Cardia rehab
Cardia rehab
Thanks, Janie. Good counsel, too. I want to get started on cardiac rehab right away. Advice on how to go about it? (It's probably back there in a previous thread -- will look.)
More catnapping last night, but quite comfortable. Odd sensations. I really have no pain, other than what might be caused by movement and flexing of the scar. At rest I have no need of pain medication and in general am not taking any right now, except to control low-grade fever. I do feel more aware of heartbeat, however, and have the sensation, particularly at rest, of running on ethyl. It's not unpleasant and is generally accompanied by a warm feeling and -- when I close my eyes -- brightly colored tapestriesi in my mind's eye. I imagine there is one whale of a lot more blood going through that valve and out to the body now than there was a short while ago or has been for some years, when you factor in both the elimination of the stenosis and the fact that the heart got pretty muscular with all those isometrics working against blockage. I'd call it "richheadedness" (though not necessarily "clearheadedness") more than I would "pumpheadedness". Do others have similar symptoms?
I wasn't long in the ICU -- only about a day and a half. Steve W said he felt loathe to leave, he got such good service there, and I see what he means. On the other hand, I think they transferred me out a bit early, due to "traffic" pressures. In any case, once on the cardiac floor it turned out that I was having some fever and arrythmia and required more careful monitoring, so I was moved back to an intermediary type room with heavier equipment and a better bed. The bed in the ICU was a true shiny Cadillac, the one on the cardiac floor more of a reasonable vintage Chevy, and the one in the intermediary facility a pretty nice new Buick. Happily the latter accompanied me thereafter.
Takes a while to master the intricacies of a good hospital bed -- what combination of buttons to push in order to get optimal support and inclination. That is no minor question after this kind of heart surgery, because you're hooked up to so many tubes and IVs and wires that movement has to be handled carefully and there aren't infinite numbers of body positions open to you. At first, it didn't make much difference, when I was so groggy that any position would do. Happily as well I was "extubated" (breathing tube removed from throat) during that first groggy period and so experienced none of the gagging sensation or need for ice chips to alleviate thirst that others have sometimes known. But as awareness and movement perk up, the body seeks some rights and there has to be some solution for all parts and portions. (I remember a wonderful Peanuts poster with Snoopy lying on top of his dog house exhorting his body to get ready for jogging: "All right, listen here: if the feet don't go, none of us goes!")
As a matter of fact, my only mishap in the hospital was one truly exotic sports injury -- straining a muscle I didn't even know I had between the rear of my right ear and the back of my neck, all while trying to leverage myself up into a better position by skull motion without forbidden pulling or pushing of the arms. Of course there are very friendly hospital staff to help, particularly in ICU where the nurse-nursee ratio is the highest, but who's going to ask for a hand every 30 seconds?
Staff were unfailingly friendly and helpful, though not always equipped for cross-cultural contingencies. My third roommate was an immigrant farmworker from Mexico with an adorable young family, but there didn't seem to be any systematic way -- at least on the weekend -- to deal with the dual language problem, and my own Spanish is only basic. Happily my sister-in-law (Puerto Rican) stopped by and was able to lend a hand, and then -- when I wandered afield asking questions -- it turned out there were two Spanish speakers on staff within a reasonable radius (though in unrelated capacities) and they did some critical double duty. But there didn't seem to be any system in place.
Nor was there any very systematic debriefing about post-hospital home care, again perhaps because it was the weekend -- much less, in any case, in the way of preparation than at admissions. Perhaps I will get more of this at my two-week post operative appointment (next Monday) with Dr. Martin.
I am doubly admiring of the exploits of those who handle coordination and "air traffic control" in a facility like Shands and it would be fascinating for them to share a few stories and secrets of the trade sometime. It must be a monumental challenge with multiple fallback formula in place. But the cake might seem to me to go to plumbers like Mike. Can you imagine plumbing challenges in a place like Shands? Holy Moly! A brochure I picked up on some table documented the level of water usage in the facility and it is the biggest industrail consumer in all of north Florida by a country mile -- hundreds of millions of gallons of water per whatever time unit as oppposed to tens of a few paltry million elsewhere. And it's not like that's a resource you can do without. Try having the water go off during an operation. That would restore persepctive prettty quick. Being a plumber at Shands must be a bit like being an electrician at NASA in Houston or an audio technician at CNN International. Mike's war stories would have to be fascinating, but do we want to hear them?* "Houston, we've got a problem..."
Post-operative musings in any case.
Peter
* Actually I would like to hear them, having worked as a plumber's assistant for three years in my salad days!
