Hello everyone! Sorry it's been so long since my last update, but for some reason I could only access the site using my cell phone and not the hospital wireless network. So that's why the posts have been pretty short and infrequent - it's tough for me to do much with the cell. I've been home since Monday afternoon and I feel GREAT! I've been retaining a lot of fluids since the surgery buy my cardio has been zapping me with Lasix and that's been doing the trick. I came home 12lbs heaver that when I went in, and it wasn't from eating - LOL.
I'd like to start by sending a giant THANK YOU to everyone for the prayers and thoughts for me and my family. This site is such a blessing and you all are so wonderful to band together and keep the positive thoughts flowing.
As you may know my surgery was performed by Dr Richard Stahl at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla, CA. Dr Stahl and his staff are amazing and made sure all of my questions were answered and all of my needs were met prior to checking into the hospital on surgery day. Once I was checked in and ready, I was handed over to the OR prep teams who are awesome. Everyone had a smile on their face and was extremely accommodating and professional. The nursing staff in the ICU was amazing - I just don't know how they do it. It's hard to describe the level of dedication, passion, and professionalism these men and women possess - they truly are amazing. Every time I asked for something they were all over it, with a smile and an excellent attitude; even at 2AM. So when it was time to move to the telemetry floor, it thought to myself - "here's where the awesome personal care stops and the so-so care begins". And to my surprise, I couldn't have been more wrong. Of course the care in ICU is much more focused and time sensitive for the obvious reasons. But honestly there was not that much a change from ICU to telemetry. The nurses were all very accommodating and have really awesome attitudes.
I went into the OR at 8AM and came out at about 1PM. It was kind for funny in the beginning because the Anesthesiologist told me he didn't want to give the pre-op cocktail before rolling me back because he was afraid my blood pressure might drip to low. So I said my goodbye's the off I went. It was a bit strange being rolled into the OR fully awake, and being introduced to all of the OR staff as they moved me to the table and started to get me hooked up to everything. One really important thing I noticed was everyone was smiling and was upbeat and appeared to really enjoy their job. It was very reassuring. So cocktail time came and off to sleep I went.
My surgeon planned to replace the aortic valve with a Carbomedics mechanical valve and repair my AAA with Dacron mesh to reinforce the artery and repair the aneurism. During the surgery he used a Carbomedics 27mm mechanical to replace my severely stenotic valve. He also discovered the diameter of my aorta was not as large as the cardiology report indicated, and the wall thickness was normal - not weakened as they had initially thought. He also discovered the aneurism was small and was not in the range for surgical repair. So all-in-all, he replaced the valve and said we'll keep and eye on the artery.
I can honestly say that the only problem I've had during the post-op period was the night I came home. I was having a really tough time sleeping. Every time I tried to sleep I'd experience shortness of breath. And the only position that would work for me was setting straight up. Needless to say, I didn't get any sleep the first night. The next morning after my INR test, I went to my cardio and told him about the breathing and the fluids I was still packing around. He immediately gave me 80cc of Lasix (IV style) and so far that's really helped. The hospital sent me home with 40mg tabs of Lasix to take once per day, but they weren't being effective.
I'm home, I'm doing great, and I’m getting into my walk about routine. Even though I've only had the new valve for 9 day's now, I can really feel the difference. And I'm sure I'll keep improving as the healing progresses.
Thank You All, and God Bless You
