Things I want to do before surgery...

[dwfreck]

Everyone,

Here's another neurotic, but light-hearted, question. Which of the following would YOU try to do, or not bother trying to do, before surgery (in no particular order):

1) Buy a new vehicle to replace your 12-year-old, 183,000-mile+, difficult-to-climb-into-with-a-sore-body, Subaru Legacy wagon.

2) Replace your broken and drafty basement windows.

3) Replace your broken, drafty and leaky patio door (this one's already scheduled, but I thought I'd add it to see if I'm as crazy as I think I am).

4) Open some or all of the following financial accounts:
a) Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.
b) "Section 529" college savings accounts.
c) Roth IRA accounts.

5) Help your six-year-old son build his first Pinewood Derby car.

6) Attend your six-year-old son's first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet (the year-end awards dinner).

7) Use some of your savings (earning 1.95% interest) to pay off some of all of your credit card debt (paying 0% interest until Jan. 2005).

8) Finish all of your current projects at work.

9) Write and post, on Valvereplacement.com, the definitive tip sheet for managing your medical bills, insurance company, and medical service providers.

10) Take down the Christmas decorations.

11) Drive 4-5 hours one way to the Cleveland metro area and back again to acquire a free set of organ pipes for your church's new-but-just-started-contruction worship center.

12) Have a three-year-follow-up colonoscopy.

13) Install that new over-the-range microwave that's been sitting in your garage for a month.

14) Climb into the garage attic to remove an old yellow jacket nest and/or install the new Halo lights for the fireplace that have been sitting in your garage for a month-and-a-half.

15) Teach your significant other how you handle the family finances.

16) Write down the locations of your important papers (wills, living wills, trusts, deeds, insurance policies, medical and durable powers of attorney).

17) Move your important papers to a bank safe deposit box.

18) Move your recliner from the second-floor guest room to the first-floor family room.

19) Flip and/or rotate your mattress.

20) Schedule your five-year-old Mercury Mystique for its 66,000-mile check-up.

 

[JimL]

I'd vote for #1, except that you have #20 to drive.

How about #5? I recently did a once in ten year clean-up of my shop, and found a jig for routing out the bottom of pinecars to receive a weight. If I hadn't written on the jig what it was for, I'd never have guessed.

 

[Kenny F]

Nothing neurotic about this list, Dale - very real and important. Don't want to get wierd - it's not your last days on earth. But it could be your last days for awhile where you feel like doing anything!

You can't go wrong with #5 & #6. Relationships are the only thing with eternal significance.

I waited till last week to buy a new vehicle (self-employed, tax break - easy decision). You won't be driving for a while anyway!

Definitely clean up all your affairs - that's #8,15,16,17

Save the vr.com insurance treatise for recovery - you'll want something to do around week 3-4.

Colonoscopy? Are you nuts? You will suffer enough abuse soon enough

The recliner and mattress are the ramblings of a wise man - you will be glad you did both of these!

I actually made such a list and then tried to work thru it until I was satisfied and had peace of mind.

 

[medtronic of borg]

No particular order

No particular order

In no particular orderI would;

#5, 6, 7, 16, 17, 18,and draft a living will if this go all to hell. But first remember the most important thing to do is spend time with your kids. Whats most important after that is what would make YOU feel more at ease when they put you to sleep.

Med

One other thing..I never try to make major decisions at times like this.

 

[Andrea]

Do everything with your son, move the recliner and screw the rest! (pardon the language) LOL

Dont let 'nesting' take you over before surgery. You need the time to relax and spend happy time with your family. Make sure you have a friend or family member who can maybe take care of a couple things for you. Dont wear yourself out before surgery.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

dwfreck wrote:

Which of the following would YOU try to do, or not bother trying to do, before surgery (in no particular order):

1) Buy a new vehicle to replace your 12-year-old, 183,000-mile+, difficult-to-climb-into-with-a-sore-body, Subaru Legacy wagon.

ONLY if it is your ONLY vehicle.

2) Replace your broken and drafty basement windows.

ONLY if you have nothing else left to do. Cover with plastic sheeting and tape until spring.

3) Replace your broken, drafty and leaky patio door (this one's already scheduled, but I thought I'd add it to see if I'm as crazy as I think I am).

Same as #2 unless you can get someone ELSE to do it.

4) Open some or all of the following financial accounts:
a) Coverdell Education Savings Accounts.
b) "Section 529" college savings accounts.
c) Roth IRA accounts.

No idea (I'm not a parent). DO change all Band / Credit Union / Brokerage Accounts to TOD (Transfer on Death) with percentages designated for each beneficiary. This avoids PROBATE delays and public exposure.

5) Help your six-year-old son build his first Pinewood Derby car.

YES!

6) Attend your six-year-old son's first Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet (the year-end awards dinner).

YES !

7) Use some of your savings (earning 1.95% interest) to pay off some of all of your credit card debt (paying 0% interest until Jan. 2005).

Cutting Credit Card Debt is always a good idea.

8) Finish all of your current projects at work.

It will never happen and it will take you away from other important (family) activities. Do what you can without impacting other priorities.

9) Write and post, on Valvereplacement.com, the definitive tip sheet for managing your medical bills, insurance company, and medical service providers.

It can wait.

10) Take down the Christmas decorations.

YES, especially combustibles like the tree.

11) Drive 4-5 hours one way to the Cleveland metro area and back again to acquire a free set of organ pipes for your church's new-but-just-started-contruction worship center.

Sounds like a good task to DELEGATE to someone ELSE.

12) Have a three-year-follow-up colonoscopy.

GOOD IDEA if there is a chance you will end up on Coumadin!

13) Install that new over-the-range microwave that's been sitting in your garage for a month.

