It's official, I'm having heart surgery on Feb 18th...wow, it's real now.
- Thread starter Revvy
- Start date
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manhattanksbrewer
Well-Known Member
Hey revvy I bought a bycycle and have been trying to ride 4 miles a day not so much lately since its been above 100 degrees every day this week but its a good easy workout!!!
FromZwolle
I don't want to be cremated, I want to be malted.
that's a slippery slope, my friend! a machine already replaced some of your heart, do you really want to replace your legs with another one?
good to hear from our other recovering patient.
Brewsday
Well-Known Member
Hi Revvy,
I've read so many of your posts (you and all the HBT regulars are admirable for sharing and sticking with the forums with such dedication) including some of this surgery thread over the past few months and yesterday you answered one of mine (thanks) so I thought I'd throw this out. You might take a day and read a book called Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge . It's easy to read (even funny at times) and a very practical approach to exercise and cardio-vascular "decay" that essentially praises anyone who is willing to do more "this year" than "last year"...like me. I've managed to lose 20 pounds and brew 50 gallons this year. Both are firsts! My best to you.
I've read so many of your posts (you and all the HBT regulars are admirable for sharing and sticking with the forums with such dedication) including some of this surgery thread over the past few months and yesterday you answered one of mine (thanks) so I thought I'd throw this out. You might take a day and read a book called Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley and Dr. Henry S. Lodge . It's easy to read (even funny at times) and a very practical approach to exercise and cardio-vascular "decay" that essentially praises anyone who is willing to do more "this year" than "last year"...like me. I've managed to lose 20 pounds and brew 50 gallons this year. Both are firsts! My best to you.
danmdevries
Well-Known Member
Good to hear you're doing well.
Recovering from a valve is no fun.
Recovering from a valve is no fun.
biggben
Well-Known Member
Glad you made it through surgery allright rev. Hope everything continues to go well for you in the future. Thanks for all that you helped me with on here
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OP
OP
So tomorrow I see both the cardiologist and the pacemaker doc. It has been 7 months since my surgery. This is the first of my bi-annual check ups. I'm really curious to see if my pacemaker's been used at all in the last 6 months.
danmdevries
Well-Known Member
Aortic Valve?
Very common to knock out the SA node in the process. Sometimes it comes back, sometimes not. About half my patients that need one post-op end up normal sinus after a few months.
OP
OP
Yup, that's my story. I didn't know it was so common, I just wish they had mentioned this as one of the complications and one of the outcomes. I hate having this lump pf plastic in me. I can still feel it.
OP
OP
OP
OP
I'm sitting in the cardiologists office. I just had an ekg that took longer to hook me up to then actually take the damn test. Wasn't worth the pulled hair.
I hate using them on patients BUT then again I dont have much (ok hardly any) chest hair
OP
OP
Everything went well today. My valve sounds good and the ekg showed things were great. Then at the pacemaker doc, they downloaded me, and it showed that one ventricle was 100% pacing on it's own, and the other was working at 70% and that in the last 6 months there were no cardiac episodes where the pacemaker had to do it's thing. So it looks all good for another 6 months.
CreamyGoodness
Well-Known Member
I barely "know" you at all Revvy, but wanted to let you know I'm rooting for ya. Best of luck.
Avoid younger women, movies with ghosts in them, and pricetags in stores with French sounding names.
Avoid younger women, movies with ghosts in them, and pricetags in stores with French sounding names.
nukinfuts29
Well-Known Member
Ditto that, I haven't been here but two weeks and I already feel like I know ya
BigfootCounty
Well-Known Member
sorry to hear that brother!
my step-daughter had aorta surgery about 4 years ago and it was SCARY
she came out just fine and I'm sure you will too.
thoughts from my family to yours
my step-daughter had aorta surgery about 4 years ago and it was SCARY
she came out just fine and I'm sure you will too.
thoughts from my family to yours
OP
OP
You haven't noticed the date of this thread have you?
The surgery was LAST Feb. Chriso just decided to bump it. I'm doing great.Thanks for the thoughts though.
Chriso
Broken Robot Brewing Co.
Heh yeah just catching up on my mile-deep Inbox. Better late than never. Well. Uh. In most cases, anyways.
No joke though, now that you've had all of this recuperative effort, I would bet you're now in wayyy better shape than me, dude.
The past two years of idling have not been kind to my fleshy bits at all. Stairs are a Big Obstacle these days between the lack of breath, the dizziness, the ankles, the knees... Luckily I'm out of my desk job, and into a new one with a reasonable (but not overwhelming) amount of stairs and a decent cross-building walk.
