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mspinder

Member
Joined
Oct 29, 2009
Messages
16
Location
Rochester, NY USA
Hi everyone. It's over and I am home! Not without dramma but tomorrow will be one week and I am feeling fairly good as long as I stay up on the pain meds although I am cutting back some already.

I went for the tissue valvue after a second conversation with my surgeon. The took me in at 7 am on Nov. 6. Six hours later, after replacing the aortic valve and part of the aorta along with a Maze procedure to fix a-fib, they informed my wife that there were some complications getting the bleeding to stop. My surgeon opted to pack the wound, keep me completly out on life support until about 4pm on Saturday 11-7. At that point he took me back into OR, the bleeding stopped, closed me up and put me in ICU for the rest of Saturday. Sunday I WALKED out of ICU to my hospital room soom 75 yards away. I was doing fine until Tuesday when they started to remove tubes and stuff. My BP dropped to 77. More transfussions alowed me to stabilize and I have been making progress everyday. I have lost the 37 lbs I gainded due to fluids, appitite has returned and am walking regularly around the house. Hard to sleep at night because of frequent peaing but that also has seemed to let up too. Thank God for the recliner. Still on 7 different meds, including Cumidin for now. I see my surgeon on Dec 2 for follow up.

"It's getting better everyday, bet ter, bet ter."

Thanks for all your prayers and thoughts. You guys are the best.

Mark

(Sorry for the spelling but I can not get the spell check to work) Who cares!!!
 
Sounds like your doing good now. Im sorry to hear about your hickups, but thats in the past now. Take it easy, and recover now. Im 5 weeks out now, and it does get better everyday.
 
Mark, Good for you that you made it. Sorry that you had a few problems but they didn't seem to have slowed you down too much. Take it easy, do your walking and just enjoy your life.

P.S. you may want to start a new thread in post surgery so more people will notice it. With the week we've had, we can use all the good news we can take.


KIM
 
Don't sweat the spelling, Mark, and yes thank God for recliners. Don't know how I would have made it in recovery phase without one.

Congrats on making it to this side of the mountain, and here is wishing you a smooth recovery.
 
Note to self - check dates and read the full thread.

Congratulations on a successful surgery. Best wishes for a speedy and thorough recovery.
 
Mark:

Glad to hear you are getting well into recovery after a few obstabcles. Did you say 37 lbs of fluid? Wow. And it's gone already? Double wow.
 
Thanks again to alll for your support and words of encouragement. It sure is easier talking about it AFTER it is over.

They took me off 2 meds so far. I still need the pain med but trying to wean off it.

It is starting to get boring though, every passing day. They do not want me out in large crowds yet and it is too cold to walk outside. Tomorrow I up my walks to 10 min at a time for a total of 30.

I know take it slow and easy. I will.

Mark
 
Seems like you have a good handle on the program for recovery. Boring? Yeah. I've been watching a lot of movies with the dog in my lap. We have really bonded.
 
Hi Mark - Thought I'd bump this back up to the top of the forum. Wondering how you're doing.
Hope your recovery is going well. Did your teeth discomfort resolve? Take care :) .
 
Update:

Today is 6 weeks post op. Aside for aches and pains in the upper body, the incission is healing nice and with little pain. I find myself always cold, freezing at times, wearing exta jackets even in the house. Could be the meds. Also having trouble getting a good n7-8 hours of sleep at night. During the procedure my doc did a Mze to correct a-fib. Since then my cardi said I now have a-flutter! I may need to stay on blood thinners for a very long time, the reason I did not choose a mechanical valve in the first place. Go figure. In Jan I see an EP for a possible ablation (sp) procedure to correct the flutter and get the heart back to sinus rythmn. Started rehab today and did well. Hardly even broke a sweat in 40 min of work on the machines. I still do not have the energy and get tied but I guess it is still a bit early to expect too much.

Thanks so much for your replies and concern. Notice the time. I can't sleep.

Mark
 
Hey Mark, sorry you still can't sleep. Do you have a big snowstorm outside now too? The weather reports looked pretty dramatic today. I don't miss all of that snow!

Congratulations on the successful trip to rehab and good luck getting that flutter under control so you can get off of the Coumadin.

Michele
 
mspinder said:
Update:

I find myself always cold, freezing at times, wearing exta jackets even in the house. Could be the meds. Also having trouble getting a good n7-8 hours of sleep at night. During the procedure my doc did a Mze to correct a-fib. Since then my cardi said I now have a-flutter! I may need to stay on blood thinners for a very long time, the reason I did not choose a mechanical valve in the first place. Go figure. In Jan I see an EP for a possible ablation (sp) procedure to correct the flutter and get the heart back to sinus rythmn. Started rehab today and did well. Hardly even broke a sweat in 40 min of work on the machines. I still do not have the energy and get tied but I guess it is still a bit early to expect too much.

Thanks so much for your replies and concern. Notice the time. I can't sleep.

Mark
Click to expand...

Hi Mark, side effects of coumadin can be cold intolerance, and paresthesia including feeling cold and chills. I also think it's the shock from surgery. I remember how cold I was after surgery, I had at least 3 layers on and a thick blanket, I could not get warm.

I developed a flutter post op, was prescribed flecainide for a couple of months then tapered off and discontinued. I also was on a beta blocker, metoprolol(sp).

Sleep will come, take those naps when the need arrives.
 
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