Newbie with surgery date

[gadgetman]

Pete,

Prayers and good thoughts are on the way for you and your wife. We (the patient) sometimes forget that it is just as stressful (or more so) on the family. At least we get to sleep through the worse part . Good luck on your "mini" vacation and your pending surgery.

May God Bless,

Danny

 

[kingpeta]

Hi Pete

Welcome, and rest assured you will have lots of positive thoughts and prayers sent your way as you face the AVR, ( I had my AVR in Jan 2002 )

You will have a great time on the Harley in Vegas there are some great rides too do in that area Hoover Dam, Lake Mead, Laughlin, Oatman ( though the road up is a bit twisty) also you could do a bit of Route 66,

Bill my husband has a 94 Hertiage and we have shipped it too the USA three times, We got back from our last trip on September 4th,We rode from Chester PA to Sturgis SD for the rally, the bike is not back from the USA until the end of the month.

We were in Millwaukee in Aug 2003 But never got too see much because of all the hogs that were there......... LOL

Have a great trip

Safe riding

Jan ( Liverpool England )

Your last trip must have brought you pretty close to my home. It sounds like you really enjoy your riding! Hard to be without the bike though, eh? (during transport back home). Maybe you'll make it back to Milwaukee for the 105th anniversary? Nice bike, that Heritage. It was almost my first choice but the extra room & storage on the Ultra swayed me (and my wife!). Thanks so much for your thoughts & prayers.

 

[Kathleen]

Abbott

Abbott

I have had all my surgeries at Abbott. Which surgeon did you choose?
Kathy

Hello Pete and welcome to the site. On August 4th of this year I had your exact surgery (along with aortic stem replacement) at Abbott-Northwestern hospital in Minneapolis. In my case, I felt like I had three pretty hard days, and then things started to improve quickly. The best single advice I got was to have a good recliner to sleep in. Although I was doing very well in most respects, I was not remotely ready to sleep in a regular bed even a few weeks after surgery. This is a tip I got from others on this site, and I wanted to share it with you. If you have a choice, a recliner that can mainly be operated by using your legs is nice.

 

[Ambience]

Welcome aboard, I went through my AVR a few years back without the help of this site. Wish I had found out about this place sooner. The whole process is very clear in my mind, so if you have any questions or worries feel free to ask.

It was an odd experience for me as I watched patient after patient walk into the hospital through one door and rolled out unconcious through the next. It reminded me of the way air traffic controllers queue up airplanes. I had the operation and Stanford which was a very busy place.

My main suggestions, are learn how to rely on your legs to do normal things such as getting out of bed, standing, sitting. You won't be able to use your upper body for some time, and it becomes very frustrating at first. Good luck and I'll be wishing you well.

 

[Lynlw]

pillows

pillows

Hi Pete, I'm new here myself. I had my BAV replaced on the 19th of last month. I tried my big recliner but I got stuck in it. My shoulders and upper arms hurt so bad after the surgery, they were practically useless. I ended up sleeping on the sofa in the family room. It's low to the floor and fairly easy to set up from a laying down position. In the hospital, I think I had all the spare pillows on the floor I was on. Had them under both shoulders, a couple under my head, one behind my lower back. Then they give all the OHS patients a big Bear to hug when you have to cough. Did any of the rest of you get a Bear with your Surgery?

JohnnyV

some hospitals provide a pillow and others don't, so I would definately find out so you can take one if your doesn't
Justin had surgery at 2 different childrens hospitals and neither one provided pillows, so a few years ago, he made pillows for Dupont hospital's kids having heart surgery for his Eagle Scout project, he and his friends made over 70 and he has continued to make more.
then he went to CHOP in May and they didn't have them either, so we started making pillows for CHOP, Justin just makes fleece rectangles(they're easier lol) and stuffs them w/ polyfill. but we don't have the time or money to make the amount they can use.
So I was thinking if anyone here has extra time and wants to help others, making pillows are pretty easy and when you take them to the hospital they are really grateful. so you culd see if your local hospitals (either children's or adults) give pillows and if not make some, or heck make some and send them to us, I'd be happy to drop some off for you, if your interested http://tchin.org/portraits/justin-2.htm is a picture of Justin dropping off the first batch of pillows and a little story of his history.
Lyn
www.caringbridge.org/nj/justinw