Plexxer's AVR, Thursday, October 25

[Mary]

Joel,
I know you've been waiting for your surgery date for a long time, and now the time is at hand!
I want to extend my best wishes for a successful, uncomplicated surgery and an easy recovery. I hope someone will be able to update your progress afterwards; we tend to worry until we receive word that all is well.
God Bless and Godspeed

 

[WayneGM]

Best wishes for a successful surgery and smooth, uneventful, recovery. I look forward to your update from the other side.

 

[marie]

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Guest]

Joel,

GOOD LUCK!

Thoughts/prayers coming your way for a SUCCESSFUL surgery .



Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker
WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"We got mountains to climb" ... Rod Stewart ... 'Broken Arrow'

 

[Phyllis]

Best wishes, Joel for a successful surgery and easy climb over the mountain. Godspeed!

 

[hensylee]

hope your trip up the mountain is uneventful, watch out for the truck, don't sneeze for the next month. Good luck. We'll leave the light on for ya.

GODSPEED!

 

[Cooker]

Wishing you smooth ride up and over the mountain. Godspeed.

 

[Curtsmum]

Good luck, hope everything goes well and wishing you a speedy recovery

 

[plexxer]

Thank you all for your well wishes! I am surprised at how calm I am as the date approaches, and am keeping myself busy with getting the house as in order as I can to help my wife who will have to take care of myself and the little monkey (ie, our son) in the upcoming weeks. I will have my wife login during my hospital stay and update everyone with my condition. I plan on having my laptop juiced up and will be ready to annoy everyone with questions when I am finally home!

 

[Freddie]

Wishing you the very best for a smooth recovery.
But I need to add one thing to what hansylee said: Don't sneeze or have the hic-ups for the next month.

Blessings

 

[Bina]

Best wishes to you on your mountain climb, everything will be just fine.
Yup, that first sneeze is a little scary Try not to catch a cold!

 

[AJ Golf]

Godspeed

Godspeed

Best wishes, prayers, and thoughts for you and your family on your climb up the mountain. Look forward to hearing from you when you get to the other side of it!

 

[blessed1416]

Godspeed!!

Godspeed!!

Joel, thoughts and prayers are coming your way. What an adorable little boy you have. Make sure and take a framed picture of him to the hospital. When you get in your regular room you can place his picture where you can see that precious smile and he will be your motivation to recover QUICKLY!!
You'll want him in your arms as fast as possible- just put a pillow between your chest and him!! God Bless!

 

[Karlynn]

Keeping you in prayer. I look forward to reading the good news of your great surgery and recovery.

 

[aussie girl]

Joel,

My thoughts and prayers for successful surgery and a smooth recovery

Mary

 

[plexxer]

Update on Plexxer from his Wife

Update on Plexxer from his Wife

Hello All,

As part of Joel's post-surgery wishes, he wanted me to email everyone with his status. The surgery went well. It took about 5 hours which is exactly what the surgeon had predicted. They did replace the aortic root along with the valve. We saw him for about 10 minutes post-surgery and then I came back at 6PM for visiting hours since they said he'd be awake then and I wanted him to have his glasses. He was breathing on his own, but still attached to the ventilator in case he needed it. He communicated that he loved us all and that he was sore. The nurses tried to move him to make him comfortable but given what he's been through, I'm doubtful that any position would be comfy at this point. He will be in Intensive Care for at least 24 hours post surgery, which is good because I want nothing left to chance.

He looked much better than I had anticipated. The tubes weren't that scary, he wasn't that bloated and I was comforted by all the screens of the monitoring equipment. To me, it means they are covering all their bases.

I have to say that so far, dealing with the staff of Jefferson hospital has been really pleasant. I felt that they had extremely good communication skills from explaining what was going to happen to updating us of his status. The nurses are attentive and I feel that he is in the best possible care he can be at this point in time.

I want to thank everyone for their thoughts, prayers, and well wishes so far. Joel still has a long road of recovery, but now we are past the first hurdle.

I will update you more as I know more of his condition. I look forward to my next chance to see him which will be for visiting hours at 10 AM tomorrow.

Plexxer's Wife,
Amber.

 

[WayneGM]

Thanks for the update, Amber. I'm glad to hear his surgery went well, and that he's now on this side of the mountain. It's a great place to be! Let him know we're thinking of him and wish him a smooth, speedy, and uneventful recovery.

 

[Phyllis]

Thanks for taking the time to update us, Amber and get your rest tonight. The next few days will be tiring. Best wishes to Joel for an uneventful recovery and speedy homecoming.

 

[Karlynn]

Wishing Joel a very smooth recovery. Happy to read the surgery went well and he'd doing fine so far.

 

[plexxer]

'Nother Update

'Nother Update

This is Amber again. I just wanted to let you know how well Plexxer is doing. He only has his EKG tapes still attached. The drainage tube was removed this afternoon. Every time I see him, he looks better and better. Even Patrick, his RN today said that if he didn't see the chart and know what is going on that he'd never know Plexxer had any surgery at all. Obviously, he's still sore, but he's able to transition himself between bed and chair relatively easily (after the percoset kicks in of course!)

He just has to do some walking and go to the bathroom and he could be released as early as tomorrow.

Both of us are completely stunned at how fast this has gone. We spent years dreading this time and now in the blink of an eye, he's almost ready to come home from the hospital. It's absolutely amazing.

When he comes home, I know he will post more of the details about his surgery and hospital that you guys are curious about but I had to share how incredible his progress is going.

I also wanted to publicly thank all the members here who post of their experiences. In the weeks before the surgery, these message boards were his only solace. By sharing your stories of experiences and triumphs, you were able to keep him going through those dark days preceding surgery. He knew what should happen, what to expect, how he'd feel, etc all because of each and every poster here. Your knowledge and information have been a priceless resource to my husband, and I truly believe that knowledge has been a factor in his speedy recovery.

Thank you all so much,
Amber