JimL
Well-known member
Just a little background for the newbees on the tenth anniversary of my AVR. My surgery was a textbook case with full recovery, except for (1) the misdiagnosis beforehand. My congestive heart failure was misdiagnosed first as bronchitis and then as pneumonia (maybe a misdiagnosis is not that unusual). (2) The other unusual part was how close I was to not making it. The card who did the catheterization said that my valve was opening only a pinprick; the surgeon said it had closed. I think that means as much as turn off the lights, we’re too late with this one.
Ten years later I still haven’t gotten over the fact that I am never short of breath, since I had lived with that so long beforehand. I still can’t stop myself from walking way too fast in the big box stores—I sort of feel challenged to get wherever I’m going as fast as possible. I drive the same way, but that’s different. A few random thoughts.
- Nurses rule the hospital. Doctors think they do, and the nurses let them think that, but the nurses are really in charge. Therefore, if you need or want anything, you need to win over the nurse first.
- They have such wonderful drugs in the hospital to remove all pain, all anxiety, to make you forget.
- Changes since heart surgery: I now volunteer for the Red Cross blood drives about once a month. They don’t want my rat poison-laced blood, so I help other people give theirs. A couple years after surgery I started making wine and brewing beer. The beer is good, even though the wine has yet to make it out of the “I’ve had worse” category.
Thanks for nearly ten years of support from the good people here!
Ten years later I still haven’t gotten over the fact that I am never short of breath, since I had lived with that so long beforehand. I still can’t stop myself from walking way too fast in the big box stores—I sort of feel challenged to get wherever I’m going as fast as possible. I drive the same way, but that’s different. A few random thoughts.
- Nurses rule the hospital. Doctors think they do, and the nurses let them think that, but the nurses are really in charge. Therefore, if you need or want anything, you need to win over the nurse first.
- They have such wonderful drugs in the hospital to remove all pain, all anxiety, to make you forget.
- Changes since heart surgery: I now volunteer for the Red Cross blood drives about once a month. They don’t want my rat poison-laced blood, so I help other people give theirs. A couple years after surgery I started making wine and brewing beer. The beer is good, even though the wine has yet to make it out of the “I’ve had worse” category.
Thanks for nearly ten years of support from the good people here!
