new one here, surgery date: august 17th

[misaacka]

First: I've been lurking here for a few weeks, absorbing the wisdom and attitude, which are, both, wonderful! I'm so grateful for everyone who's shared. You have no idea the good you do by posting here.

Second: I just got my surgery date for AVR: August 17th, first case, at UF's Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. My surgeon is Thomas Beaver, head of the Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Department. (Sounds promising, eh?!)

Third: A little background. I had a heart murmur as a child. During young adulthood, no one ever mentioned it, but in my mid-30's, during grad school, an infirmary PA sounded the alarm and sent me to a cardiologist for a TEE. The initial diagnosis was monocuspid AV, but after careful perusal, it was biscuspid (whew!).

<20 years of no significance; I'm 53 now.>

A doc helping me w/ thyroid, listening to my heart this past June, said (more or less), "Holy cow! This is much louder than the last time I heard it (January 2011). Go get it seen to. And by the way, I'm revoking your estrogen cream scrip." That got my attention!

Fourth: Now. I need surgery for hallux rigidus (basically, a bone spur limiting movement of the big toe) and had it scheduled for mid-July, but because I'd made a cardio appointment (at my thyroid doc's urging), a cath was ordered prior to the foot surgery. The doc driving the wire was unable to traverse my AV, so my cardio refused to clear me for the foot surgery. My cardiologist is quite clear that I need to go ahead and get this valve replaced, and I agree. I know that there's a narrow window between symptoms emerging (where I am) and very rapid deterioration. I'm in that window.

So! I'm sitting here, making out packing lists, to-do lists, work-related lists. I feel fabulous about my surgeon and hospital. I confess that a dear friend, a former professor at Shands, is coordinating care for me, so I have a layer of confidence and security that probably few have. I am supremely blessed.

I do have a couple of anxieties, but I'll post them in a bit . . . not right now. For now, I just want to thank everyone who's gone before here, giving and giving and giving. I love you all.

J

 

[piglet]

Welcome misaacka, You certainly seem to have the right attitude going into surgery, that will help in the recovery, interms of both speed and ease. I wish you all the best and have confidence by your outlook alone you'll do great!

 

[misaacka]

piglet, thanks so much for the encouragement! i want a tissue valve (though others are telling me mechanical), so your ID is a good omen.

i really, truly believe that attitude shapes our experiences, especially of deep experiences, like, say, have your heart cut into. I'm trying to shape that event (my heart being cut) into something symbolically different: having my heart opened. i'm having an opened heart; an open heart. i can lose myself inside the idea of an open heart! there's so much room to move in there, emotionally and spiritually and even intellectually.

i just visited my elderly parents this past weekend, and all's well. my dear brother is coming to keep me company during my surgery. i sat on the plane coming home today, thinking, YES: we get lifted into impossibility over and over . . . so why not at this one moment, on a scrubbed table in florida, some morning next week? with some guy named beaver?

j

 

[Bina]

hello and welcome !
I tell everybody to cut their toenails and get a haircut....

 

[Greg a]

WELCOME to our OHS FAMILY

//.................
Second: I just got my surgery date for AVR: August 17th, first case, at UF's Shands Hospital in Gainesville, FL. My surgeon is Thomas Beaver, head of the Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery Department. (Sounds promising, eh?!)

........................

entered on the family calendar

 

[misaacka]

excellent advise, Bina! yes, i've cut my toenails, and not only had my hair cut last week, but had it outrageously colored, as well. i told my stylist that i wouldn't be feeling very lively for a bit, so could my hair be a bit livelier? she loved it!

 

[misaacka]

i am SO honored to be a member of THIS family! thank you.

j

 

[Bina]

excellent advise, Bina! yes, i've cut my toenails, and not only had my hair cut last week, but had it outrageously colored, as well. i told my stylist that i wouldn't be feeling very lively for a bit, so could my hair be a bit livelier? she loved it!

the toenail thing bugs me because the hospital called me in 3 days early and I didn't get it done. Dang those claws !!
But I did get a cute short haircut. Your lively hair colouring sounds like a great idea.

 

[misaacka]

i highly recommend it, bina. i've never been one for hair color, at all, ever, but i figured that this is a transitional period—right?—so you really should do what you feel like doing. i don't think i'll keep the color i have now, but i LOVE having it for NOW. it's all about paying attention, yes? just pay attention to what you want and need.

xo

j

 

[Bina]

Several months post op when I was still bummed out I did try to colour my hair but it didn't turn out like I expected
and I let it grow out again. Guess I'll be a dirty blonde forever

 

[misaacka]

i love dirty blonde, bina! embrace it! but maybe next time (if there is one) just don't have expectations. and if you end up with dirty-flirty blonde, just love it. so many of us would, if we had it . . .


j

 

[Bina]

Pink would be nice.....

 

[misaacka]

don't get me started on pink. maybe look into the fly feather-thing? i love how those look . . .

 

[Bina]

oh let's do the Cyndi Lauper thing.

