G
Guest
I'm not even sure why I've waited this long to post this ... it's not like it is the anniversary of my 2003 surgery, but reading some of the current experiences of others that have recently rejoined us after surgery, thought I would finally give VR.comers a glimpse into how it was for me those few days in January 2003, through the eyes of my sister.
Sadly, at that time, I didn't have as many "personal" relationships with people here or on ACHA's board, that gave the group an update on my behalf. Some of the people that my sister included in her Emails belong to my car-related boards, which I found out later, got the updates almost as soon as my sister sent them.... Be that as it may ... and better late than never, here are some excerpts from my sister's daily Emails....
>>"cort's surg.", 01/06/2003, 8:14pm<<
hello all:
it is about quarter til eight, jan 6. i just arrived home from the
hospital (children's memorial).
cort's surgery took approximately seven and a half hours by our estimation.
he was told to arrive at children's memorial around six for surgery by
seven thirty, but once we arrived we were told that nothing would begin
until seven, and that surgery wouldn't begin until eight thirty. i believe
they took him into the operating room around just before nine o'clock. we
were updated about every two hours on his status, which was good with every update.
sometime between four and four thirty i think it was, the doctor came out
to tell us that they were finished, and that it would take about another
forty-five minutes to an hour to close up the opening. they replaced the
artery. they also replaced the valve using a pig's valve instead of the
human valve. there was another valve between the two heart chambers on the right side of the heart that was "leaking" that was also repaired. they
did not have to perform the arrythmia procedure b/c cort's heart regulated
itself. that would have added time to the procedure. the pacemaker was
placed in his abdomin, and according to the doctor it is one of the best
pacemaker's available. it can be programmed from outside his body,
eliminating the need for further minor surgery to change the program if
need be.
when we left (that is--cort's best friend, heather, my boyfriend, eric, and
i) we had seen cort in the icu. since this is really the first surgery i
have been fully aware of, seeing him in the icu may have seemed more
extreme to me than it really was...he looked pale, but he was breathing
well on the ventilator. he was under sedatives to keep him from moving,
and pain killers. there were a lot of tubes running everywhere and you
could see his heart beating in a sense...but the doctors and the nurses
said he was doing well. mom and dad will be staying at the hospital until
later this evening, but will be coming home to sleep in their own bed
tonight if his condition remains in good status.
eric, heather, and i will be staying the night at home as well, and headed
back to the hospital in the morning. the nurse told me that they would
decide in the morning when to wake him up. the three of us should arrive
home around four in the afternoon (tuesday) and that will be when i will
send the next update unless his condition changes at all.
to sum it up, he is doing well, recovering in the icu. he is still on the
ventilator and has a lot medication going through him to keep him from
moving, and to help for pain he might have. they will most likely wake him
up tomorrow, and go from there on taking him off the ventilator.
please feel free to email if you have any specific questions. i will try
to check my email tonight and tomorrow morning and respond to what i can
before we head back the hospital in the morning. please excuse any
gramatical and spelling errors as it has been a long day with not much rest
from the night before...
God Bless,
Joylyn aka Cort's lil sis.
>>"cort update", 01/07/2003, 04:20p<<
hello again:
thank you all for the many emails of encouragement. this morning when i
checked email mom and dad were with me, and we were all able to look at the
emails together. i am sorry if i don't email all of you back personally...
we all slept very well last night, and that rest was much needed.
cort had a good night as well. he was taken off the paralytic medicine
this morning. when the doctors were in this morning they were happy with
how he was doing. he is still on the ventilator, and taking breaths on his
own every once in awhile. he is still not awake. mom and dad are staying
at the hospital until later this evening, and will call if he wakes up
tonight. if he does, his friend, heather, and i might head back to the
hospital tonight.
i will return to work tomorrow (wed.) and won't be able to see cort again
until tomorrow evening. i will send another update later tonight, if he
wakes up, or i will until after we have seen him tomorrow evening.
again, thank you all for the love, support, and prayers. i will pass
everything on to cort when he is aware enough!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"another update", 01/08/2003, 12:52a<<
hello again:
mom and dad were at the hospital longer than anticipated because cort was
awake and wanting to communicate some tonight. he was motioning and
writing a little bit, asking how everything went, and questions like that.
he still is not yet breathing on his own, and he motioned for his tubes to
be cleaned. he probably won't remember what all went on this evening, but
we are hoping by tomorrow he will be even more alert.
i am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow evening, and i will send
another update after i get to see him again.
again, thank you for the amount of support all of you have shown. i have
printed off so many emails for cort to read in the hospital my eyes are
crossed! ;-).
