Leading up to surgery.

[Ovie]

Yes ski girl, it did make you sound old :x just kidding, I have no license due to my drinking, I still have a few beers, but sadly at age 25 my buddies are still going strong on the heavy drinking life that I've chosen to step aside from. Also thank you for the beach comment, didn't make me jealous at all

Sarah, yeah..I've been down lately, I don't think it's due to surgery, I've come to terms with it and accepted it, trying to make the best of it. I'm 11 days cigaretteless so that's great, difficult, but I'm surprised I've made it this far which gives me a confidence boost from time to time. The parent issue is being worked on and they're willing to sit down and talk about it. I just feel as if they aren't educating themselves like I am. I know I'd I was a parent and my son was having his first OHS I'd be on the Internet every free minute I had.

Jobs around this area are hard to come by unless it's hard labor or construction, both out of the question for now. I'm thinking about art classes, I've always loved to draw and been pretty good but gotten rusty over the last couple years, so that's an option. As far as social worker at the hospital I'll have to ask them about the whole "younger" person thing. I don't have many supportive friends, which is funny because one is in nursing school, watch out for her..my buddy that quit is having his own problems so other than minor things he's not available. My biggest concern is that I just won't be ready for the surgery in time, not like mentally or physically wise, but plans and what not, but hey, I doubt anybody really is.

I appreciate all the ideas you've thrown my way and your concern, means alot. Thank you.

 

[Jkm7]

Hi Ovie-

Well I've had two OHS within a year of each other, one I had months to prepare for and one I had about a day . . . and I'm not sure which was harder on me emotionally! You'd think the emergency one, but I'm not sure. I worked up until the week before, then I had a quick holiday in one of my favourite places, then did everything I thought I'd struggle with post-op - all the laundry, taught myself how to get out of bed without using my arms, painted my toenails, washed the car . . . and then I'd just drive someplace where I felt calm (I'm lucky, I live 10 minutes from the coast!).

I was pretty wound up by the day before the surgery! And I wasn't trying to quit smoking I'd say make as much use of your friends as possible, make them take you places, make them play endless games of Uno with you . . . and best of luck from down under!!

I agree.....

My first was emergency and I had no notice and the 'aftershock' when I got home from the whole odyssey was very hard.

My second surgery, I had about a month notice and the wait for those 30 days was brutal.

There is no easy route IMO

 

[sarahsunshine]

Nope, it’s not easy to prepare for. As I prepared and researched for Skyler’s surgery, many times I wished that if I had the same surgery I had to go through, that I had a team that I could completely trust, who could work out all the details for me (medical, financial, logistic). Bit I think I might have a bit of a conniption if I wasn’t kept in the loop.

I also think that you may be surprised at the number of “younger people” who have heart surgery. There was a kid the same age as Skyler who had heart surgery and was right across the hall. Three other kids (2-5 yo) had heart surgery in the same time period that Skyler was at the hospital. The cardiac ward was full of people, many of whom were older, but a couple of whom were younger. I would definitely talk to the social worker, or try to locate the local heart network.

Another good place to call would be your cardiologist’s office. Talk to the admin staff and ask if they know of any local heart surgery support groups. I know that there are several here in Alberta, and even some that are specific to children and young adults. They likely have some meeting times too, or a network for meeting people.

I just discovered that there are some sites and organizations that help people pay their medical bills for big things. If you are in that type of position, it may be worth contacting them to help with the preparation, dealing with health insurance, and just understanding what’s involved.

 

[Duffey]

Hey Ovie,

I went to college in Winona so I'm very familar with Rochester. It's not Iowa, but it's close.:wink2:

There are no easy answers to how to spend your time leading up to the replacement. The waiting sucks, big time. It's also a crappy time of the year; at least I think so.

Maybe you can concentrate on what you want to accomplish post-surgery. I found the Active Lifestyles forum to be particularly helpful pre-surgery because it shows that there is a lot of life post valve replacement.

For now, you should be giving yourself big pats on the back. Kicking cigarettes was about the hardest thing I've ever done. You've got one major life battle under your belt. Soon you'll have another.:smile2:

 

[Lynlw]

Yes ski girl, it did make you sound old :x just kidding, I have no license due to my drinking, I still have a few beers, but sadly at age 25 my buddies are still going strong on the heavy drinking life that I've chosen to step aside from. Also thank you for the beach comment, didn't make me jealous at all

Sarah, yeah..I've been down lately, I don't think it's due to surgery, I've come to terms with it and accepted it, trying to make the best of it. I'm 11 days cigaretteless so that's great, difficult, but I'm surprised I've made it this far which gives me a confidence boost from time to time. The parent issue is being worked on and they're willing to sit down and talk about it. I just feel as if they aren't educating themselves like I am. I know I'd I was a parent and my son was having his first OHS I'd be on the Internet every free minute I had.

Jobs around this area are hard to come by unless it's hard labor or construction, both out of the question for now. I'm thinking about art classes, I've always loved to draw and been pretty good but gotten rusty over the last couple years, so that's an option. As far as social worker at the hospital I'll have to ask them about the whole "younger" person thing. I don't have many supportive friends, which is funny because one is in nursing school, watch out for her..my buddy that quit is having his own problems so other than minor things he's not available. My biggest concern is that I just won't be ready for the surgery in time, not like mentally or physically wise, but plans and what not, but hey, I doubt anybody really is.

I appreciate all the ideas you've thrown my way and your concern, means alot. Thank you.

Hi Ovie, I think I mentioned them before, but have you checked out the forums at the Adults with CHD org? http://www.achaheart.org/ Most members have had surgery as a child and /or young adult and plenty of them should be about your age now. I haven't spent time there lately incase Justin is ever interested in joining a group like theres I dont want to have him worry about me reading his thoughts, buT it's pretty active with members all over the Country , well world. I know some meet up with other local members either thru support groups or just as friends.

I was wonderring have you known about your heart issues most of your life, or was this something relatively new?

 

[drivetopless]

Don't know if your buds would be into it, but how about a road trip somewhere cool with your closest family or friends? My girlfriends and I rented a cabin in the mountains one weekend before and had a great time just hanging out. It was a good distraction.

On the morbid side, I made sure my legal/financial papers were in order and people knew where to find them just in case. It made me feel better knowing I had planned for just in case.

 

[yotphix]

I second the road trip. My wife and I drove from Los Angeles to Toronto with the Grand Canyon, Petrified Forest, Painted Desert, Granpa's Oklahoma homestead, Memphis, Chicago and a lot more in between before my surgery. A week before, we got my entire family together (a rare event in recent years) for what my smart-*** brother in law insisted on calling 'The Last Supper'!

 

[bradvo]

"The last supper" LOL, now that's funny, as long as your not you at the time. :biggrin2:

 

[Ovie]

Lyn, I'll be sure to check out that site. I found out I had a heart murmur in 08'. 1 of the 2 hospitals in town first diagnosed me with having a "missing" heart valve......haha ok? How am I alive than? They were idiots. The second Hospital has a large Heart center and that's where I found out I actually had a murmur and probably wouldn't need surgery for many years. I than started slowly developing symptoms and OT was July last year I was told I needed surgery. So to answer your question, yeah, I've known about it for a few years.

I love the "last supper" reference.

I've been trying to do something special before my surgery, but everyone is just so busy it seems that nobody has the time to do anything or isn't interested. Hopefully something comes up, but not holding my breath.