Where are you going to find all the TIME for these projects before sugery? You may need help with this. LIFTING is NOT GOOD for Valve Patients (Before or After Surgery).

14) Climb into the garage attic to remove an old yellow jacket nest and/or install the new Halo lights for the fireplace that have been sitting in your garage for a month-and-a-half.

Maybe you DO have too much time on your hands

15) Teach your significant other how you handle the family finances.

Same as 14

16) Write down the locations of your important papers (wills, living wills, trusts, deeds, insurance policies, medical and durable powers of attorney).

Yes.

17) Move your important papers to a bank safe deposit box.

Move COPIES. IF worst comes to worst and the bank finds out, your box will be SEALED until ???

18) Move your recliner from the second-floor guest room to the first-floor family room.

If ypu plan to stay on the first floor following surgery, get someone ELSE to move it for you.

19) Flip and/or rotate your mattress.

Not a task for YOU.

20) Schedule your five-year-old Mercury Mystique for its 66,000-mile check-up.

GOOD IDEA !

'AL Capshaw' (GO BLUE ! )

 

[Harpoon]

I'd do the Cub Scout stuff with your kid before anything else....


Just make sure those two things are top priorities, they have to be if you're a real father. =)


Besides, chances are your kid isn't too keen on you going into the hospital for major surgery and if he's old enough to be in cub scouts then he's old enough to understand just how serious your surgery will be.

He needs that quality time as much as you do.


Wish I was able to do something like that with my kid before I went into the hospital. There were a LOT of things I wish I was able to do with my son before I went in and while I was there but I just couldn't. It was hard talking to him on the phone when I was finally able to talk on the phone. He wanted me to come home so badly and I wanted to be home but couldn't because I was still very sick....


That was pretty damned hard.

 

[dwfreck]

Thank you all for the advice. I re-read my list and it sounds kind of like "diary of a control freak" and it isn't anywhere close to my complete list; it's more like "top twenty things to do before heart surgery."

Some clarifications:

#1 & 20 - My wife and I both work, the kids are in day care when they're not in school, and we're definitely a two-car family; though, of course, we won't be a two-driver family for a few weeks. The Legacy is acting like it will need a new front axle (for the third time), and we've already delayed its replacement by two years. The Mystique will definitely get its 66k check-up.

#2 & 3 - I've hired someone to replace the door (as I said, it's already scheduled), and I'm considering asking the same folks to replace the windows. It's just that they're both a cash drain.

#4 & 7 are really just cash-flow issues. We've got sufficient cash on hand to both open the accounts and pay off the debt, but do we really want to?

#5 is already in progress, the race is January 9, and last night I demonstrated for my son the proper use of a compound mitre saw to completely ruin a block of wood (fortunately I have a spare)!

#6 is really just a scheduling issue: surgery before or after the banquet? I'm leaning HEAVILY toward AFTER the banquet; fortunately that fits with the current consensus for scheduling the surgery.

#8 - There isn't really all that much to finish at work (as you can probably tell from my frequent work-day postings), but there is one project that is running a bit behind. Of course, someone else can always finish it...

#10 - All the decorations are indoor, and the tree is artificial, but it's sitting in the spot for the recliner (see #18)!

#11 - I've committed to rent the truck we'll be using so the church doesn't have to pay for it. The fact that I'm renting it usually means I have to drive it. I've asked for a lift gate, and have several able-bodied companions to do the heavy lifting, so I'm really just the driver.

#12 - I haven't chosen a replacement valve yet, so I don't know if I'll be on coumadin long-term. Besides, it really is time for my three-year follow-up, and Versed works wonders...

#13, 14, 18 & 19 - I'm still relatively able-bodied, though I am restricted to lifting no more than 50 pounds. I also have an able-bodied wife and father to help out. I won't be as able-bodied in the months after surgery. I especially don't want the yellow jackets to come back because they had gotten into the house, and I'm allergic to their venom. My wife and I turned the mattress last night.

#15, 16, 17 - These are really just the final stages of something we started before I knew I needed surgery, and already had in progress. We've got all of the documents I listed completed. Moving copies only to the bank is a great idea.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Sounds like you are making good progress.

The Yellow Jackets will most likely just make a NEW nest so removing the old one is irrelevant. Now if you could PREVENT their getting in, that would be worthwhile.

Is your safety deposit box in BOTH your and your wife's names?

Note that you may or MAY NOT get the valve of your choice.

I asked for a Bovine Pericardial Valve but when I came to, the first thing my surgeon told me was that he installed a St. Jude Mechanical which of course meant that I am on Coumadin for the rest of my life. Wish I had had a Colonscopy BEFORE surgery...

'AL'

 

[Bob]

Your son and your wife. Everything else is just chores that can wait. The boy needs his dad and the wife needs her husband. Do it with lots of physical contact and tell them how much you love them. You know we guys need to do that all of the time but we dont. This is special. Good luck on the mountain.

 

[Georgia]

I'm with Al on the colonoscopy. If you have reason to have colonoscopies at such a young age (I presume family history) get it taken care of. Even with a bovine valve you may be on coumadin if you have the dreaded heart rhythm problems, so it'll save you a LOT of hassle to get it done.

Otherwise, I'm in favor of doing whatever makes you feel good prior to surgery. And is reponsible (those important papers, living wills, etc., things.)

And it's certainly time for your wife to handle the finances for a while. It's essential, should (God forbid) you end up hospitalized longer than the norm.

Forget the work projects. They're job security.

Recliner - important. Kid - more important. Make sure you can access your pc after surgery (if your computer room's upstairs, get a laptop) because we want to you get on line asap.

You have a great attitude. You're gonna do fine.