Surgery in 12 hours

[AndreaS]

I just found this site a few days ago and it took until a couple hours ago for moderator to get around to approving my registration.

I'm having aortic valve replacement, a section of my aorta (it's 5.2 cm) replaced and a triple bypass starting about 12 hours from now at the NYU Medical Center.

Wish me luck.

Andrea

 

[Duffey]

I just found this site a few days ago and it took until a couple hours ago for moderator to get around to approving my registration.

I'm having aortic valve replacement, a section of my aorta (it's 5.2 cm) replaced and a triple bypass starting about 12 hours from now at the NYU Medical Center.

Wish me luck.

Andrea

Best wishes for a successful surgery and an uneventful recovery.
Godspeed
Mary

 

[dick0236]

Welcome Andrea, you will do fine. Welcome to the "zipper club"

 

[Superbob]

Sending good vibes and best wishes to you, Andrea. Welcome! You should do well. We look forward to your posts as you begin your recovery.

 

[katm]

Good Luck Andrea! I am 7 weeks post op so I remember very well how you must be feeling. As difficult as it is to anticipate, you will not believe how fast it goes by and before you know it you will be home healing. Prayers for you.

Katm

 

[pellicle]

Best of luck Andrea

You'll be fine.

 

[DebbyA]

Andrea,

I do wish you luck! Please come back when you feel like it and let us know how you're doing (and if you have any questions).

 

[Oilman]

Good luck Andrea, you will be in good hands. Looking forward to hearing of your recovery from the other side. Sending good wishes your way.

 

[Allan.L]

You'll do well, keep your chin up and stay strong! Good luck!

 

[Mom2izzy]

Surgery in 12 hours

Glad you found the site. Even if you couldn't post...hopefully you were able to find information to put your mind at ease.

Sending good thoughts and wishing you luck!

 

[Rachel]

Best of luck Andrea! Thinking about you!

Rachel

 

[enkaynj]

Hope all went well Andrea and we look forward to your report.

 

[AndreaS]

Back home one week after surgery. I actually left the hospital two days ago but spent the first couple of nights at a friend's apartment near mine. I live in a 4th floor walk up and my friend lives in an elevated building, not that I went outside at all while I was there.

My surgeon says everything went extremely well. I wasn't even put on the heart/lung bypass machine during the procedure though I don't know how they can do that. I had a double by-pass done with veins from my chest so there was no surgery on my legs or arms and I don't even need a stent in the 3rd artery.

They kept me in the hospital a day longer than they thought because the drain tubes in my chest were still putting out too much fluid. The chest tubes finally came out Tuesday morning. That was a very strange feeling since there were two tubes, each a half inch in diameter, shoved one foot each up under my ribcage. They felt really strange coming out. But once they were out I could finally move around without dragging twenty feet of hose around behind me. I was only able to do once around the hallway, up and down the practice stairs a few times and up and down two flights of real stairs before I was checked out of the hospital.

So now I'm finally home and anxious to get back the strength to do everything, like climbing up the stairs to my apartment without stopping on every floor. I'm sure it will come soon. I feel a lot better already.

Andrea

 

[ottagal]

So glad you are home! Best wishes for a smooth recovery. Remember to take things one day.
Wow...not bypass machine. I have heard of beating heart surgery for Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting. Did you end up not needing your aortic valve replaced? If not, that is a bonus!
Best wishes

 

[DebbyA]

Glad to hear you're home! Like ottagal, I'm really curious about not needing the heart-lung machine, when you feel up to telling your story. In the meantime, enjoy the gradual improvement, and keep active, but don't overdo it! A retired doctor/neighbor told me "Do everything they tell you to".

 

[Mom2izzy]

Surgery in 12 hours

Congratulations! Take it easy.

 

[Guyswell]

Andreas,

Congratulations on your successful surgery! When you have a chance, if you're curious, you may want to ask your surgeon for a copy of the surgical report. That will describe in detail everything that was done during your surgery. Like others who have read your update, I've heard of beating heart bypass surgery where there's no need for the heart/lung machine. However, for my aortic valve replacement and ascending aorta repair, I was definitely on the heart lung machine and even had 7 or 8 minutes of complete circulatory arrest (no blood flow) while the aorta was repaired.

 

[AndreaS]

I'll be seeing my surgeon again on the 11th and I'll see if I can get more details then. I don't get it myself but as I recall he said that in Japan all OHS is done without a bypass machine.

Right now I'm concentrating on getting myself back into shape. Until about four weeks before surgery I was spending half an hour to an hour a day on a bicycle trainer but then my doctor told me it was too risky and I had to stop. I'm anxious to get started again. I live in a 4th floor walk-up apartment. Taking the 48 steps from the ground floor to my door gets my heart pounding. And I'm still carrying about four pounds more weight than I had the day before surgery.

But it's just been a week. I'm sure I'll get there.

Andrea

 

[Lily]

Glad you're doing so well; best wishes

 

[Jayhawk]

So glad you made it safely to the other side. The hard part is done (waiting) and now the healing can begin. One day at a time.