before (Well, most of them. I'm older now.). I don't run any more - knees told me not to. Also, my beta blocker limits my Max HR, so I have to control the need for speed. I use the elliptical or Arc Trainer, doing 2-3 miles a day. I also use weight/resistance machines, but (at cardio's advice) I use less weight but do more reps. I'm pretty much ahead of the class on all the usual recreational things, for a guy of my now more advanced age (I'm now 72).
In the ensuing years, our only daughter got married, moved out of state, and we now have two grandsons. I got to see this all, thanks to Moo.
Basically, life is good. . . really good. Had it not been for all of my extended family here at vr.org, I am not sure how things would have turned out. Thanks, everyone!
