Thanks For The Messages!

[Christina L]

This is Wayne again on Sunday night. Thanks for the messages sent today. Just got back to the hotel from visiting Chris in the ICU..... I relayed your messages to her. Seemed to lift her spirits! I think she realizes it is very early and she needs more time to let her heart heal. Hopefully, tomorrow she will be able to talk to alot more people and find out what's going on. I feel confident that things will clear up soon, she will be back on track and we will be heading back home to Colorado within the next few days!!!!

Thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers!

Chris & Wayne

 

[fyrfytr]

Hey Wayne,
So glad to hear the good news. Thanks for keeping us posted. Tell Chris to rest and not to worry. She will be on the road to recovery real soon. Tell her she won't need those hiking boots because she will be wanting tennis shoes to come down that mountain.
Take Care and you both are in my thoughts and prayers.

Dave
__________________________
Surgery: 4/21/03
Aortic Aneurysm Repair
AVR, with a St. Jude Mechanical

 

[MelissaM]

Hi Wayne,

Thanks for the update on Chris. We've been sending her good energy all day.

The heart's electrical system was my one complication - seems to be fairly common with the mini-sternotomy (and heart surgery in general). The way they did mine, they went through the right atrium to get to the left atrium to fix the mitral valve. Well. . .guess what lies between and around the right and left atriums?? The heart's natural pacemakers. Soo. . .it is definitely not uncommon for these little guys to be a little PO'd that they were cut into and it takes a bit for them to heal. Plus, they are basically doing everything laproscopically, so if they are off even by a millimeter, they can nick something and throw it off.

You might want to ask the cardiologist or one of the nurses for a copy of Chris' operative report. Most of this will probably mumbo-jumbo, but hopefully there is a sentence in there that reads "patient tolerated procedure well" if everything was routine, or another readable sentence that says if there were complications. If you do get this report, you should be able to ask the cardiologist or surgeon to explain parts of it you don't understand. And don't let them get pissy on you or dismiss it as something "you don't need to know"! Keep asking until you get answers This report may or may not shed light on Chris' current complications, but either way it is good information to have and will be useful to Chris' cardiologist here in Colorado.

I hope that Chris will be out of ICU by morning and her heart will start to recover on its own. We're rooting for her!

Melissa

 

[Karlynn]

Wayne,
Thank you so much for keeping us posted. Sometimes the mind gets ahead of where the body is, and the body has a way of telling the mind to slow down a bit. We don't like it, but sometimes the body knows best. One thing we all know here is that the body will takes it's own time to heal and probably about 99% of the time, it's not fast enough for our liking.

Tell Christina to relax, she has plenty of time - the reunion in Colorado isn't until next October!!!

Continuing to pray for a great recovery,
Karlynn

 

[Kathy]

Wayne,

I was hesitant about replying to your post last night, because my experience was not optimal.

I was in CCF and had a mitral repair in July and had problems with the electrical system. I was told that is the case with 40% of valve patients and that 10% of the patients need a permanent pacemaker.

My heart was erratic. I was experiencing A-Fib for several days, then returning to sinus rhythm. I would be fine for a day or so then return to A-Fib. My natural rate is low so the meds for A-Fib lowered it to a dangerous rate. There was a lot of controversy over whether or not I needed the pacemaker, so they kept me to see if my heart would return on its' own. The electrophysiologists (pacemaker guys) and the cardiologists finally came to an agreement about the pacemaker and it was put in.

A few suggestions:

Ask lots of questions. You might want to make it over to the hospital before 8 a.m. so that you can see all the doctors as they make their rounds. The decision about the pacemaker (if that continues to be an issue) will be a joint one made by the electros and cards. The cards will call in the electros if they feel it is necessary.

The person who was most helpful to my husband and me happened to be the surgeon's clinical nurse. She took a lot of time to explain things to us and help us navigate the system.

If you or Chris would like to talk to someone from pastoral care you have to request a visit. I had stated my religious preferences upon admission and no one ever visited. I finally asked and was told of that policy. I never had that experience in any other hospital.

I think one real disadvantage to going to Cleveland is that the spouse or other family support person is alone. I think my husband felt very isolated at the hotel, despite making many phone calls to family and friends. We live 2 hours away from the clinic, so we did have some visitors. I'm sure it would have been easier for him if he had been closer to home and visitors were more frequent. I didn't really mind the lack of visitors. I didn't feel up to socializing.

One reason that I chose to go to Cleveland for my surgery was that is where I wanted to be if anything went wrong. I've had some peculiar medical problems in the past. You need to remember that you are in the hospital that has been rated #1 for cardiac care for the past nine years. Chris is receiving the best possible care.

My best to you and Chris.