Appreciate that info and recommendation. Have thought about going to one of the top-ranked facilities, and Cleveland has been tops for a long time. Do they have any lodging discount deals for patients and patients' families? And how long a hospital stay did you have, and did you go to a rehab center afterward? How did you travel home afterwards and how did that go?
I am 77 and my prospective UNC/Chapel Hill surgeon said I'd likely spend 5-7 days in hospital and then he would probably have me go to a rehab/care facility for a while. It's about 250 miles from home so travel and cost for one or two family members to stay nearby are considerations.
This would be my second OHR. First was in 2005 for VR plus AAA. Have a Medtronic combined root/valve. In 2009, (10 years ago) local cardio alarm bells rang when CT showed 5.1 aortic diameter, but original surgeon convinced them that was pretty much normal for me.(I am a pretty hefty guy.) In March this year, a new CT put it at 5.3 -- not a huge increase over a decade. I had an initial consultation at UNC and the surgeon who looked at a CD of the CT said he measured 5.5. So we were on verge of pre-op testing when I proposed we do follow-up imaging in 3 to 6 months to try to see if there really is a growth trend. So that's where it stands now. Surgery still probable but I'm hoping it stabilizes at 5.3, or even back at 5.1 in case it was a measurement error.
Sorry. Missed some of your questions.
I was in hospital 7 days, I was supposed to be out in 4, but my INR would not budge for days so they had me on a Heparin drip. I had planned on up to 7 days so my surgery was on a Thursday and I was out following Thursday. I had booked my return flight for Sunday so had plenty of time. I arrived the Sunday before as they had 3 days or pre appointments set up, day 1 was blood, x-ray, pulmonary test, echo of heart and then echo or carotid artery. Day 2 was cath, day 3 was anesthesia clearance meeting and then meeting with surgeon and admittance paperwork. Those 3 days were outpatient. Day 4 was 5:30am check in for surgery.
Overall I was in Cleveland for 15 nights and stayed at Residence Inn Downtown, ran me about $2600 for hotel. We ditched car after day 1 as hotel wanted $36 a day for parking and hospital was $10. Cost us less than $40 a day in Lyft and Uber.
As for cardiac rehab they tell you to get your cardiologist to arrange that at 6 weeks, which will be 10 more days for me. Also I am skeptical of rehab as once they explain what I need to do I can do most of it in my basement as I have some exercise gear. I don’t plan on going to them more than once or twice.
As for travel home, we flew. They ask that you wear compression socks, which my wife ordered me a few pair ahead of time as the hospital ones are bright white. We ordered wheelchair on both ends which helped, but don’t get me started on the Atlanta airport.
I am 58 healthy and up to date of surgery was exercising and eating well. Day after surgery I was packing in the protein drinks to give my body energy to heal. As soon as they got me up walking I was walking as much as possible. Some days we did 1.5-1.75 miles in laps around the halls. I was determined to minimize pain meds.
24 hours after surgery in ICU when my wife showed up I was “where is my phone I need to catch up on work emails” and 2 days later had my laptop out working 6 hours a day from the room and on con calls. I believe that helped as I was focused rather than dwelling on my recovery.
I can’t am writing up a mini-blog to share my story, but realize I am not the norm and that many have tougher time. What I hope is to educate people on my choices and how I got there as well as my r covers which I am fortunate has been great. At t weeks my biggest concern is upper sternum still feels more sensitive than I expect and I heard a pop that I am not sure was rib or sternum.
The good news is I jumped right on Cleveland Clinic nurse chat mentioned it and they suggested I go get it looked at to be safe. They have a 24 hour nurse line and then chat as well during business hours.