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"another C.D. update", 01/09/2003, 12:49a<<
hello all:
cort came off the ventilator today! around noon mom called me at
work to say that she had just called the hospital and five minutes before
she called they had just finished taking him off of it. unfortunately he
is still in a lot of pain. that is to be expected, though. they had him
off the ventilator sooner than they did after his last surgery in 1987-that
is a good sign.
they are talking about moving him into a regular room out of the icu
tomorrow, and possibly home on saturday on sunday. but he still has a long
way to go.
during our visit tonight cort didn't talk much. his voice is still hoarse
from the ventilator, and he was exhausted from being awake and alert almost
the whole day. i think he may have taken cat naps, but not much else.
cort had morning visitors from Faith Church of the Brethren in the late
morning. dad and heather (cort's best friend from VA) arrived around
one-thirty. mom and i got off work at four, and were on the road with eric
(my boyfriend) by four thirty. when we arrived, eric, heather, and i got a
bite to eat, then switched posts with mom and dad so they could eat. a
little later in the evening cort had more visitors, friends from one of the
car lists he is on. mom and dad left early so they both could attempt a
good night's sleep. eric, heather, and i left just a little after ten
o'clock.
he did not want us to go, holding tight to heather's hand, then mine, and
then heather's again...and is having difficulty keeping a positive attitude
for a good recovery, probably because of the amount of pain he is in right
now. about an hour before we left, he asked heather to tell the nurse that
he was having chest pain. he told her that on a scale from one to ten it
had been an 8 or 9, dropped to a 5 earlier in the day, and was slowly get
worse back up to a 7...he is hooked up to the pain medication so that he
can give himself a dose when the pain gets worse, and he had a tight grip
on that all evening.
it seemed that his spirits were uplifted, though, by the amount of emails
that he has recieved. so please, keep sending your messages of love,
support, and encouragement. we are printing them out and putting them into
a binder for him. i have told him of each person who has emailed, but have
not read each email to him yet. i thought i would let him enjoy reading
most of them himself when he is feeling better.
my next update probably won't be until late tomorrow night again...
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"out of icu update", 01/09/2003, 10:31p<<
hello again!
cort was moved out of icu early this aftenroon! he wanted me to send out
his phone number in case anyone felt like ringing him...but remember, he is
still pretty weak, and has a very hoarse voice still. (but the phone is
right next to him on the bed
he was on pain killers that were really making him tired (plus they had him
awake every two hours last night), so he wasn't talkative most of the day,
accorcding to dad. after they changed his meds tho, he was more awake. on a scale from one to ten, he told his nurse this evening he was at a two for
his chest pain, so that's good.
heather and dad spent the day at the hospital. heather left around
three-thirty to head home to VA. mom and i rode into the hospital with
aunt chris (mom's sister) and brenda (cousin), and ben (cousin), who lives
in the city, met us there. i took cort a cd player, speakers, and special
selections that i hope he likes from my cd collection, and he was glad to
have that (he turned off the tv to play some music). having us there
really seemed to cheer him up, so that was good.
the nurse was planning on getting him up and out to the scale to get his
weight this evening, but around eight-thirty they came to tell us visiting
hours were over, and his nurse hadn't gotten back yet. apparantly the
doctors are still thinking sat or sun for him coming home if all is going
well. if he remains stable all night, they will try to take the tubes out
tomorrow, and get him walking a little bit more tomorrow...
i apologize for not being able to respond to all of your emails. there are
so many, and cort is so blessed to have all of you sending so much to him.
i am still printing everything you send to him, and now that he is getting
more awake and alert, he is anxious to hear from everyone he can!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"update update", 01/10/2003, 10:38a<<
Cousin Ben's update:
Since I stayed after "visiting hours" I wanted to add to Joy's
update.
