Success! My INR was 1.2 this morning, so I had my cath around 11ish. As I was waiting in the recovery room (before the cath) they told me it was possible I'd be having my pacemaker placement later today, depending on what else they found in the cath. As it turned out, when I came out of the cath (which I only remember bits and pieces of) I was told they wanted a surgical consult before proceeding with the pacemaker. I was also admitted to the hospital so they could have me on heprin (blood thinner) over night.
The surgeon came in and said that even though I have some obstruction in my pulminary blood vessel he didn't feel it was worth the risk of surgery. So we're not doing anything about it. Also, there is NO leak (or at least, not significant) of my mechanical valve, so there is no need for major surgery.
I will, however, be having a bi-ventricular defibrillator placed tomorrow in the late morning. If everything goes well, I'll be able to go home Saturday. They will start me back on my coumadin, but not give me IV heprin or ingections. They'll just let my INR go up gradually on its own. We'll stay in a hotel Saturday night and head home Sunday. Of course, that's assuming that all goes well. The EP said he would leave my current pacemaker in as a back up until we know for sure that the new one is working right. At some point I'll have to have it removed, but we should be able to do that in Dallas. I assume they can leave the leads in, but I didn't ask. I'll try to ask tomorrow.
That's all for now. I'm sitting in the hospital (WOW! A hospital with wireless!
) and waiting for my surgery tomorrow. I just might make it back to work by Tuesday (I think Monday might be pushing it.). The EP said I could go back to work any time I want. And we all know me, I'll be back as soon as possible. ;-)
