mcsf
Well-known member
If you caught the license plate of the truck that hit me, backed over me and hit me again please let me know.
I made it to the other side and I am feeling great!
It was not an easy trip. I'll provide the Reader's Digest version.
Going into surgery Plan A was to perform a valve sparing aortic root replacement. If there was any, even the smallest amount of regurgitation we planned to replace the valve with an on-x valve.
On Wednesday Feb. 19 I met one last time with the surgery team at UCSF to go over our plan of attack for Feb. 20. I am followed in an adult congenital heart clinic which means my surgery was performed by the Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery team. I walked into the hospital at 6:00 AM on Thursday February 20 for surgery. I woke up Friday -- Feb. 28.
The initial valve sparring procedure went okay but surgery was long and I was bleeding so they did not close so I was wheeled into ICU. I continued to bleed. A lot. It turns out the suture line from a previous AVR was the cause. The next step was to replace the valve with the on-x because we did not get the result we wanted. I knew this was a possibility going into surgery. Once the bleeding was controlled they wheeled me back into the OR to replace the aortic valve with a mechanical on-x valve. Part II of Plan A. I had been sedated for a couple of days while they worked on controlling the bleeding. Before Part II of surgery could begin I needed white blood cells. I had an allergic reaction to the white blood cells! WTF. In 20 years I was the second case my surgeon had seen the reaction to white blood cells. Back to the ICU. Ugh. Finally on Feb. 27 I was back in the OR and the on-x valve was replaced in about an hour time. Finally they were able to close. I lost a week of my life to a weird sedated life in ICU. Now the fun began. I woke on the 27 and wanted to pull my breathing tube out so bad. Because I had been sedated so long it was not an option. I had to spend another day under sedation. Finally on March 01 they were able to pull the breathing tube! Damn I was thirsty. I could have drank a few gallons of water. Actually, because I had been sedated so long I had retained a ton of water. I put on 20lbs of water weight. I could not drink. That was the hardest part. I was so damn thirsty. Once I was more stable I was able to drink. Never has water tasted so good. Since MArch 01 things have been going great. I feel stronger and stronger every day. On March 05 I was moved from ICU to a step down room. I'm just waiting for my INR level to adjust so I can be released.
There are a lot more details but that is the simple version. Being under sedation it was easy for me. It was very hard on my loved ones.
I had amazing care in the ICU. The best part. I was in the Pediatric ICU and got cool batman stickers. I had so many wonderful people watching over me in recovery I don't know how to thank all of them. The first day I walked everyone on the floor was so happy. They all knew I had been through the ringer even if I was not in their direct care. It was real emotional to hear all the kind words from the ICU staff as I improved. They do the hardest work and, I believe, the most important work. There are so many great people to thank. And I will. I am still having a hard time concentrating for long periods of time and I am sure my writing is jumbled because my mind still feels a bit fuzzy. I wrote this as the sun rose over San Francisco bay. I have an amazing view to the NorthEast from my window.
It feels great to have it all behind me now. It is time to start training for the Levi GranFondo in October. The Thief and I are planning to meet up for the ride. After reading his blog post I need to step up my training. He is doing amazing in his recovery.
I made it to the other side and I am feeling great!
It was not an easy trip. I'll provide the Reader's Digest version.
Going into surgery Plan A was to perform a valve sparing aortic root replacement. If there was any, even the smallest amount of regurgitation we planned to replace the valve with an on-x valve.
On Wednesday Feb. 19 I met one last time with the surgery team at UCSF to go over our plan of attack for Feb. 20. I am followed in an adult congenital heart clinic which means my surgery was performed by the Pediatric Cardiothoracic Surgery team. I walked into the hospital at 6:00 AM on Thursday February 20 for surgery. I woke up Friday -- Feb. 28.
The initial valve sparring procedure went okay but surgery was long and I was bleeding so they did not close so I was wheeled into ICU. I continued to bleed. A lot. It turns out the suture line from a previous AVR was the cause. The next step was to replace the valve with the on-x because we did not get the result we wanted. I knew this was a possibility going into surgery. Once the bleeding was controlled they wheeled me back into the OR to replace the aortic valve with a mechanical on-x valve. Part II of Plan A. I had been sedated for a couple of days while they worked on controlling the bleeding. Before Part II of surgery could begin I needed white blood cells. I had an allergic reaction to the white blood cells! WTF. In 20 years I was the second case my surgeon had seen the reaction to white blood cells. Back to the ICU. Ugh. Finally on Feb. 27 I was back in the OR and the on-x valve was replaced in about an hour time. Finally they were able to close. I lost a week of my life to a weird sedated life in ICU. Now the fun began. I woke on the 27 and wanted to pull my breathing tube out so bad. Because I had been sedated so long it was not an option. I had to spend another day under sedation. Finally on March 01 they were able to pull the breathing tube! Damn I was thirsty. I could have drank a few gallons of water. Actually, because I had been sedated so long I had retained a ton of water. I put on 20lbs of water weight. I could not drink. That was the hardest part. I was so damn thirsty. Once I was more stable I was able to drink. Never has water tasted so good. Since MArch 01 things have been going great. I feel stronger and stronger every day. On March 05 I was moved from ICU to a step down room. I'm just waiting for my INR level to adjust so I can be released.
There are a lot more details but that is the simple version. Being under sedation it was easy for me. It was very hard on my loved ones.
I had amazing care in the ICU. The best part. I was in the Pediatric ICU and got cool batman stickers. I had so many wonderful people watching over me in recovery I don't know how to thank all of them. The first day I walked everyone on the floor was so happy. They all knew I had been through the ringer even if I was not in their direct care. It was real emotional to hear all the kind words from the ICU staff as I improved. They do the hardest work and, I believe, the most important work. There are so many great people to thank. And I will. I am still having a hard time concentrating for long periods of time and I am sure my writing is jumbled because my mind still feels a bit fuzzy. I wrote this as the sun rose over San Francisco bay. I have an amazing view to the NorthEast from my window.
It feels great to have it all behind me now. It is time to start training for the Levi GranFondo in October. The Thief and I are planning to meet up for the ride. After reading his blog post I need to step up my training. He is doing amazing in his recovery.
