i'm back oink oink

[richie rich]

hello everyone

I ' m back from my operation. I had my aortic vavle replaced on dec. 26th at NYU with Dr. Colvin using the minimal invasive tech.. I came home yesterday. Sorry that i couldn't post be4 but my wife slept at the hosiptal with me.

So far so good. The surgery was a success. When i came out of surgery I started oinking real loud. Yhe head chief at NYU then came in the room and tried to roast me like a pig. They forgot to order ham and bacon and needed it for the next day. Fortunately my wife was there and she took the apple out of my mouth.

I received a 27mm Medtronic Mossaic Pig valve that i hope gets me to 50.

i splept ok last nite. went to bed at 9:30pm, receievd a very delicous kiss from my wife at midnite, woke up at 2:30pm on my own, went back to bed 15 minutes later and woke up at 5:40am for good. I am a little lite headed. scar does not hurt and i barely feel it. little burning and it is starting to swell down. my shoulders, back and shoulder blades hurt alot. i actually heard my heart last nite went i went to bed. kinda cool. i'll post more thruout the day and week.

alicia if u have any questions just ask. i kept waiting for patrick to show back up but he never did.

Rich

 

[wlaldridge]

Wow, you sound great.

That is amazing.

Happy New year and best of luck.

Give us more details later if you feel like it.

Bill

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Rich

So glad all went well!!!! What a wonderful New Year's present.....and the very best way to start a new year!!! Stay well and rest whenever you need to.

Has anyone heard from Patrick????? I've been off line so long I can't remember when he had his surgery....the beginning of December, wasn't it?

Evelyn

 

[Dave5Baseball]

Congrats Rich!!

Sounds like you are doing good. Hope your recovery goes smooth the rest of the way.

Happy New Year!!

 

[terry40]

doing great richie rich

doing great richie rich

I tried to get my docs to do the minimal evasive surgery, but no go, I heard the recoup time was a lot less.

You sound great though, I will be happy to hear all the details, just don't ham it up so much He-he-he!

Terry40

 

[Lorraine]

CONGRATULATIONS RICH!

You sound great! What a lovely present to be home for the New Year. Love your sense of humor about your valve choice.

Welcome to the other side! HAve A HAppy New Year! TAke care and God Bless!

 

[wlaldridge]

Welcome back to you Ev.

Patrick posted that he went home aroung Dec 9, I think. You can do a member search and search his posts, there were really not that many as I recall.

 

[Granbonny]

Hi Porky

Hi Porky

when you fel better scan the threads on your birthday..We sent greetings but you were in hospital. Take it easy, walk a lot, nap a lot ..don't worry about eating. Nothing will taste good.. Bonnie

 

[EVELYN]

Hi Bill.....and thanks for the welcome back. Seems like I've been gone for eons!!!! I don't like being incommunicado from this group. You are all very important to me, and I miss it when I don't hear from ya'll!!!!

Looks like FLA gators blew it, yes???? They played Michigan, didn't they???? There were so many games on today that I gave up and took a nap. Tyce watched them and is now on the Rose Bowl. I'll be in the spare room on SoapNet!!!

Take care and may we ALL have the healthiest of New Years.

Ev

 

[Granbonny]

Ev

Ev

Get up from your nap and watch Georgia beat Florida State..so Bill and Ann will cry hehe....By the way Richie Rich..we have a way of straying from the threads You watch too and help root for my Bulldawgs. Bonnie

 

[R0Y]

Excellent (oink oink) news!

A happy and healthy new year to all!

-- roy --

 

[Vicki448]

Richie Rich, great news about your surgery going so well...good for you. I hope your recuperation time continues to be problem-free. I had my surgery "the old fashioned way" so I don't know about your type of surgery, but I have read that the recovery time is much less, so that's good. Take care...take naps...take walks...take breaks when you need them...take time to smell the roses/flowers....life is good....

 

[MarkU]

Good to hear from you. Glad everything went well.

