speedyalice
New member
Hi,
My dad learned 3 weeks ago his sudden shortness of breath and occ. chest pain were due to aortic valve stenosis and he needed AVR. The following day one of the Hospice caregivers told him that my mother (still at home, thanks to Dad's care) in the last stage of Alzheimer's, was probably in her last months of life (her heart is not strong and she is very frail).
Lots of stress for my poor dad! His number one concern is spending as little time as possible away from Mom. I'm so grateful to have found this board; so much great info and experiences shared here. It helped me to convince my dad that he didn't have to have his OHS in Marquette (a lovely place, but not a lot of OHS done there) but could go to CCF, and that CCF would give him the best chance for returning to Mom with a good chance of recovery.
His surgery is scheduled for Aug 21 at CCF with Dr Bruce Lytle. Dad is feeling much more optimistic now that he's going to CCF and will be in the best of hands. I had hoped that he'd be able to have some type of minimally invasive surgery (although I understand that those are on a spectrum, and some aren't all that minimal) but Dr Lytle's specialty is the full sternotomy. I have heard and read so many glowing reports of Dr L's skill, though, that I'm optimistic about my Dad's chances for a good result, and hopefully the recovery won't be horrendous. So glad and grateful that this option is available to my dad!
Any similar experiences, advice, suggestions, etc. are very much appreciated! Anyone with CCF or Dr Lytle input, would love to hear it. I'm trying to keep my dad encouraged and positive.
Back to reading the forum, and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share.
My dad learned 3 weeks ago his sudden shortness of breath and occ. chest pain were due to aortic valve stenosis and he needed AVR. The following day one of the Hospice caregivers told him that my mother (still at home, thanks to Dad's care) in the last stage of Alzheimer's, was probably in her last months of life (her heart is not strong and she is very frail).
Lots of stress for my poor dad! His number one concern is spending as little time as possible away from Mom. I'm so grateful to have found this board; so much great info and experiences shared here. It helped me to convince my dad that he didn't have to have his OHS in Marquette (a lovely place, but not a lot of OHS done there) but could go to CCF, and that CCF would give him the best chance for returning to Mom with a good chance of recovery.
His surgery is scheduled for Aug 21 at CCF with Dr Bruce Lytle. Dad is feeling much more optimistic now that he's going to CCF and will be in the best of hands. I had hoped that he'd be able to have some type of minimally invasive surgery (although I understand that those are on a spectrum, and some aren't all that minimal) but Dr Lytle's specialty is the full sternotomy. I have heard and read so many glowing reports of Dr L's skill, though, that I'm optimistic about my Dad's chances for a good result, and hopefully the recovery won't be horrendous. So glad and grateful that this option is available to my dad!
Any similar experiences, advice, suggestions, etc. are very much appreciated! Anyone with CCF or Dr Lytle input, would love to hear it. I'm trying to keep my dad encouraged and positive.
Back to reading the forum, and thank you to everyone who has taken the time to share.
