Hi, everyone! As you have all told me, the day has come when I woke this morning to find that I felt really well for the first time in a long time. This evening I am tuckered out again but I know I will feel even better tomorrow. For those of you waiting for surgery, this is the good day that will come for you also.
Instead of the saga, here is a brief recount of what I remember of this week. It was a dark and stormy night....on Monday and I didn't sleep at all but instead just lay in the dark and listened to some of my favorite music. Tuesday I was up at 04:00 and at the hospital by 05:10 where someone was actually expecting me which seemed a good start. Prep took a couple of hours with two repeats of the hundred favorite questions asked of heart surgery patients and the fur removal by two very entertaining ladies and then it was off the coldest room this side of Antarctica. A moment later, I woke with a respirator and a really fuzzy brain. Dr Spann, my surgeon, told me later that things were almost exactly as he expected and that surgery went very well. He lost his bet with the cardiologist, however, because my valve was tricuspid just in very bad shape. As we had discussed, he removed it and replaced it with the Carpentier-Edwards Bio-prosthetic. Also as agreed, he used a set of three sternal talons to close my sternum and left me with an inventory of 3 drains, 2 pacing wires, 2 Iv lines and a catheter in the neck along with a couple of additional holds no doubt necessary for symetry.
I only remember snatches of Tuesday in the ICU although I do remember the removal of the ventilator that evening. I don't remember when the bear appeared by I know he was there by the time the respirator was removed. Wednesday was just a series of wakings getting a little less fuzzy each time and finally near midnight they had decided my kidneys were, indeed, working again and I got moved to my room. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling ok but activity through the day left me really spent and they were still checking blood glucose evey hour through last night which made sleeping a little bit of a challenge. Thursday was eating, exercising and sleeping. I tried to read and gave it up as hopeless. Walking left me winded and I was quite tired by bed time.
Today, however, I woke up clear headed and I felt really really good for the first time in a long while. I walked more with less exhaustion and have had several friends stop by and, finally, got my internet connection back so I can communicate with the world. Like the rest of you I have been sucking on the spirometer and marveling at being able to do things without wobbling. I've still got one drain so I only had a spong bath today but tomorrow I am going for the shower as soon as the last tube is removed. I have to say that life feels good tonight.
With respect to the sternal talons, for those of you interested in them, I had some real chest discomfort in the ICU when I coughed up something a lot like a furball that was disgusting enough it would have done any Tonkinese proud. I definately used the bear. Since being moved to my recovery room, the ribs beneath my left shoulder blade have been far more uncomfortable than my chest. I don't have any sense of motion in my chest and even coughing is only mildly uncomfortable. Tonight, I am steady on my feet and I have walked 2000 feet today in 4 outings. Pain meds, which I am happy to have, were down today to one in the morning and one in the afternoon and now one at bedtime. And speaking of bedtime, I need to be moving in that direction now.
I have spent the past two days telling everyone here what wonderful people you all are and that they should send their other patients to VR so they won't be alone during one of the scariest times of their lives.
The Bear says, good night.
Instead of the saga, here is a brief recount of what I remember of this week. It was a dark and stormy night....on Monday and I didn't sleep at all but instead just lay in the dark and listened to some of my favorite music. Tuesday I was up at 04:00 and at the hospital by 05:10 where someone was actually expecting me which seemed a good start. Prep took a couple of hours with two repeats of the hundred favorite questions asked of heart surgery patients and the fur removal by two very entertaining ladies and then it was off the coldest room this side of Antarctica. A moment later, I woke with a respirator and a really fuzzy brain. Dr Spann, my surgeon, told me later that things were almost exactly as he expected and that surgery went very well. He lost his bet with the cardiologist, however, because my valve was tricuspid just in very bad shape. As we had discussed, he removed it and replaced it with the Carpentier-Edwards Bio-prosthetic. Also as agreed, he used a set of three sternal talons to close my sternum and left me with an inventory of 3 drains, 2 pacing wires, 2 Iv lines and a catheter in the neck along with a couple of additional holds no doubt necessary for symetry.
I only remember snatches of Tuesday in the ICU although I do remember the removal of the ventilator that evening. I don't remember when the bear appeared by I know he was there by the time the respirator was removed. Wednesday was just a series of wakings getting a little less fuzzy each time and finally near midnight they had decided my kidneys were, indeed, working again and I got moved to my room. Yesterday morning I woke up feeling ok but activity through the day left me really spent and they were still checking blood glucose evey hour through last night which made sleeping a little bit of a challenge. Thursday was eating, exercising and sleeping. I tried to read and gave it up as hopeless. Walking left me winded and I was quite tired by bed time.
Today, however, I woke up clear headed and I felt really really good for the first time in a long while. I walked more with less exhaustion and have had several friends stop by and, finally, got my internet connection back so I can communicate with the world. Like the rest of you I have been sucking on the spirometer and marveling at being able to do things without wobbling. I've still got one drain so I only had a spong bath today but tomorrow I am going for the shower as soon as the last tube is removed. I have to say that life feels good tonight.
With respect to the sternal talons, for those of you interested in them, I had some real chest discomfort in the ICU when I coughed up something a lot like a furball that was disgusting enough it would have done any Tonkinese proud. I definately used the bear. Since being moved to my recovery room, the ribs beneath my left shoulder blade have been far more uncomfortable than my chest. I don't have any sense of motion in my chest and even coughing is only mildly uncomfortable. Tonight, I am steady on my feet and I have walked 2000 feet today in 4 outings. Pain meds, which I am happy to have, were down today to one in the morning and one in the afternoon and now one at bedtime. And speaking of bedtime, I need to be moving in that direction now.
I have spent the past two days telling everyone here what wonderful people you all are and that they should send their other patients to VR so they won't be alone during one of the scariest times of their lives.
The Bear says, good night.