At about 9:30pm, the nurse came back and they got Cort to sit
up. He felt a little light headed at first, but he adjusted and
they had him stand on the scale. From there, he walked a few
steps and sat in a chair. They had him sit there for about 1/2
hour. Cort said that it felt better to be sitting and he had an
easier time breathing. At about 10pm, the nurse came back and
they got him back into bed. The nurse said he did very well for
his first time getting up. He looked pretty tired, so I left to
let him rest.
The nurse said they would get him up and out of bed 3 times
today. Cort seemed pretty determined to make it over to the
business center where internet access is avaliable, so maybe
he'll send an email to everyone some time today.
Ben
Joylyn's update:
hello this morning!
i spoke with cort on the phone breifly this morning around ten-thirty, and
i just wanted to add to ben's update.
his voice sounded stronger this morning, and he seemed to be in good
spirits. they have not had him up yet today. they will take the chest
tubes out before they get him up and walking, and he's not sure when that
will happen.
he was thankful for the phone calls he recieved this morning!
also, just a note, if he does make it to the computers today to send out an
email or two, please, please keep responding to my email address as we
don't know when he'll be back to check his emails addresses! plus, i can
keep printing out your letters for him if they are sent to me...thank
you!!!!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"home update", 01/10/2003, 11:11p<<
me again!
cort called me after work and said to bring the 2000 (his car instead of
eric's) b/c they might send him home tonight and he wanted to go him in HIS
car...unfortunately, he is stuck in the hospital just ONE MORE NIGHT! HOME
TOMORROW (sat, that is). YAY!!!!!!! the docs told him around nine, he
should be headed home, but the very honest nurse said don't count on
leaving until noon by the time all of the discharge papers are made up,
signed, and stamped...
he is in better spirits. he appreciated the phone calls he recieved today.
up and about once or twice today, and getting ready to get back up as eric
and i left this evening around nine. chest tubes are out, although they
still have him hooked up to a bunch of lines...not sure what all for...but,
he ate a good dinner, sloppy joes and a potatoe (icky). while cort was up
and about, eric craved a milk shake, so i got one too, and a minute later
dad showed up for one for him, and one for cort. he ate it all
. we started watching funniest home videos, but he changed the channel
cuz it was too funny and it hurts to laugh for him. but we are planning on
a COLD trip home for him tomorrow. YAY!
hope this finds everyone doing well. pray for a little warmth tomorrow for
cort (i took him warm clothes tonight).
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"home update", 01/13/2003, 12:19a<<
hi again:
well, today was a busy day at the stevens' household. (i worked this
morning) mom and dad started taking down christmas decorations. joe, a
frined of cort's from algonquin came over to hang out and play games with
cort, eric, and i. he spent about four hours helping to keep cort
occupied.
while joe was here, bob and sharon, who cort met through car clubs in the
area, dropped by. also eula from church stopped by with monday's dinner :
-). later in the evening, after joe left, aunt chris and uncle carl made
their way over and stayed longer than they planned too b/c we kept them
chatting. last, but not least, cort's pastor, erin and her older
daughter, emily, stopped over with a hearty plant for cort.
all in all, it was a good day. cort is still having pain, especially when
he coughs or laughs. he cleaned up today, and washed his hair, and i think
that made him feel better...he still has to take things slow, though, and
do a lot of resting on the couch. he ate well (good?) today, oatmeal for
breakfast, cheese, crackers, and fruit for lunch, and well, mcdonalds for
dinner...hehe...
cort says that he appreciates all of the emails, phone calls, and visits.
please keep the emails coming so i can keep printing them out for him! (he
needs a lot of things to keep him occupied the next few weeks!). also,
please email if you are interested in calling at all, and i'm good with
directions for those who would like to come say a personal hello...any
entertainment that can be given will be most welcome! as soon as he feels
strong enough, he will start sending out his own updates...
that's all for tonight...
God Bless,
joylyn
......and that is where I took over with my long-winded updates.
Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html
"Nothing's quite the same now" ... Vertical Horizon ... 'Best I Ever Had'
Sadly, at that time, I didn't have as many "personal" relationships with people here or on ACHA's board, that gave the group an update on my behalf. Some of the people that my sister included in her Emails belong to my car-related boards, which I found out later, got the updates almost as soon as my sister sent them.... Be that as it may ... and better late than never, here are some excerpts from my sister's daily Emails....
>>"cort's surg.", 01/06/2003, 8:14pm<<
hello all:
it is about quarter til eight, jan 6. i just arrived home from the
hospital (children's memorial).
cort's surgery took approximately seven and a half hours by our estimation.
he was told to arrive at children's memorial around six for surgery by
seven thirty, but once we arrived we were told that nothing would begin
until seven, and that surgery wouldn't begin until eight thirty. i believe
they took him into the operating room around just before nine o'clock. we
were updated about every two hours on his status, which was good with every update.
sometime between four and four thirty i think it was, the doctor came out
to tell us that they were finished, and that it would take about another
forty-five minutes to an hour to close up the opening. they replaced the
artery. they also replaced the valve using a pig's valve instead of the
human valve. there was another valve between the two heart chambers on the right side of the heart that was "leaking" that was also repaired. they
did not have to perform the arrythmia procedure b/c cort's heart regulated
itself. that would have added time to the procedure. the pacemaker was
placed in his abdomin, and according to the doctor it is one of the best
pacemaker's available. it can be programmed from outside his body,
eliminating the need for further minor surgery to change the program if
need be.
when we left (that is--cort's best friend, heather, my boyfriend, eric, and
i) we had seen cort in the icu. since this is really the first surgery i
have been fully aware of, seeing him in the icu may have seemed more
extreme to me than it really was...he looked pale, but he was breathing
well on the ventilator. he was under sedatives to keep him from moving,
and pain killers. there were a lot of tubes running everywhere and you
could see his heart beating in a sense...but the doctors and the nurses
said he was doing well. mom and dad will be staying at the hospital until
later this evening, but will be coming home to sleep in their own bed
tonight if his condition remains in good status.
eric, heather, and i will be staying the night at home as well, and headed
back to the hospital in the morning. the nurse told me that they would
decide in the morning when to wake him up. the three of us should arrive
home around four in the afternoon (tuesday) and that will be when i will
send the next update unless his condition changes at all.
to sum it up, he is doing well, recovering in the icu. he is still on the
ventilator and has a lot medication going through him to keep him from
moving, and to help for pain he might have. they will most likely wake him
up tomorrow, and go from there on taking him off the ventilator.
please feel free to email if you have any specific questions. i will try
to check my email tonight and tomorrow morning and respond to what i can
before we head back the hospital in the morning. please excuse any
gramatical and spelling errors as it has been a long day with not much rest
from the night before...
God Bless,
Joylyn aka Cort's lil sis.
>>"cort update", 01/07/2003, 04:20p<<
hello again:
thank you all for the many emails of encouragement. this morning when i
checked email mom and dad were with me, and we were all able to look at the
emails together. i am sorry if i don't email all of you back personally...
we all slept very well last night, and that rest was much needed.
cort had a good night as well. he was taken off the paralytic medicine
this morning. when the doctors were in this morning they were happy with
how he was doing. he is still on the ventilator, and taking breaths on his
own every once in awhile. he is still not awake. mom and dad are staying
at the hospital until later this evening, and will call if he wakes up
tonight. if he does, his friend, heather, and i might head back to the
hospital tonight.
i will return to work tomorrow (wed.) and won't be able to see cort again
until tomorrow evening. i will send another update later tonight, if he
wakes up, or i will until after we have seen him tomorrow evening.
again, thank you all for the love, support, and prayers. i will pass
everything on to cort when he is aware enough!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"another update", 01/08/2003, 12:52a<<
hello again:
mom and dad were at the hospital longer than anticipated because cort was
awake and wanting to communicate some tonight. he was motioning and
writing a little bit, asking how everything went, and questions like that.
he still is not yet breathing on his own, and he motioned for his tubes to
be cleaned. he probably won't remember what all went on this evening, but
we are hoping by tomorrow he will be even more alert.
i am looking forward to seeing him tomorrow evening, and i will send
another update after i get to see him again.
again, thank you for the amount of support all of you have shown. i have
printed off so many emails for cort to read in the hospital my eyes are
crossed! ;-).
