I AM ALIVE!
- Posted from my interpersonal communication device
Monday, March 8, 2010
Here we go!
Headed to the hospital and still feeling surprisingly calm this morning. I think this might be one of those knowledge is power situations or it could be that I'm not physically possible capable of being nervous at 4:30 in the morning. Either way, I have spent so much time talking about this with Drs and friends that it seems like "old hat" in a way. I know what to expect and what is ahead of me. I mean I don't think there is really any way to know exactly what is ahead of me but I feel as prepared as I can be. I'mchangeable lot of this may change in about 20 min when I get to the hospital, but for now I'm good.
Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and wishes. I'll talk to you all in a few days.
See ya!
- Posted from my interpersonal communication device
Thanks again for all the kind thoughts and wishes. I'll talk to you all in a few days.
See ya!
- Posted from my interpersonal communication device
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Quicky about visits
I know many of you have said you may come visit and I can't wait to see each and every one of you. With that being said I was told to give fair warning that the first 24 hrs after surgery when I am in the ICU I will not be allowed to have any visitors other than immediate family. So....if you do plan on coming to the hospital, Wednesday or Thursday is probably a better time to do it. I should be out of ICU and I will be much more lucid and able to actually visit.
I can't express in words how much all the support I have been receiving means to me. Please know that it really does make a difference and I do appreciate all the kind thoughts and words that have been sent my way the past few weeks. The will to get healthy will carry me farther than anything else during this process. And friends and family like YOU are the people who give me that will to want to be healthy again. Thanks!
I can't express in words how much all the support I have been receiving means to me. Please know that it really does make a difference and I do appreciate all the kind thoughts and words that have been sent my way the past few weeks. The will to get healthy will carry me farther than anything else during this process. And friends and family like YOU are the people who give me that will to want to be healthy again. Thanks!
Human Guinea Pig
Monday is getting closer and closer with every passing second. I can feel it approaching. After yesterdays pre-op testing it started to feel more like reality than it has in the past.
I showed up at the hospital at 8:00 AM. I rarely show up anywhere at 8:00 in the morning. Arriving to the hospital was a little odd too. It wasn't just another Dr's office it was "The Hospital." But, looking on the bright side they do have valet parking...and it's free. I'm sure they might appreciate a tip but as a patient getting ready to shell out some serious dough to that place I didn't feel too bad when I stiffed the guy...but I digress.
As my pre-op appointment started a very nice lady walked me through all the paper work. Normally when you get to the Dr they make you fill out sheet after sheet of paper work. In this case they actually walked me right through it. They put most of it into the system electronically and when I was finished they printed it out and had me sign it. In the past two weeks I have signed so many documents I'm pretty sure the hospital owns my house or my first born child, I had trouble deciphering all the legal jargen. You also get to have a super fun conversation about a living-will and durable power of attorney. Trying to figure out who should make the call to take me off life support should that be an issue or, do I want to be fed intravenously should I not be able to eat and make conscious decisions are not things you really think about as a healthy 27 year old. As a 27 year old getting ready for open heart surgery it all of a sudden becomes a very real decision to consider.
After the check in nurse was finished the anesthesiologist came in. Not the one I will see on Monday morning but one that could ask and answer a few questions. She walked me through where they would place the four IVs that I would have. She also filled me in on the fact that I would probably start to wake up with an intibation tube down my throat. That didn't sound like a lot of fun. She did however promise that I would be so drugged up that I probably wouldn't remember any of it so I guess it's nothing to really stress about. Sounds like I'm gonna be hi as a kite for a few days actually.
After all the paper work was finished I went back to a screening room for a few tests and more conversation. They took my blood pressure and, since I am having heart surgery, they did another EKG. They also tested me for MRSA. It's some crazy infection that can kill you and they want to make sure it's not present before you go into surgery. That test was the worst part of the day. They took a cotton swab, think long Q-Tip, and ran it up into my nose until it stopped and then twirled it around five times. Just as my eyes began to stop watering they do the other nostril. After a few minutes of not being able to see because my eyes were watering it was all fine. From there I was sent to the lab so they could take a urine sample and draw blood. They took six vials of blood to run every test you can think of. You know all those fancy tests they scream out as a patient rolls in the emergency room on ER or Greys Anatomy, I got those. Once they were done pillaging my bodily fluids I was sent to X-Ray. Two quick shots of my chest and I was out. All said and done it was close to three hours. Not too bad and it will stream line everything Monday morning. With all this out of the way I just head straight to check in on Monday and no paper work for me.
One more day of "normal" and then I'm gonna be the bionic man!
I showed up at the hospital at 8:00 AM. I rarely show up anywhere at 8:00 in the morning. Arriving to the hospital was a little odd too. It wasn't just another Dr's office it was "The Hospital." But, looking on the bright side they do have valet parking...and it's free. I'm sure they might appreciate a tip but as a patient getting ready to shell out some serious dough to that place I didn't feel too bad when I stiffed the guy...but I digress.
