johnnycake23
Two-time AVR Vet
Hello again,
You may remember I posted about my pending AVR. Well, it's no longer pending but in my recent past. I decided on a tissue valve over mechanical per my surgeon's recommendation. My seven day stay in the hospital was no duck walk. My ICU stay lasted five days, not two as was anticipated. I had a collapsed lung as a side effect of being on the heart-lung machine. Reinflating the lung was no pleasure cruise. I wore a mask with constant air blowing to get me to breathe. The cold air blew in my face which caused me brain freeze. My sister and g/f came up with putting a warm cloth over the bridge of my nose to mitigate the discomfort. And it worked. Other than that all went OK and I was out on the seventh day.
One note about my care at Northwestern Hospital. I don't mean to sound like a commercial for them but the nurses, docs, respiratory therapists were absolutely fantastic. They're outstanding, first-rate professionals. I feel so lucky that I had them to take care of me. They were kind, compassionate, and, most importantly, competent. It makes all the difference in the world to have good post-surgery care. This is in stark contrast with my aftercare from my first surgery, which left much to be desired.
I did have one complication about a week ago. I was coming off Lopressor and switching to Coreg, which I took before surgery and I really liked. Well, one night last week as I was about to go to bed my heart started beating like a freight train for no reason at all. My g/f took my bp and pulse, which was 140/90 and 114 bpm. I got scared and thought "oh s***, here we go again." I called doc and he it's no biggy, just try to get some rest. Yeah, easy for you to say, bro. Well, he was right. At about 2 a.m. I fell asleep from exhaustion and when I woke at 7 my heart was beating normal again. The only thing we could think of as to why this happened is while switching from one med to the other I was not at a therapeutic level. Whatever the case, it has not happened since.
It's been four weeks now. Incision is still sore. Can't cough or sneeze and damn it, it hurts to laugh. My chest feels like wet plywood with a perforation in the center that can split at any time. But as I understand it will pass with time. I walk every day and I have a healthy appetite. I'm on Coumadin for three months, and hopefully not much more since that was a major factor in my choosing tissue over mechanical. I'm also on Losinopril and Coreg and Lipitor, I imagine forever, and I still take the occasional pain pill.
I sooooooo look forward to playing hockey again, and you know I just may jump out of a perfectly good airplane again. It seems so far away though. I just wish it would get here already.
Thanks to all who've given me words of encouragement. Sorry I won't be able to make the annual get-together but if you can't get enough of me (just kidding) I do have a myspace page. I know it's for kids and what is a man my age doing with one, but I made one anyway. If you have time to kill just look up johnnycake23.
I look forward to hearing from you with any input, encouragement, wisdom, etc. Thanks again.
You may remember I posted about my pending AVR. Well, it's no longer pending but in my recent past. I decided on a tissue valve over mechanical per my surgeon's recommendation. My seven day stay in the hospital was no duck walk. My ICU stay lasted five days, not two as was anticipated. I had a collapsed lung as a side effect of being on the heart-lung machine. Reinflating the lung was no pleasure cruise. I wore a mask with constant air blowing to get me to breathe. The cold air blew in my face which caused me brain freeze. My sister and g/f came up with putting a warm cloth over the bridge of my nose to mitigate the discomfort. And it worked. Other than that all went OK and I was out on the seventh day.
One note about my care at Northwestern Hospital. I don't mean to sound like a commercial for them but the nurses, docs, respiratory therapists were absolutely fantastic. They're outstanding, first-rate professionals. I feel so lucky that I had them to take care of me. They were kind, compassionate, and, most importantly, competent. It makes all the difference in the world to have good post-surgery care. This is in stark contrast with my aftercare from my first surgery, which left much to be desired.
I did have one complication about a week ago. I was coming off Lopressor and switching to Coreg, which I took before surgery and I really liked. Well, one night last week as I was about to go to bed my heart started beating like a freight train for no reason at all. My g/f took my bp and pulse, which was 140/90 and 114 bpm. I got scared and thought "oh s***, here we go again." I called doc and he it's no biggy, just try to get some rest. Yeah, easy for you to say, bro. Well, he was right. At about 2 a.m. I fell asleep from exhaustion and when I woke at 7 my heart was beating normal again. The only thing we could think of as to why this happened is while switching from one med to the other I was not at a therapeutic level. Whatever the case, it has not happened since.
It's been four weeks now. Incision is still sore. Can't cough or sneeze and damn it, it hurts to laugh. My chest feels like wet plywood with a perforation in the center that can split at any time. But as I understand it will pass with time. I walk every day and I have a healthy appetite. I'm on Coumadin for three months, and hopefully not much more since that was a major factor in my choosing tissue over mechanical. I'm also on Losinopril and Coreg and Lipitor, I imagine forever, and I still take the occasional pain pill.
I sooooooo look forward to playing hockey again, and you know I just may jump out of a perfectly good airplane again. It seems so far away though. I just wish it would get here already.
Thanks to all who've given me words of encouragement. Sorry I won't be able to make the annual get-together but if you can't get enough of me (just kidding) I do have a myspace page. I know it's for kids and what is a man my age doing with one, but I made one anyway. If you have time to kill just look up johnnycake23.
I look forward to hearing from you with any input, encouragement, wisdom, etc. Thanks again.
.