 

[misaacka]

love CL!

okay, maybe now for one of my anxieties: (deep breath) I'm afraid of waking up during surgery. being alert during it, but not being able to communicate. immobilized but alert.

it didn't help that my cath left me in twilight, drifiting upwards to the point that I had to ask overtly for more anesthesia, while feeling the cath moving around inside. not what i wanted.

can y'all please assure me that i'll be asleep and STAY asleep? i do know that this depends on the anesthesiologist, and my friend is getting me the best. but i'd still welcome your assurances.


j

 

[piglet]

oh let's do the Cyndi Lauper thing.

I'd soo be in!

love CL!

okay, maybe now for one of my anxieties: (deep breath) I'm afraid of waking up during surgery. being alert during it, but not being able to communicate. immobilized but alert.

it didn't help that my cath left me in twilight, drifiting upwards to the point that I had to ask overtly for more anesthesia, while feeling the cath moving around inside. not what i wanted.

can y'all please assure me that i'll be asleep and STAY asleep? i do know that this depends on the anesthesiologist, and my friend is getting me the best. but i'd still welcome your assurances.


j

I had a similar trouble, I have very small veins and mine clamped shut on the catheter OUWEY! But had no trouble during my OHS I said hello to everyone and the next thing I knew I was waking up and the clock across the room said 7:30. I thought, "wow! that seemed quick, and why don't I hurt? OK someone take this tube out please!" I used sign language alphabet for that question and one of the nurses knew it and translated. I was truely amazed at how it went just as they said. The team was so skilled and so great.

 

[Marguerite53]

Hey there! Welcome to our wonderful community. You have a fantastic attitude and it sounds like you are ready! Hold that thought!!!

First off, you're having your surgery on my daughter's birthday so it will be an easy day for me to remember you're out there needing good vibes sent your way -- good choice! :wink2:

Secondly, you have 9 days to make your decision about which valve to choose. It really is your decision (unless, of course, when the surgeon gets in there he sees something he didn't know about and has to make a different choice -- that happens rarely, but it's all good). It sounds as if you are uncertain and you really need to get busy and understand what the differences are and which type will better fit in the life you envision yourself to lead. It is a very controversial subject here, but mostly, I think all of us really just want to encourage people who have time to make a choice, to really educate themselves and find a good match for themselves.

Oh, and about the angiogram/cath. I am very squeemish. Very. i wanted to be out cold for mine but she wouldn't have it. Their computer crashed and they had to reboot. Then that didn''t work and they had to bring another one in from somewhere else and, yep, wait for that one to boot up. All the time I was lying motionless with her patting me on the thigh, gently, asking me how I was doing. Yes, the thing was already in me, of course. So mine took FOR-EV-ER. :eek2: I even wouldn't watch on the TV thingy. I mean... yuk!! bleh!! what's so interesting about all that?

My surgery was uneventful. My anesthesiologist was WONDERFUL. He was telling me cow jokes (I got a bovine at age 52) as he was wheeling me into the OR. He was very kind. Really, if you are friendly and responsive to those who are wanting so very much to help you, it can be so helpful to your overall experience.

I tend to be very long-winded so I'll stop.

Welcome, welcome!!! Feel free to ask anything here. And thanks for joining us!

Marguerite

 

[piglet]

I was in hospital for a week or so before surgery and because my surgery was on my birthday my Husband and son brought me a portable DVD player, one that plays music CD's and movies. Best gift ever!! It was great to be able to shut out the sounds of the hospital and the pesky heart monitor peeping! If you are able I highly recomend getting one. I use it all the time even now, it's great for drowning out snoring too ; )

 

[djteako]

Hi and welcome !!!
We definately have one thing in common .....
My date is the 17th too !!!! doing the same things , getting everything in order , remembering toenails !! lol
I think i'll have to pass on the hair coloring for now though !!! been there , done it !!!!
One other thing I've really been focusing on , on advice from this group - loading up the mp3 player . I was going to take several books with me , but I`ve heard from lots of people that reading will be one of the last things we feel like doing . Good luck to you , and we`ll talk on the other side !!! (post surgery forum that is!! )

 

[misaacka]

Piglet, thanks for the encouraging words: I want my OHS to go exactly the way yours did! Only problem is, I don't know sign language, so maybe I'll just tell them ahead of time that my wiggling fingers will be trying to say, hey, get this tube out! That's actually my only other anxiety: that I'll wake up gagging on the tube. I've got a very sensitive gag reflex. BUT: thanks to the forum, I already know that it'll be there, so I won't be surprised, and I'm pretty good at conscious relaxation when I need to be. So I think it'll be okay, really.

Marguerite, I'm honored to share the day with your daughter! I know your vibes will be all the sweeter for it. That's so cute about the cow jokes . . . I wonder if he tells robot jokes for mechanical valves??? Actually, I'm quite clear in my own mind that I want a tissue valve. I know that the percutaneous valves aren't quite there yet for regular use, but I feel confident that, by the time I need a re-replacement, they will be, or at least there'll be substantial improvements of some kind in valves and procedure. The surgeon will have to convince me otherwise, and since the research department he leads is called "Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery," I don't see that happening!

Of course, you're right: what he finds inside trumps whatever I think I want . . . and I wouldn't want it any other way!