But I don't think "daily activity" will fix this, I need to look into finding a P/T program or a fitness trainer or something. One of your posts from March-or-April-ish stuck with me, you had expressed frustration at your body not performing what you felt was a simple task, within what you've "always been able to do". That really got into my head.
I just need to focus on it, without beating myself up over it, I know I can build my initiative up again. I'm just not very good at the whole Life Changes thing. Not my forte at all.
OP
OP
Actually I'm not in all that great of shape. I did great during cardiac rehab, but after that I started rehabbing a condo and moving into it which took me 4 months, so I never did what I should have and got to a gym to keep the motivation going. I really need to. I'm good when I actually work out, it's getting to the gym that's my downfall. I wish you were here, we could push each other.
Good luck Revvy!
OP
OP
With this! Getting in shape ain't easy. Good luck!
Chriso
Broken Robot Brewing Co.
Eek, yeah, my wife and I joined the 'Y' last year, we went a handful of times in Sept and Oct. 10, then winter came, we got busy with other emergencies, and we never made it back...... we finally canceled our membership in August. We chalked it up to a "very generous donation" to their program.
I keep teasing my better half that we should "really" sell the house, move to "Detroitish" and buy cheap real estate there, that way we can both learn remodeling & construction but without having to pay through the nose for the house itself, leaving money for upgrades. I think we have at least a couple more years of hard work before we get to sell this heap though.
I keep teasing my better half that we should "really" sell the house, move to "Detroitish" and buy cheap real estate there, that way we can both learn remodeling & construction but without having to pay through the nose for the house itself, leaving money for upgrades.
I think we have at least a couple more years of hard work before we get to sell this heap though.
BigfootCounty
Well-Known Member
You haven't noticed the date of this thread have you?
Thanks for the thoughts though.
oops!
The sentiment remains the same!
ILBMF
Well-Known Member
Hey Revvy, first, glad to see you are alive and kicking. On January 19th my 46 year old wife has to go in for open heart surgery and she is having a really hard time dealing with it. She can't even stand getting a needle let alone having her chest invaded by a stranger.
They have to go in, stop the heart, remove the valve and cut out a tissue obstruction which is inside of the valve...just an odd tissue growth/birth defect. Otherwise her heart and valve and arteries are all in great shape. This operation would be a total cure to her problem and has to be done or the heart will become sick.
The reason I bring this up to you is there doesn't seem to be much I can say to reassure her. I've learned to just not say anything lately and just give her a reassuring hug. Got any suggestions??? She's a great gal and loves beer just as much as any of us. I know for a fact she will be a total freaked out mess as this approaches now just a month away.
They have to go in, stop the heart, remove the valve and cut out a tissue obstruction which is inside of the valve...just an odd tissue growth/birth defect. Otherwise her heart and valve and arteries are all in great shape. This operation would be a total cure to her problem and has to be done or the heart will become sick.
The reason I bring this up to you is there doesn't seem to be much I can say to reassure her. I've learned to just not say anything lately and just give her a reassuring hug. Got any suggestions??? She's a great gal and loves beer just as much as any of us. I know for a fact she will be a total freaked out mess as this approaches now just a month away.
OP
OP
Tell her the anticipation is much worse than the reality. It's almost "unreal" how the stress of everything was so much greater that the actual surgery/recovery.
She's going to be out for everything that matters. If she lets them get the iv in her then not to long after she's gonna be asleep. And then she's gonna be on pain meds and wake up and it's going to be over.
The worst part of it all was, and at times still is, the pain in the ribcage. But the good thing is they will give her meds for as long as she needs them- tell he not to be ashamed of keeping needing them even if it's a couple months.
But I have a feeling if she gave birth, then in reality the rib pain is probably nothing.
The biggest thing is to realize that it's not 10 years ago, let alone 50, the advances in this kind of surgery and even post surgical recovery of it have gone lightyears. Most of the horror stories that people think of with this stuff comes from back then.
The really cool thing is that if she has any issues because of the blockage now- shortness of breath, tiredness, etc, she's gonna feel amazing IMMEDIATELY after she recovers from the immediate after effects of the surgery. When she's off the oxygen and all the drugs from the surgery are out of her system, even despite the pain of her ribs, she's gonna notice an improvement.
It's a weird situation. It is I think, one of the few surgeries, where the recovery after is not about the symptom or issue, but simply recovering from the effect of the surgery.
Our life is almost immediately improved once the repair is done, it's just that the ribs and chest took a beating to get to that point. It's not like for example having knee surgery where there's still a painful recovery where you have to keep moving the joint, and rebuild up strength in the muscles before you begin to feel better, on top of healing from the surgery.
With the heart stuff all we really have to do is recover from the surgery. And for the most part that's just about letting our ribs heal up, through sitting on our asses and watching tv....
