Nancy
Well-known member
I thought I would let you know how Joe is progressing. This past year has been very, very eventful for him and not all of it has been good, but I think we're seeing a light at the end of this long tunnel.
For those new members, Joe had had his 3rd valve surgery last July and it was a repair on his mitral. It was a success. Shortly after, he developed serum sickness which put him back in the ICU for 12 days and left him in very bad shape. He recovered througout the winter and in the spring, he developed gallbladder problems, and had surgery to remove that this past May. Something went wrong during that surgery, and he had a total post surgical bleedout. He was in the ICU again for an extended stay and came home in semi-shock condition and in very bad shape with enormous amounts of ascitic fluid. In July he started feeling better, but came down with an extremely high temp of 106.7. Back into the ICU and another extended hospital stay. He was pumped full of antibiotics. In spite of all kinds of cultures and other tests, there was no diagnosis. But he gradually got better. Then came down with a clostridium difficile diarrhea infection in the hospital. It apparently was going around, and because of the antibiotics, he got a dose. He was put on Flagyl and it improved, but when that ended, the problem returned with a vengeance, leaving him totally depleted and very weak. Back on Flagyl (he's been on that for almost a month) and now on Questran, and yogurt, Nancy's script. Finally he's feeling better.
He's resumed trying to get the ole bod back in shape. We've started walking, since he's never been able to do any rehab after surgery last year, and he's lifting a little, 20 lbs. to start.
The very good news is that his heart has held up extremely well. And it's been tested to the MAX, afib, tachycardia, aflutter, PVCs, shock, hypotension, hypertension, low INRs, high INRs, all sorts of infections and meds. He said today while walking that he has no breathing problems anymore and his CHF is under control.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of the major problems.
So-o-o, the moral of the story is that no matter how hard it is getting this surgery, it is a life saver, because you never know what else life has in store.
Never give up and never give in. And don't take no for an answer.
For those new members, Joe had had his 3rd valve surgery last July and it was a repair on his mitral. It was a success. Shortly after, he developed serum sickness which put him back in the ICU for 12 days and left him in very bad shape. He recovered througout the winter and in the spring, he developed gallbladder problems, and had surgery to remove that this past May. Something went wrong during that surgery, and he had a total post surgical bleedout. He was in the ICU again for an extended stay and came home in semi-shock condition and in very bad shape with enormous amounts of ascitic fluid. In July he started feeling better, but came down with an extremely high temp of 106.7. Back into the ICU and another extended hospital stay. He was pumped full of antibiotics. In spite of all kinds of cultures and other tests, there was no diagnosis. But he gradually got better. Then came down with a clostridium difficile diarrhea infection in the hospital. It apparently was going around, and because of the antibiotics, he got a dose. He was put on Flagyl and it improved, but when that ended, the problem returned with a vengeance, leaving him totally depleted and very weak. Back on Flagyl (he's been on that for almost a month) and now on Questran, and yogurt, Nancy's script. Finally he's feeling better.
He's resumed trying to get the ole bod back in shape. We've started walking, since he's never been able to do any rehab after surgery last year, and he's lifting a little, 20 lbs. to start.
The very good news is that his heart has held up extremely well. And it's been tested to the MAX, afib, tachycardia, aflutter, PVCs, shock, hypotension, hypertension, low INRs, high INRs, all sorts of infections and meds. He said today while walking that he has no breathing problems anymore and his CHF is under control.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this is the end of the major problems.
So-o-o, the moral of the story is that no matter how hard it is getting this surgery, it is a life saver, because you never know what else life has in store.
Never give up and never give in. And don't take no for an answer.