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"another C.D. update", 01/09/2003, 12:49a<<
hello all:
cort came off the ventilator today! around noon mom called me at
work to say that she had just called the hospital and five minutes before
she called they had just finished taking him off of it. unfortunately he
is still in a lot of pain. that is to be expected, though. they had him
off the ventilator sooner than they did after his last surgery in 1987-that
is a good sign.
they are talking about moving him into a regular room out of the icu
tomorrow, and possibly home on saturday on sunday. but he still has a long
way to go.
during our visit tonight cort didn't talk much. his voice is still hoarse
from the ventilator, and he was exhausted from being awake and alert almost
the whole day. i think he may have taken cat naps, but not much else.
cort had morning visitors from Faith Church of the Brethren in the late
morning. dad and heather (cort's best friend from VA) arrived around
one-thirty. mom and i got off work at four, and were on the road with eric
(my boyfriend) by four thirty. when we arrived, eric, heather, and i got a
bite to eat, then switched posts with mom and dad so they could eat. a
little later in the evening cort had more visitors, friends from one of the
car lists he is on. mom and dad left early so they both could attempt a
good night's sleep. eric, heather, and i left just a little after ten
o'clock.
he did not want us to go, holding tight to heather's hand, then mine, and
then heather's again...and is having difficulty keeping a positive attitude
for a good recovery, probably because of the amount of pain he is in right
now. about an hour before we left, he asked heather to tell the nurse that
he was having chest pain. he told her that on a scale from one to ten it
had been an 8 or 9, dropped to a 5 earlier in the day, and was slowly get
worse back up to a 7...he is hooked up to the pain medication so that he
can give himself a dose when the pain gets worse, and he had a tight grip
on that all evening.
it seemed that his spirits were uplifted, though, by the amount of emails
that he has recieved. so please, keep sending your messages of love,
support, and encouragement. we are printing them out and putting them into
a binder for him. i have told him of each person who has emailed, but have
not read each email to him yet. i thought i would let him enjoy reading
most of them himself when he is feeling better.
my next update probably won't be until late tomorrow night again...
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"out of icu update", 01/09/2003, 10:31p<<
hello again!
cort was moved out of icu early this aftenroon! he wanted me to send out
his phone number in case anyone felt like ringing him...but remember, he is
still pretty weak, and has a very hoarse voice still. (but the phone is
right next to him on the bed
he was on pain killers that were really making him tired (plus they had him
awake every two hours last night), so he wasn't talkative most of the day,
accorcding to dad. after they changed his meds tho, he was more awake. on a scale from one to ten, he told his nurse this evening he was at a two for
his chest pain, so that's good.
heather and dad spent the day at the hospital. heather left around
three-thirty to head home to VA. mom and i rode into the hospital with
aunt chris (mom's sister) and brenda (cousin), and ben (cousin), who lives
in the city, met us there. i took cort a cd player, speakers, and special
selections that i hope he likes from my cd collection, and he was glad to
have that (he turned off the tv to play some music). having us there
really seemed to cheer him up, so that was good.
the nurse was planning on getting him up and out to the scale to get his
weight this evening, but around eight-thirty they came to tell us visiting
hours were over, and his nurse hadn't gotten back yet. apparantly the
doctors are still thinking sat or sun for him coming home if all is going
well. if he remains stable all night, they will try to take the tubes out
tomorrow, and get him walking a little bit more tomorrow...
i apologize for not being able to respond to all of your emails. there are
so many, and cort is so blessed to have all of you sending so much to him.
i am still printing everything you send to him, and now that he is getting
more awake and alert, he is anxious to hear from everyone he can!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"update update", 01/10/2003, 10:38a<<
Cousin Ben's update:
Since I stayed after "visiting hours" I wanted to add to Joy's
update.
