measuring Pre and Post Op heart/blood/oxygen efficiency?
- Thread starter kars
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I have added you to May's calendar ...Godspeed
Sorry, I have no answer. But I wish you good luck with your surgery.
Wishing you are a smooth surgery and a speedy recovery.
sweetmarie
Well-known member
Are you referring to the amount of oxygen in the blood? Sorry for what may seem like a trivial question but I'm not a doctor.
normofthenorth
Well-known member
While you're hospitalized post-op, you'll probably have an ECG monitor strapped to you 24/7, which will give some of that info. At least a few times a day, your BP and blood Oxygenation numbers will be checked. (You'll probably start out on Oxygen, either with a mask or those nose-hose things, and they'll gradually be withdrawn as your B.O. numbers improve.) I had no idea what my B.O. numbers were pre-op, but it's a really cheap "test", so one of your health professionals might be willing to read you the numbers (with a little gizmo on your finger-tip) pre-op, FYI. I even wonder if there are (cheap) Blood-ox monitors available for home use, like by the Emphysema sufferers who travel around with O2 tanks. . . I think the tester gizmo is mostly a red light or Laser and a photo-sensor and a chip, and all of THOSE gizmos are plentiful in Dollar stores now. . .
In addition, I bought a few (cheap) BP and heart-rate monitors for use post-op, and I now wish I'd bought them a few weeks pre-op, so I'd have a better idea of my pre-op baseline for both variables. One of mine is a continuous, chest-strap-plus-wristwatch HR monitor, which I stared at a lot on two post-op downhill ski trips (at Whistler). But I'd never owned or used one pre-op, so I didn't know if any of the "funny" results were "my normal" (with a slowly failing BAV!) or new since the AVR. If you acquired any testers after your 2010 OHS, you could use them now. . .
Pre-op, you're also presumably having some other tests, like echo cardiograms, which give estimates of other variables, including LV Ejection Fraction. (Is that a concern with MV prolapse?) Whatever numbers it produces, you'll probably get several post-op sets of those same numbers at subsequent echo cardiograms. (I had one just before discharge from the hospital, and I think I had a second at my Cardio's office at ~8 weeks post-op.)
In addition, I bought a few (cheap) BP and heart-rate monitors for use post-op, and I now wish I'd bought them a few weeks pre-op, so I'd have a better idea of my pre-op baseline for both variables. One of mine is a continuous, chest-strap-plus-wristwatch HR monitor, which I stared at a lot on two post-op downhill ski trips (at Whistler). But I'd never owned or used one pre-op, so I didn't know if any of the "funny" results were "my normal" (with a slowly failing BAV!) or new since the AVR. If you acquired any testers after your 2010 OHS, you could use them now. . .
Pre-op, you're also presumably having some other tests, like echo cardiograms, which give estimates of other variables, including LV Ejection Fraction. (Is that a concern with MV prolapse?) Whatever numbers it produces, you'll probably get several post-op sets of those same numbers at subsequent echo cardiograms. (I had one just before discharge from the hospital, and I think I had a second at my Cardio's office at ~8 weeks post-op.)
It's called a pulse oximeter, usually called pulse Ox. They do have home monitors, usually they are for people who need O2 or are being monitored, if the doc prescribes one, then insurance will cover them.
I guess anyone could buy one if they want.
Kars, one of the best ways to see what improvements before surgery and after and how efficient your heart is, would probably be a stress test. but as Norm said most of the routine pre op/post op tests will give you different results that together should show you the bigger picture. Oxygen levels- which for most people shouldn't be that bad before surgery unless you have one of the cyanotic defects, so you might not see a big improvemnt. Ejection fractions etc. that you can usually compare your pre op echo to your post op ones. You might not see improvements right away, since your heart has to remodle itself before you can see some of the improvements, but you should by the year check up tests
sweetmarie
Well-known member
Judging by the latter responses, I guess you're referring to the Ox test with the "pulse oxymeter" at the end of your finger usually done while taking your BP or by the continuous monitor. Normal range is 95-100%. Post-op will be lower because of surgery and this is why you're given oxygen like the previous post stated. And the same reason they insist on you walking as soon as you can and to use the spirometer as directed to help re-inflate the lungs to be able to take in as much air (and oxygen) as you can so you can get off the supplied oxygen quicker.