Listen to your body and don't push too hard through your recovery. I found that some days I felt kind of euphoric and did too much, then paid for it the next day. Learned to take naps when I was tired.

Glad you're doing well.

Take care,

Mark

 

[LA_Cruiser]

Congrats oink oink, Tic tic here....

Congrats oink oink, Tic tic here....

...now that you've joined 'their club' did they inform you as to when the 'year of the porcine' comes around?

Seems like the Chinese have a year for everything/everyone, wonder if they have or will add a year for the 'artificial ones.'

Glad to know you're doing great! I didn't know that NYU 'copied' the Mexican prisons' ways, that is, allow sleep-overs (for certain privilege ones of course

Take care and God Bless all 'the gang!'

 

[joy]

You know Bonnie, I don't really like pro football, but I do really like the Huskys. THey rock! Let's see, for baseball, none other than the M's. That's it for sports for me!

 

[richie rich]

hey joy

i think you replied to the wrong thread.
thats ok but i don't think bonnie will see this unless you repost to her. take care

 

[showhost]

Fellow NYU Patient!!

Fellow NYU Patient!!

Rich...

Congrats on your successful minimally-invasive surgery at NYU. and hello to everyone else on this site. I have not posted before but I frequently perused the postings here while researching my own AVR (which I had at NYU on Halloween Day - two months ago). I had a bovine tissue valve installed by Dr. Ribakove (with the Colvin group) and all went without a hitch.

However, I must say that the reason I found your post was because I did a search for "shoulder blades" on the site when I found your post. I have been experiencing INTENSE shoulder blade pain (mostly on left side) as well as arm pain and tingling in fingers recently. This didn't begin until 3-4 weeks after surgery and it just comes and goes. But when it hits it requires that I take pain med (Tylenol 3) to live with it. Massage is NOT an option as it only intensifies and aggravates the pain. Heat too, is of little help.

I write this for all who are of the opinion that this pain stems primarily from the "chest spreader" creating pressure on the back muscles or cracking the "joint capsules" in the back when the sternum is opened (as seems to be what people are saying).

In the minmally-invasive technique employed at NYU, the chest is opened between two ribs to the right of the sternum, where only a 3 1/2 inch horizontal incision is made - unlike the traditional vertical sternum cut - and the riibs are separated horizontally (thus NOT applying the pressure on the back that has been described in so many posts).

It certainly has me puzzled as I don't know what to attribute this shoulder pain to and neither does my cardiologist here in Los Angeles. They did a CAT scan and echo and the new valve is functioning properly -- without any fissures, tears or similar complications. Yet I stiill have these sporadic pain episodes.

Wonder what others may have to say about this. Any others out there from the "minimally-invasive" camp?

Larry

 

[joy]

Sorry, Richie, I meant to reply something else to you...I'm the extreme version of the pumphead. So you joined us in the bioprosthetic valve club, huh? I have a C.E. bovine mitral valve. I'm thankful to the cow that gave me his valve...I can get over the flu and a cold in like 10 hours flat. It used to take months! THis is GREAT! Sorry about the reply before...like I said, I am the extreme version of the pumphead...still one year and 4 months post op. some people never get over it! Glad you're doing well.

 

[mamsram]

showhost

Tell me why??

you had surgery at N.Y.U. and your cardiologist is in California.
thats a long way to travel and California, well, shoudn't that area of the country be the cutting-edge of any tech.

will be looking for any follow-up of your pain problem. This is a great learning site for us potentials.

Glad your doing well. Isn't it nice to have someone (richie) you can relate to because of your similar circumstances?


CHEERS! Happy NRW YEAR

 

[Ross]

Richie Rich glad all went well. We were wondering about you! You have a lot of catching up to do when your fully up to it.

Show host- I've always thought that it was the rib spreaders that cause that pain. I have it too on occasion and yes, it's the left side. I really don't know, but it is painful. I'm wondering if any of us really know?