As my pre-op appointment started a very nice lady walked me through all the paper work. Normally when you get to the Dr they make you fill out sheet after sheet of paper work. In this case they actually walked me right through it. They put most of it into the system electronically and when I was finished they printed it out and had me sign it. In the past two weeks I have signed so many documents I'm pretty sure the hospital owns my house or my first born child, I had trouble deciphering all the legal jargen. You also get to have a super fun conversation about a living-will and durable power of attorney. Trying to figure out who should make the call to take me off life support should that be an issue or, do I want to be fed intravenously should I not be able to eat and make conscious decisions are not things you really think about as a healthy 27 year old. As a 27 year old getting ready for open heart surgery it all of a sudden becomes a very real decision to consider.
After the check in nurse was finished the anesthesiologist came in. Not the one I will see on Monday morning but one that could ask and answer a few questions. She walked me through where they would place the four IVs that I would have. She also filled me in on the fact that I would probably start to wake up with an intibation tube down my throat. That didn't sound like a lot of fun. She did however promise that I would be so drugged up that I probably wouldn't remember any of it so I guess it's nothing to really stress about. Sounds like I'm gonna be hi as a kite for a few days actually.
After all the paper work was finished I went back to a screening room for a few tests and more conversation. They took my blood pressure and, since I am having heart surgery, they did another EKG. They also tested me for MRSA. It's some crazy infection that can kill you and they want to make sure it's not present before you go into surgery. That test was the worst part of the day. They took a cotton swab, think long Q-Tip, and ran it up into my nose until it stopped and then twirled it around five times. Just as my eyes began to stop watering they do the other nostril. After a few minutes of not being able to see because my eyes were watering it was all fine. From there I was sent to the lab so they could take a urine sample and draw blood. They took six vials of blood to run every test you can think of. You know all those fancy tests they scream out as a patient rolls in the emergency room on ER or Greys Anatomy, I got those. Once they were done pillaging my bodily fluids I was sent to X-Ray. Two quick shots of my chest and I was out. All said and done it was close to three hours. Not too bad and it will stream line everything Monday morning. With all this out of the way I just head straight to check in on Monday and no paper work for me.
One more day of "normal" and then I'm gonna be the bionic man!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Last Day...
It's all starting to get very real now. Today was my last day of work. It's weird thinking I wont be around for a month. I can't express how much it means to me to receive so much support from all the people I work with. Pre-op testing tomorrow and then one last weekend before surgery on Monday!
Here we go.....
Here we go.....
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
The Nitty Gritty
So what is actually going to happen to me? That's a great question.
The Doctors:
Let me start by saying I have a great team of doctors looking after me. My cardiologist really knows his stuff. He puts everything in ways that even your average ski bum (me) can understand. And my surgeon has been implanting artificial valves like the one im getting since before I was born.
Dr. Bilnoski (Cardiologist) has been practicing since 1984. I was one year old then. He puts everything in a way that makes sense to an average guy like me. No big doctor talk. And no matter how silly the questions I ask may seem, he always approaches them in a serious manner and gives me a straight up answer, whether I want to hear it or not. And his staff is phenomenal. They really look out for me and make it personal. They want me to be healthy and succeed. A big thanks to Rene for keeping a close eye on me. Having an ally on the inside is great and I can't say enough good things about her and everything she has done for me and the family.
Dr. Luber (Surgeon) is brilliant. We can just leave it at that. He was the first to implant a St. Jude Valve in a patient. (That's the valve I'm getting) He did that back in 1981, at least I think that's what he said. He has done "hundreds" of these procedures. He makes what I am sure is a fairly complex procedure sound like he could do it with his eyes closed. And he said he would record the whole thing for me. That's right, movie night, you bring the popcorn and I'll bring the open heart surgery.
The procedure:
According to Dr. Luber the procedure is pretty straight forward. Once they get to my heart through my breast bone they will put me on the heart lung machine and evacuate all the blood from my heart. At that point they will put a fluid in my heart to make it cold and stop it from beating. They will then remove the bad valve and replace it with a mechanical St. Jude Valve. Dr. Luber will also be looking at my Aortic artery that has began to enlarge due to the leaky valve. Depending on how large it is and where the enlargement is he may replace a portion of it or just remove a small vertical piece and sew the artery shut to make is normal size again. It's a "game time" decision. After that they will make sure everything is sewn up and allow blood back into my heart. They will put a small pin hole in the bottom of my heart and tip my feet above my head to let all the air out of my heart. Air bubbles in your blood are no good. Once that is done they will get my heart going again and close everything up. Including my breast bone with stainless steel wires. Sounds fun huh? The surgery should only be about four hours long. You can get some more info from the Clevand Clinic's Website. Or if your feeling really adventurous feel free to Google image search Aortic Valve Replacement. Warning it may be a little much for those of you who are a bit squimish.
Recovery:
After the surgery is complete they will take me up to the ICU and I will spend the next four to seven days in the hospital for observation. I should be up and walking the day after surgery. I'll be down for four to six weeks at home. A full recovery will be somewhere around six months. However, once I'm back I'll be running at 100%. The only really down side is that I will be taking Coumadin or some other anti-coagulant for the rest of my life. But hey that's a pretty small price to pay for a healthy heart.
