fabyan64
Well-known member
Hi all,
Y'all may have seen me post a few things mid-march, when my cousin recommended this site after I was told that I needed my St. Jude AR replaced and a 5.3cm ascending and 5.7cm aortic arch aneurysm repaired. Well, I was lucky is more ways than one. On March 23 I met Dr. Lawrie in Houston (just called him up as my recommended Chicago surgeon was not covered by the insurance) where he decided I enter Methodist Hospital the next day for a heart cath and surgery the following day. In preparation for everything I had a few chest x-rays, another echo, ekg and lab work done. Nobody checked my INR that day, so when I was about to begin the cath (to the point of needle insertion) the cardiologist came in and asked about the INR, and followed up with 2.0 - No go. That evening Dr. Lawrie came to my room with his assistants and apologized for the delay with the heart cath, and suggested I go to some considered the world's best aortic aneurysm surgeon, Dr. Joseph Coselli at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (across the street from Methodist). Dr. Coselli's speciality is aortic aneurysm (thoracic and abdominal). He takes in patients from all over the world, and has an incredible team of people. The Texas Medical Center is an incredible campus!
Getting to the point, I checked in at 5:30 am on March 31, and woke up in ICU on April 1 at 7:30 am. I'd always thought I was allergic to opiates since I vomited so badly in 1991 during my last surgery with the respirator installed, but it seems this is not an allergic reaction at all. I'm pleased to know that, but vomited 4-5 times in ICU from the Fentanyl. Due to a lack of available rooms I did not get to my room until 3:30 am on Thursday. Thursday morning the first chest tube was removed (this time it was absolutely awful as no pain meds were administered - but did not have the same issue in the past). I requested Fentanyl for the second tube and the pace maker electrodes left in-place.
They released me Sunday morning - much to their own shock and surprise. I can tell you a number of factors played into such a successful surgery.
Previous experience:
- Aortic valvotomy is 1978 (at 12 years) for a severe aortic stenosis
- AVR (St. Jude Medical Nr. 25cm) in 1991 - I spent 7 days in the hospital and I was more impressed with their therapy then than I am now. For instance, the first day out of ICU a woman came to my room, got me to sit on a chair facing the back (pillow between my chest) and gave me a massage before beginning stretching exercises 15-30 minutes every day, plus the breathing exercises.
- AVRepair / Aortic Aneurysm 5.3cm and 5.7cm repair, using a 24cm dacron graft and repaired 10mm of Innomiate vein affected by the aneurysm.
Positive attitude:
- I was shaken up the day I found out I need to have surgery on March 4th.
- Support from friends and relatives, and from a few people here - I was only lurking here for a few days after finding out and had to leave for Houston.
- The feeling that there is no reason the outcome should not be anything but good
- Keeping in mind that if my time were up, what a great way to go - no pain whatsoever.
- I trust in God.
Lifestyle:
- I spent the last 4 months working out, mostly just strengthening my core muscle group.
- Shame on me - I've smoked for a long time, but quit a week before the surgery - all lung function tests, CT scans show clear results and my pulse-ox is 98% - I have zero desire to resume smoking and I will not touch another cigarette.
- Occasional drinker, a beer here, a glass of wine or a vodka/tonic, but only rarely
- Diet okay, not special, but since November I had cut down in sodium, cholesterol, caffeine, etc.
Environment:
- Good hospital (It seems all TMC hospitals are excellent)
- Good surgeon and assistants (Dr. Coselli with Drs. Huh and Choo
p)
- Good nursing care in ICU and room
- Great food
What else can I say? The process each of us deals with when it comes to learning that we or a loved one must undergo heart surgery is pretty awful, but it is up to each individual to make up his mind how he wants to proceed and develop a mental checklist of what they need (who can help?), what they can do to prepare, check out the physician and hospital, check out the insurance, check out what support will be available after the surgery, etc.
Keep a positive attitude. I remember what a pediatrician told me when my identical twin girls were in NICU at 31 weeks when I saw a priest standing in the room near one of my girls (he was standing near a little boy, but I could not see him). He told me, "Mr. Read, some children are sick, and some are not." Keep that in mind, I think it says a lot.
Now, if I can help anyone in anyway to prepare for an upcoming surgery please let me know. I've begun reading about many of the issues I will face here shortly, driving, sex, work, exercise, etc. We are all different, and I'm familiar with a lot of the information, but my last surgery was in 1991. This time my mom who came to Houston to give me support had to be put into the hospital for a cellulitis, which turned into a staff infection - she had surgery last week. Both of us are now stuck in Houston. LOL My wife filed divorce on me the day of my surgery. Wonderful. However, my children call every day to check up on me, or I call them each day.
I do have one question, and wonder if any has experienced this? Besides having my sternum reopened, the also open a 3-inch horizontal section in my right pectoralis, about an inch or so below my right collar bone. This seems to be only place I now have any pain. It's a bit numb, like I've shot a 10-guage shotgun 50 times without holding it tight enough against my shoulder. It seems this was a connection point for the heart-lung machine. Has anyone had this? How long does it take to heal? Are there any exercises to speed the process along? Any recommendations?
