That is excellent news !!! Maybe your area has a home nursing service to help if needed.
(our rural area has great home nurses)
Surgery... and post-op
- Thread starter sarahsunshine
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That is excellent news !!! Maybe your area has a home nursing service to help if needed.
(our rural area has great home nurses)
offwego
Well-known member
Great news! Great time to get home! !
sarahsunshine
Well-known member
Thanks guys.
It was great to have him home... He has been refusing to do any exercise, though.... Now comes a battle of wills with a pre-teen.
It was great to have him home... He has been refusing to do any exercise, though.... Now comes a battle of wills with a pre-teen.
sarahsunshine
Well-known member
I forgot to add that I (finally) got a St. Jude 17mm valve (from 1999) - the same model that Skyler had for 12 years. Is it ever small! I'd say it's about the size of a dime (it has no tissue sleeve on it).
I've had a really hard time trying to find the effective orifice area of this 17mm St. Jude Mitral valve. I found .91/.92cm2 for aortic valves.
I just want to compare the specs to the new On-X Mitral valve put in the same spot that has an average EOA of 3.2cm2! (The Aortic 25.. has a 2.7cm2 EOA).
Can you imagine, he has about 3.5 times the blood flow going through the same spot in his heart now than in November! I just can't imagine how different it must feel to him. I don't even know how a person could explain it. Can anyone let me know?
I've had a really hard time trying to find the effective orifice area of this 17mm St. Jude Mitral valve. I found .91/.92cm2 for aortic valves.
I just want to compare the specs to the new On-X Mitral valve put in the same spot that has an average EOA of 3.2cm2! (The Aortic 25.. has a 2.7cm2 EOA).
Can you imagine, he has about 3.5 times the blood flow going through the same spot in his heart now than in November! I just can't imagine how different it must feel to him. I don't even know how a person could explain it. Can anyone let me know?
sarahsunshine
Well-known member
I just wanted to update that Skyler got his PICC line out a week and a half ago, and that he’s doing great!
Last weekend we went swimming and he decided to go for a swim in the deep end with his dad. He’s never been a great swimmer, always using a life jacket. But Sunday, he swam an entire length in the deep end, by himself, and got to the other end smiling! He said he was hardly breathing hard, and it had been SO EASY!
His dad, who had been watching him and swimming right close by in case he needed help, was extremely impressed and has been telling everyone who stands still enough to listen how much his new heart valves (and graft) have improved his endurance. All this, and Skyler’s heart surgery was on the 28th of November! And his sternum was opened on Dec 10th again! And now he’s swimming and running and playing dodge-ball!
It’s amazing! And he is so excited about doing sports (which he's never been excited about before).
Look what 3x the blood flow through your heart can do. (And he’s also 5 pounds heavier than pre-surgery!)
Last weekend we went swimming and he decided to go for a swim in the deep end with his dad. He’s never been a great swimmer, always using a life jacket. But Sunday, he swam an entire length in the deep end, by himself, and got to the other end smiling! He said he was hardly breathing hard, and it had been SO EASY!
His dad, who had been watching him and swimming right close by in case he needed help, was extremely impressed and has been telling everyone who stands still enough to listen how much his new heart valves (and graft) have improved his endurance. All this, and Skyler’s heart surgery was on the 28th of November! And his sternum was opened on Dec 10th again! And now he’s swimming and running and playing dodge-ball!
It’s amazing! And he is so excited about doing sports (which he's never been excited about before).
Look what 3x the blood flow through your heart can do. (And he’s also 5 pounds heavier than pre-surgery!)
Jkm7
Well-known member
It is so wonderful to hear how Skyler is thriving.
It's really incredible his surgery and sternum opening were such a short time ago.
It's sometimes hard to wrap our heads around how successful this surgery is.
It's really incredible his surgery and sternum opening were such a short time ago.
It's sometimes hard to wrap our heads around how successful this surgery is.
Sarah_Louise
Well-known member
Ahh so pleased to hear how well he's doing 
Love Sarah xxxxx
Love Sarah xxxxx
thanks for the update! I love hearing news like this.
sarahsunshine
Well-known member
Skyler had his 3 month post-surgery appointment with the cardiologist (well, 2.5 months since his heart surgery, and 2 months since being re-opened for cleaning up the infection). His doctor took one look at him and said – you look great and you are really filling out! (He’s gained 7 pounds and no change in height since surgery). The upshot is that Skyler is supposed to ease into any and all activities that he would like, SLOWLY, to build strength as he goes. I don’t think Skyler understands what that means! Skyler also got a big talk from the cardiologist about the connection between tooth brushing/flossing and heart infections, saying that because of how easily gum infections (and unhealthy gums) can transfer to your heart, he needs to be extra careful about brushing and flossing properly and frequently (morning, night and after every meal). The cardiologist even went so far as to say that he’s known people to get such bad heart infections that they had to have a heart transplant… Maybe that will have an effect on Skyler who refuses to brush his teeth?
In terms of Skyler’s personal outlook, he’s turned a new leaf. He’s more confident, especially in the swimming department. I mentioned in the last post that he could swim a lot better than pre-surgery because he could hold his breath better. Well, that has turned into suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable under-water, and treading water in the big waves (he wouldn’t even try treading water pre-surgery). He’s gone from being a “I won’t go in deep water without a lifejacket and a parent”, to “I want to go swim in the big waves and do handstands and collect rings from the bottom of the deep end” in a matter of 2 weeks… It’s great to see, especially since swimming is such a fantastic workout. He’s even convinced his dad to let him go on the city bus to the pool for public swim on his own, using his own allowance to pay the public swim fees.
In terms of Skyler’s personal outlook, he’s turned a new leaf. He’s more confident, especially in the swimming department. I mentioned in the last post that he could swim a lot better than pre-surgery because he could hold his breath better. Well, that has turned into suddenly feeling a lot more comfortable under-water, and treading water in the big waves (he wouldn’t even try treading water pre-surgery). He’s gone from being a “I won’t go in deep water without a lifejacket and a parent”, to “I want to go swim in the big waves and do handstands and collect rings from the bottom of the deep end” in a matter of 2 weeks… It’s great to see, especially since swimming is such a fantastic workout. He’s even convinced his dad to let him go on the city bus to the pool for public swim on his own, using his own allowance to pay the public swim fees.
:thumbup:Way to go Skylar:thumbup:
Sarah_Louise
Well-known member
Great news!! Well done Skyler!!
Love Sarah xx
Love Sarah xx
