I found news on TORREY PINES

[Mentu]

Marcia, thanks for your updates.

 

[ottagal]

Marcia,
Great to get the update and glad that Kurt is making progress. Best wishes continuing for a 'bump free' recovery. Ah yes...the chest tubes...always good to get those out.

 

[njean]

So glad to read of Kurt's progress. I hope he continues to do well & perhaps make it home by Christmas! Hope Christine can relax now too!

Thanks so much for the updates Marcia!

 

[mac]

Chest tube removal SUCKS!!!! good thing Kurt will have them out before he realize's it.
Funny how no one mentioned this in the Pre Op forum, I guess pre-op people don't need to know everything.
Anyway, giver hell Kurt, in four weeks you will be biking 9 miles a day. Just a little challenge for you.

Mac
AVR, single by-pass 11/19/09
Carbo-medics mechanical
Dr. Suri
Mayo Clinic

 

[Doug]

I am glad to hear things are going good. I added a short post to post surgery and will update more tomorrow.

 

[Marcia58]

Another CarePages update, dated 1 hour ago:

Good Everyone All,

Today was a full day. Kurt had his chest tube pulled as well as the internal wires. This was not pleasant but he is able to breathe easier now. We also took 4 small walks and he sat up for all of his meals and spent some time on the sofa watching part of a show. His pain is manageable but today was tough. It hits just how traumatic this type of surgery is. Kurt's exhausted and feels like he's been hit and run over by a Mac truck. Our friends on Valvereplacement say this is common. He also had his blood checked for sugar levels and they are temporarily giving him insulin. Evidently this is common in heart surgery patients. They try to keep blood sugar at a certain level to aid in the healing process. They also began his coumadin. It should take a couple of weeks to figure out the proper levels. His color is good and he was able to take a shower. This was a big morale boost. I'll be bringing his flannel pajama bottoms in tomorrow. He's currently wearing XL bottoms and they're hanging off of his bum. The surgeon stopped by earlier in the day and said he is very happy with Kurt's progress. If all continues to go well he should be able to come home on Sunday or Monday.

One week from today we'll all be celebrating a very special Christmas. Thanks for all of your posts. Our goal for tomorrow is to have Kurt walk to the patient/guest computers so he can read all of your wonderfully supportive posts.

With love,

Christine and Kurt

 

[Lily]

Hi Kurt and Christine - Try to get outdoors for a few minutes, if you're allowed too, to soak up a little bit of this glorious sunshine we're enjoying. That should bring you some energy and refreshment. And keep up with that strange and annoying little plastic spirometer. (Mine had a made in Temecula, CA sticker on the bottom.) Continued best wishes .

 

[Luana]

Hi Kurt and Christine,
So glad to hear you are doing well! Hope you're home soon and can begin to enjoy the healing process.
Luana

 

[nngbwh]

This is a great news !!!!! Glad he is doing great .Just take it easy.

 

[ctyguy]

Sounds like things are moving along quite nicely.....awsome !

 

[torreypines]

Hello All, just wanted to drop a quick note and say thank you for the support and prayers. I have the deepest respect for those who have gone through this gauntlet (sometimes more than once). Doug glad to hear you’re doing ok, our thoughts and prayers are with you also. Has anyone seen something posted from Old Geezer? Christine wants to thank Marcia for pulling double duty with CarePages and VR…it made things a lot easier for her.
Thanks
Kurt

 

[river-wear]

Hey Kurt, welcome back from under that truck!

I'm glad things are moving along well for you, all things considered. We're all waiting to see how Rick, the "old geezer" is doing.

Best wishes,
Michele

 

[jjay32]

welcome to the other side of the mountain.

 

[Marcia58]

Kurt And Christine,

I logged on to post the most recent CarePage news, and found that Kurt had already been here! What a nice surprise! I'm going to go ahead and post it anyway, since it has more details, but barring any "bumps" this will be my last "official act." With the news of Kurt's arrival home, I will consider myself officially relieved of duty.

Welcome to this side of the mountain!

Marcia

***********
(posted on CarePages about an hour before Kurt posted here)

Kurt is officially getting back to normal. We've been walking a lot today (30 to 40 minutes) and laughing quite a bit. It feels so good to laugh and the girls and I look forward to having him home soon. It looks like he'll be able to come home tomorrow. Kurt's brother, Brien will stay with him tonight and help him get anything he needs. We met with a wonderful physical therapist today who is also a certified pilates instructor. He showed Kurt some great breathing exercises which increased his oxygen to 100%. He climbed a flight of stairs and managed just fine with a short break at the top. The girls and I made a lunch run to our favorite restaurant,Aladdin and brought Kurt his usual dish, Lamb and Chicken kabobs with garlic sauce and hummus. He felt so much better after having this and had a lot more energy. He read all of your messages today and was heartened by all of your love and support. Hopefully we'll send a final update tomorrow to let you know that Kurt is home and well on his way to recovery.

 

[Nicholas288]

Christine and Kurt,
Glad to hear everything went smoothly and that everything is progressing.
Thoughts and Prayers for a continually progressing recovery
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays
Nick

 

[Mileena46]

Yay! Everything went great and Kurt is going home!! I love good news!

Mileena

 

[Danny]

Kurt, its great to see you posting! Im glad it went great for you, its going to be a great Christmas for you and Christine.

 

[Nupur]

So good to hear from you Kurt! Looks like you are well on your way to recovery. Wishing you a smooth recovery and Happy Holidays to you, Christine and your girls!!

 

[Marcia58]

Kurt was discharged at Noon today and is home watching the Chargers! He has gained so much strength so fast it's hard to believe he had surgery on Wednesday. Being in such good shape has made all of the difference. I think we're going to take it easy the rest of the day. I need to fill his prescriptions and wrap Christmas presents and we'll go for a walk later this afternoon. We will be going on a couple of appointments this week and then celebrating Christmas.

Now that we're home we'll be going back to normal communication. Feel free to call or come by and visit. We just have to make sure that everyone is healthy. Thank you to all of our loved ones that have come to the site and posted your well wishes. They sustained us through a rough couple of days.

We love you all and wish you the Merriest of Christmas's,
Kurt, Christine, Georgia and Ella

**************

This was posted on Kurt's webpage 5 hours ago.

Marcia58 standing down.

 

[Doug]

Great to hear about Kurt going home and I am glad for him. That thing with the blood sugar seems to be all the rage, I have run out fingers about 5 times over. They say too high blood sugar promotes infection.