If she wants to talk to someone pm me, and I'll give you my facebook info and even my phone number.
If I could do it, she can!!!
She's going to be out for everything that matters. If she lets them get the iv in her then not to long after she's gonna be asleep. And then she's gonna be on pain meds and wake up and it's going to be over.
The worst part of it all was, and at times still is, the pain in the ribcage. But the good thing is they will give her meds for as long as she needs them- tell he not to be ashamed of keeping needing them even if it's a couple months.
But I have a feeling if she gave birth, then in reality the rib pain is probably nothing.
The biggest thing is to realize that it's not 10 years ago, let alone 50, the advances in this kind of surgery and even post surgical recovery of it have gone lightyears. Most of the horror stories that people think of with this stuff comes from back then.
The really cool thing is that if she has any issues because of the blockage now- shortness of breath, tiredness, etc, she's gonna feel amazing IMMEDIATELY after she recovers from the immediate after effects of the surgery. When she's off the oxygen and all the drugs from the surgery are out of her system, even despite the pain of her ribs, she's gonna notice an improvement.
It's a weird situation. It is I think, one of the few surgeries, where the recovery after is not about the symptom or issue, but simply recovering from the effect of the surgery.
Our life is almost immediately improved once the repair is done, it's just that the ribs and chest took a beating to get to that point. It's not like for example having knee surgery where there's still a painful recovery where you have to keep moving the joint, and rebuild up strength in the muscles before you begin to feel better, on top of healing from the surgery.
With the heart stuff all we really have to do is recover from the surgery. And for the most part that's just about letting our ribs heal up, through sitting on our asses and watching tv....
If she wants to talk to someone pm me, and I'll give you my facebook info and even my phone number.
If I could do it, she can!!!
Nightbiker
Well-Known Member
You are a genuine inspiration, Revvy!
ILBMF
Well-Known Member
Thanks Revvy, I'll get her to read your post this week when the time is right. She hates it when I tell her what other heart surgery patients have told me, but maybe she will be open to hearing something right from the source.
She gave birth to both of our kids so she's been through some tough experiences. She's a non stop mover. Always involved in something creative and usually can't sit still. She's afraid something will go wrong or she will be one of those patients that for some reason will be able to feel everything during the surgery and not be able to speak out. When they sent the camera up her vein in her leg to look at the valve she wasn't supposed to be able to feel it and she felt it all. She said it was unbelievable pain and the doc didn't care that the anesthesia didn't work correctly, so that's got her head out of whack. This from a 130 lb woman that is one tough girl.
Every time I try to reason with her about the surgery she gets angry and tells me she just wants me to hug her and not say anything, because I guess she feels like she's the one that has to go through it and maybe thinks, ''what does he know about it''? She doesn't want to be a burden on me because she has never had to in the 28 years we've been together. All I can tell her is that I will be there for her because I want to, not because I need to and that she has no choice...and we will get through it.
She gave birth to both of our kids so she's been through some tough experiences. She's a non stop mover. Always involved in something creative and usually can't sit still. She's afraid something will go wrong or she will be one of those patients that for some reason will be able to feel everything during the surgery and not be able to speak out. When they sent the camera up her vein in her leg to look at the valve she wasn't supposed to be able to feel it and she felt it all. She said it was unbelievable pain and the doc didn't care that the anesthesia didn't work correctly, so that's got her head out of whack. This from a 130 lb woman that is one tough girl.
Every time I try to reason with her about the surgery she gets angry and tells me she just wants me to hug her and not say anything, because I guess she feels like she's the one that has to go through it and maybe thinks, ''what does he know about it''? She doesn't want to be a burden on me because she has never had to in the 28 years we've been together. All I can tell her is that I will be there for her because I want to, not because I need to and that she has no choice...and we will get through it.
ILBMF - My wife has had problems with both anesthesia and pain meds. It can be really tough getting a surgeon to pay attention in the middle of an operation. Plus, you can't safely switch to a different one. Sounds like she needs to get some testing done before the main operation.
While we were dating, my wife had to have growth removed from her uterus. She was not used to someone being there for her or taking charge. I did everything necessary, which can be tricky when you have no legal right to do so. But none of her family, including her ex, stepped up. Stick with your last sentence and don't try to reason with her. Finding an anesthesia that works will help more than anything else right now.
While we were dating, my wife had to have growth removed from her uterus. She was not used to someone being there for her or taking charge. I did everything necessary, which can be tricky when you have no legal right to do so. But none of her family, including her ex, stepped up. Stick with your last sentence and don't try to reason with her. Finding an anesthesia that works will help more than anything else right now.
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