KenBeirne
Member
I have to say that I have no idea how you go through this if you are not healthy
. My heart goes out (literally?) to all of those who have had to do into it in a weakened state, or with other disabilities. Those of you who were keeping count will have noted that I was absent from the forums for about 17 days. This was because I carefully paced out my complications to maximize my time in hospital , though I am still in awe of Ross's 10 weeks.
I got my AVR (St. Jude's mechanical) on May 31, after entering the hospital for a heart catheterization on May 30. The operation went well, though the post-operative pain was incredible, especially a period in the first night when my pain meds wore off 20 minutes before they could be readministered. A question -- did I miss the discussions in the forums of the post-operative pain, which on the scale of 1-10 was, well, off the scale? I was told that older patients (yes, even older than I) might have diminished blood and nerve circulation, so their pain might be less, but I developed an appreciation for the John Hurt character in Alien, who had the creature come out of his chest. Not sure whether it is better to be forewarned of this, or to have it come on you unawares, but it was a surprise. What did I miss?
Anyway, things seemed to be progressing, and I was put on coumadin and after a couple of days on heparin as well, until it was realized that my heart, which had made some good initial moves, was not actually reestablishing its proper rhythm, though it had a rhythm. Turns out a node had been disrupted, and I had a third degree heart block, so they had to take me off coumadin, which had not gotten to therapeutic levels anyway, and put on heparin alone until a few hours before they implanted a pacemaker (Medtronics, dual chamber) on June 7. This also went well, and I got to return to consciousness through Toontown, for some reason, so that was amusing.
Then back to the coumadin, and the heparin until te coumadin finally reached therapeutic level, 2.4, but then my cardiologist grew concerned that my blood pressure was remaining low, and my heart rate high, and suspected that I had fluid around the heart. Echocardiagraph, and confirmation. So they had to take me off the coumadin, and feed me fresh frozen plasma, so they could do a pericardial window. Emptied out 775 ml. of fluid on June 13. I felt better almost immediately, but then had another day of post-op recuperation, and a return to the coumadin. By this time we were up to 17 days, and I was feeling like a malingerer.
So finally they sent me home, even without waiting for the INR to reach therapeutic level. I have nurses coming every day to check my PTINR and other vitals. By the way, does any of this sound unusual? The INR is taking it own sweet time to rise, still less than 2.0, though I am now up to 10 mg. of warfarin a day. Otherwise, all is well. I truly appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers from the VR members. I have a few other things to write about, but they probably should go in other forum headings (e.g. respiratory therapy, coumadin).
. My heart goes out (literally?) to all of those who have had to do into it in a weakened state, or with other disabilities. Those of you who were keeping count will have noted that I was absent from the forums for about 17 days. This was because I carefully paced out my complications to maximize my time in hospital , though I am still in awe of Ross's 10 weeks.I got my AVR (St. Jude's mechanical) on May 31, after entering the hospital for a heart catheterization on May 30. The operation went well, though the post-operative pain was incredible, especially a period in the first night when my pain meds wore off 20 minutes before they could be readministered. A question -- did I miss the discussions in the forums of the post-operative pain, which on the scale of 1-10 was, well, off the scale? I was told that older patients (yes, even older than I) might have diminished blood and nerve circulation, so their pain might be less, but I developed an appreciation for the John Hurt character in Alien, who had the creature come out of his chest. Not sure whether it is better to be forewarned of this, or to have it come on you unawares, but it was a surprise. What did I miss?
Anyway, things seemed to be progressing, and I was put on coumadin and after a couple of days on heparin as well, until it was realized that my heart, which had made some good initial moves, was not actually reestablishing its proper rhythm, though it had a rhythm. Turns out a node had been disrupted, and I had a third degree heart block, so they had to take me off coumadin, which had not gotten to therapeutic levels anyway, and put on heparin alone until a few hours before they implanted a pacemaker (Medtronics, dual chamber) on June 7. This also went well, and I got to return to consciousness through Toontown, for some reason, so that was amusing.
Then back to the coumadin, and the heparin until te coumadin finally reached therapeutic level, 2.4, but then my cardiologist grew concerned that my blood pressure was remaining low, and my heart rate high, and suspected that I had fluid around the heart. Echocardiagraph, and confirmation. So they had to take me off the coumadin, and feed me fresh frozen plasma, so they could do a pericardial window. Emptied out 775 ml. of fluid on June 13. I felt better almost immediately, but then had another day of post-op recuperation, and a return to the coumadin. By this time we were up to 17 days, and I was feeling like a malingerer.
So finally they sent me home, even without waiting for the INR to reach therapeutic level. I have nurses coming every day to check my PTINR and other vitals. By the way, does any of this sound unusual? The INR is taking it own sweet time to rise, still less than 2.0, though I am now up to 10 mg. of warfarin a day. Otherwise, all is well. I truly appreciate all the good thoughts and prayers from the VR members. I have a few other things to write about, but they probably should go in other forum headings (e.g. respiratory therapy, coumadin).