At about 9:30pm, the nurse came back and they got Cort to sit
up. He felt a little light headed at first, but he adjusted and
they had him stand on the scale. From there, he walked a few
steps and sat in a chair. They had him sit there for about 1/2
hour. Cort said that it felt better to be sitting and he had an
easier time breathing. At about 10pm, the nurse came back and
they got him back into bed. The nurse said he did very well for
his first time getting up. He looked pretty tired, so I left to
let him rest.
The nurse said they would get him up and out of bed 3 times
today. Cort seemed pretty determined to make it over to the
business center where internet access is avaliable, so maybe
he'll send an email to everyone some time today.
Ben
Joylyn's update:
hello this morning!
i spoke with cort on the phone breifly this morning around ten-thirty, and
i just wanted to add to ben's update.
his voice sounded stronger this morning, and he seemed to be in good
spirits. they have not had him up yet today. they will take the chest
tubes out before they get him up and walking, and he's not sure when that
will happen.
he was thankful for the phone calls he recieved this morning!
also, just a note, if he does make it to the computers today to send out an
email or two, please, please keep responding to my email address as we
don't know when he'll be back to check his emails addresses! plus, i can
keep printing out your letters for him if they are sent to me...thank
you!!!!
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"home update", 01/10/2003, 11:11p<<
me again!
cort called me after work and said to bring the 2000 (his car instead of
eric's) b/c they might send him home tonight and he wanted to go him in HIS
car...unfortunately, he is stuck in the hospital just ONE MORE NIGHT! HOME
TOMORROW (sat, that is). YAY!!!!!!! the docs told him around nine, he
should be headed home, but the very honest nurse said don't count on
leaving until noon by the time all of the discharge papers are made up,
signed, and stamped...
he is in better spirits. he appreciated the phone calls he recieved today.
up and about once or twice today, and getting ready to get back up as eric
and i left this evening around nine. chest tubes are out, although they
still have him hooked up to a bunch of lines...not sure what all for...but,
he ate a good dinner, sloppy joes and a potatoe (icky). while cort was up
and about, eric craved a milk shake, so i got one too, and a minute later
dad showed up for one for him, and one for cort. he ate it all
. we started watching funniest home videos, but he changed the channelcuz it was too funny and it hurts to laugh for him. but we are planning on
a COLD trip home for him tomorrow. YAY!
hope this finds everyone doing well. pray for a little warmth tomorrow for
cort (i took him warm clothes tonight).
God Bless,
joylyn
>>"home update", 01/13/2003, 12:19a<<
hi again:
well, today was a busy day at the stevens' household. (i worked this
morning) mom and dad started taking down christmas decorations. joe, a
frined of cort's from algonquin came over to hang out and play games with
cort, eric, and i. he spent about four hours helping to keep cort
occupied.
while joe was here, bob and sharon, who cort met through car clubs in the
area, dropped by. also eula from church stopped by with monday's dinner :
-). later in the evening, after joe left, aunt chris and uncle carl made
their way over and stayed longer than they planned too b/c we kept them
chatting
. last, but not least, cort's pastor, erin and her olderdaughter, emily, stopped over with a hearty plant for cort.
all in all, it was a good day. cort is still having pain, especially when
he coughs or laughs. he cleaned up today, and washed his hair, and i think
that made him feel better...he still has to take things slow, though, and
do a lot of resting on the couch. he ate well (good?) today, oatmeal for
breakfast, cheese, crackers, and fruit for lunch, and well, mcdonalds for
dinner...hehe...
cort says that he appreciates all of the emails, phone calls, and visits.
please keep the emails coming so i can keep printing them out for him! (he
needs a lot of things to keep him occupied the next few weeks!). also,
please email if you are interested in calling at all, and i'm good with
directions for those who would like to come say a personal hello...any
entertainment that can be given will be most welcome! as soon as he feels
strong enough, he will start sending out his own updates...
that's all for tonight...
God Bless,
joylyn
......and that is where I took over with my long-winded updates
.Cort, "Mr MC" / "Mr Road Trip", 32swm/pig valve/pacemaker
MC:family.IL.guide.future = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/
chdQB = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort/quilt.html
"Nothing's quite the same now" ... Vertical Horizon ... 'Best I Ever Had'