Many thanks,
Roderick
Y'all may have seen me post a few things mid-march, when my cousin recommended this site after I was told that I needed my St. Jude AR replaced and a 5.3cm ascending and 5.7cm aortic arch aneurysm repaired. Well, I was lucky is more ways than one. On March 23 I met Dr. Lawrie in Houston (just called him up as my recommended Chicago surgeon was not covered by the insurance) where he decided I enter Methodist Hospital the next day for a heart cath and surgery the following day. In preparation for everything I had a few chest x-rays, another echo, ekg and lab work done. Nobody checked my INR that day, so when I was about to begin the cath (to the point of needle insertion) the cardiologist came in and asked about the INR, and followed up with 2.0 - No go. That evening Dr. Lawrie came to my room with his assistants and apologized for the delay with the heart cath, and suggested I go to some considered the world's best aortic aneurysm surgeon, Dr. Joseph Coselli at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital (across the street from Methodist). Dr. Coselli's speciality is aortic aneurysm (thoracic and abdominal). He takes in patients from all over the world, and has an incredible team of people. The Texas Medical Center is an incredible campus!
Getting to the point, I checked in at 5:30 am on March 31, and woke up in ICU on April 1 at 7:30 am. I'd always thought I was allergic to opiates since I vomited so badly in 1991 during my last surgery with the respirator installed, but it seems this is not an allergic reaction at all. I'm pleased to know that, but vomited 4-5 times in ICU from the Fentanyl. Due to a lack of available rooms I did not get to my room until 3:30 am on Thursday. Thursday morning the first chest tube was removed (this time it was absolutely awful as no pain meds were administered - but did not have the same issue in the past). I requested Fentanyl for the second tube and the pace maker electrodes left in-place.
They released me Sunday morning - much to their own shock and surprise. I can tell you a number of factors played into such a successful surgery.
Previous experience:
- Aortic valvotomy is 1978 (at 12 years) for a severe aortic stenosis
- AVR (St. Jude Medical Nr. 25cm) in 1991 - I spent 7 days in the hospital and I was more impressed with their therapy then than I am now. For instance, the first day out of ICU a woman came to my room, got me to sit on a chair facing the back (pillow between my chest) and gave me a massage before beginning stretching exercises 15-30 minutes every day, plus the breathing exercises.
- AVRepair / Aortic Aneurysm 5.3cm and 5.7cm repair, using a 24cm dacron graft and repaired 10mm of Innomiate vein affected by the aneurysm.
Positive attitude:
- I was shaken up the day I found out I need to have surgery on March 4th.
- Support from friends and relatives, and from a few people here - I was only lurking here for a few days after finding out and had to leave for Houston.
- The feeling that there is no reason the outcome should not be anything but good
- Keeping in mind that if my time were up, what a great way to go - no pain whatsoever.
- I trust in God.
Lifestyle:
- I spent the last 4 months working out, mostly just strengthening my core muscle group.
- Shame on me - I've smoked for a long time, but quit a week before the surgery - all lung function tests, CT scans show clear results and my pulse-ox is 98% - I have zero desire to resume smoking and I will not touch another cigarette.
- Occasional drinker, a beer here, a glass of wine or a vodka/tonic, but only rarely
- Diet okay, not special, but since November I had cut down in sodium, cholesterol, caffeine, etc.
Environment:
- Good hospital (It seems all TMC hospitals are excellent)
- Good surgeon and assistants (Dr. Coselli with Drs. Huh and Choo
p)- Good nursing care in ICU and room
- Great food
What else can I say? The process each of us deals with when it comes to learning that we or a loved one must undergo heart surgery is pretty awful, but it is up to each individual to make up his mind how he wants to proceed and develop a mental checklist of what they need (who can help?), what they can do to prepare, check out the physician and hospital, check out the insurance, check out what support will be available after the surgery, etc.
Keep a positive attitude. I remember what a pediatrician told me when my identical twin girls were in NICU at 31 weeks when I saw a priest standing in the room near one of my girls (he was standing near a little boy, but I could not see him). He told me, "Mr. Read, some children are sick, and some are not." Keep that in mind, I think it says a lot.
Now, if I can help anyone in anyway to prepare for an upcoming surgery please let me know. I've begun reading about many of the issues I will face here shortly, driving, sex, work, exercise, etc. We are all different, and I'm familiar with a lot of the information, but my last surgery was in 1991. This time my mom who came to Houston to give me support had to be put into the hospital for a cellulitis, which turned into a staff infection - she had surgery last week. Both of us are now stuck in Houston. LOL My wife filed divorce on me the day of my surgery. Wonderful. However, my children call every day to check up on me, or I call them each day.
I do have one question, and wonder if any has experienced this? Besides having my sternum reopened, the also open a 3-inch horizontal section in my right pectoralis, about an inch or so below my right collar bone. This seems to be only place I now have any pain. It's a bit numb, like I've shot a 10-guage shotgun 50 times without holding it tight enough against my shoulder. It seems this was a connection point for the heart-lung machine. Has anyone had this? How long does it take to heal? Are there any exercises to speed the process along? Any recommendations?
Many thanks,
Roderick