Keep an eye on this blog and I will do my best to keep everyone updated. I appreciate everyone who has been supporting me through this process. I'll do my best to make another post before surgery and then I should have plenty of time to post once I'm out of the hospital.
The Doctors:
Let me start by saying I have a great team of doctors looking after me. My cardiologist really knows his stuff. He puts everything in ways that even your average ski bum (me) can understand. And my surgeon has been implanting artificial valves like the one im getting since before I was born.
Dr. Bilnoski (Cardiologist) has been practicing since 1984. I was one year old then. He puts everything in a way that makes sense to an average guy like me. No big doctor talk. And no matter how silly the questions I ask may seem, he always approaches them in a serious manner and gives me a straight up answer, whether I want to hear it or not. And his staff is phenomenal. They really look out for me and make it personal. They want me to be healthy and succeed. A big thanks to Rene for keeping a close eye on me. Having an ally on the inside is great and I can't say enough good things about her and everything she has done for me and the family.
Dr. Luber (Surgeon) is brilliant. We can just leave it at that. He was the first to implant a St. Jude Valve in a patient. (That's the valve I'm getting) He did that back in 1981, at least I think that's what he said. He has done "hundreds" of these procedures. He makes what I am sure is a fairly complex procedure sound like he could do it with his eyes closed. And he said he would record the whole thing for me. That's right, movie night, you bring the popcorn and I'll bring the open heart surgery.
The procedure:
According to Dr. Luber the procedure is pretty straight forward. Once they get to my heart through my breast bone they will put me on the heart lung machine and evacuate all the blood from my heart. At that point they will put a fluid in my heart to make it cold and stop it from beating. They will then remove the bad valve and replace it with a mechanical St. Jude Valve. Dr. Luber will also be looking at my Aortic artery that has began to enlarge due to the leaky valve. Depending on how large it is and where the enlargement is he may replace a portion of it or just remove a small vertical piece and sew the artery shut to make is normal size again. It's a "game time" decision. After that they will make sure everything is sewn up and allow blood back into my heart. They will put a small pin hole in the bottom of my heart and tip my feet above my head to let all the air out of my heart. Air bubbles in your blood are no good. Once that is done they will get my heart going again and close everything up. Including my breast bone with stainless steel wires. Sounds fun huh? The surgery should only be about four hours long. You can get some more info from the Clevand Clinic's Website. Or if your feeling really adventurous feel free to Google image search Aortic Valve Replacement. Warning it may be a little much for those of you who are a bit squimish.
Recovery:
After the surgery is complete they will take me up to the ICU and I will spend the next four to seven days in the hospital for observation. I should be up and walking the day after surgery. I'll be down for four to six weeks at home. A full recovery will be somewhere around six months. However, once I'm back I'll be running at 100%. The only really down side is that I will be taking Coumadin or some other anti-coagulant for the rest of my life. But hey that's a pretty small price to pay for a healthy heart.
Keep an eye on this blog and I will do my best to keep everyone updated. I appreciate everyone who has been supporting me through this process. I'll do my best to make another post before surgery and then I should have plenty of time to post once I'm out of the hospital.
Here come the Dr's.
So with my CTA scheduled I could see the Dr. appointments already stacking up. I had my CTA and was supposed to have a follow up two weeks later. The theory was that no news was good news and the CTA only confirmed what we already knew. We knew I had a leaky valve but in general was no worse for ware. I could still run and ski with no real concern. However, they did tell me as I left the CTA that if there was a issue the Dr. would call me and let me know ASAP.
Sure enough, no more than 3o minutes after getting home I got the call. Things were not as we had hoped. My aorta was somewhere close to 6 cm in diameter. Full blown aneurysm! Apparently anything over 4 is a problem. So no more fun for me. No skiing or running or any strenuous activity until we fixed this deal. Of course this news set off the alarms for everyone. Mom got scared, more than before. My dad went from concerned to OMG. Why could I ski and run still a few days ago but now I was told to basically sit on my ass. Was my heart going to explode? No one really knew. We moved my follow up in from two weeks to that following Monday. That CTA was followed up by by a Surgeon consult on Tuesday (today). Which leads me to the big day. Open Heart Surgery will be Monday March 8th at 8:00 AM.
Sure enough, no more than 3o minutes after getting home I got the call. Things were not as we had hoped. My aorta was somewhere close to 6 cm in diameter. Full blown aneurysm! Apparently anything over 4 is a problem. So no more fun for me. No skiing or running or any strenuous activity until we fixed this deal. Of course this news set off the alarms for everyone. Mom got scared, more than before. My dad went from concerned to OMG. Why could I ski and run still a few days ago but now I was told to basically sit on my ass. Was my heart going to explode? No one really knew. We moved my follow up in from two weeks to that following Monday. That CTA was followed up by by a Surgeon consult on Tuesday (today). Which leads me to the big day. Open Heart Surgery will be Monday March 8th at 8:00 AM.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
