I am new here..my name is...

[Sean L]

Thanks

Thanks

Your story is inspiring. Thank you.

 

[geebee]

What a great story. Thanks for joining and thanks for sharing. Life can be lived to the fullest even with valve problems and you are certainly one to point to for inspiration.

 

[surfsparky]

Welcome Sarah...glad you posted. Your story is inspiring!
You certainly must be busy with your beautiful children....what a blessing! Now, just out of interest, you menioned that your first four babies were girls, so I'm curious to know the genders of no.5 & no.6 babies?
We have 3 children....I would love to have more but the last time I nearly lost my life and our baby girl's too, so it is considered too risky. I'm just very thankful that we are all well and healthy)

Take care,
Yolanda

 

[duncanjo]

Welcome....


Joey-April 04/08
Valve replacement

 

[6 for Sarah]

Now, just out of interest, you menioned that your first four babies were girls, so I'm curious to know the genders of no.5 & no.6 babies?

Number 5 was a girl and #6 a boy. We have 5 girls then a boy. Everyone thinks we keep having babies to have a boy and that is just not true! We love kids! We are thinking of trying to add one more later this summer. Yes, we are crazy! But, I know my time with this valve is ticking so we have to do it sooner rather than later if we really want to.

 

[Andrew'sMom]

Welcome, Sarah!
I am curious to know if any of your children have a BAV?

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I DID know about it before the surgery (I have had a few smaller non heart surgeries)and I guess I took it for granted they would give it around the clock. I will not make that mistake again!! I did not even think to ask for a notepad, nor would I have known how. Who is your cardio? Are you in the HSV area? Was Dr. McGiffin your surgeon?

NEVER *ass-u-me* anything when going into a hospital!!

BE sure everyone involved in your care knows your condition, treatment plan, and any problems you may have had with any type of medication or anesthesia. Didn't the anesthesiologist ask you any questions about problems with previous anesthesia?

The ICU nurses keep a CLOSE eye on you while you are in their care and are pretty good at picking up signs you want to communicate something. A common technique is to form your first 2 fingers and thumb together and move them as if you were writing. They will give you a pen or pencil and a notepad.

I had my AVR at UAB and overheard Dr. McGiffin making rounds while in the ICU. I was VERY IMPRESSED with the respect he gave to and received from both patients and nurses, not to mention his delightful Aussie accent.

I'll answer your other questions offline as soon as I figure out how to stop AOL from blocking e-mail that comes from VR.com Alternatively, ask Ross for my direct e-mail address to circumvent that problem.

'AL Capshaw'

 

[6 for Sarah]

None of my children have BAV. I had fetal echo's with all but my last 2. They were checked thoroughly after birth though and nothing has come up with any of them. I seem to be the only one in my extended family with BAV, though my maternal grandparents have a long heart history of A Fib, heart attacks, etc.

I really have nothing but good things to say about Dr. McGiffin. He went above and beyond while dealing with me pre surgery. I emailed him numerous times with questions and he never tired of answering them, usually within hours, he even called me a couple times to talk with me. He is very candid and easy to talk with, he also has a wonderful bedside manner and was truely sensitive to my post op pain and nausea concerns. He explained everything step by step and really set my family at ease. His office staff is excellent also. I would recommend him in a flash to anyone.

I have already told my husband to make sure they give my Zofran or another antiemetic around the clock whether they think I need it or not until I get the tube out next time. I will make sure it is noted on my chart also. I did tell anesthesia but I guess they just wrote it as needed, I will make sure it does not get written that way again. I should have made sure it was that way to begin with but I learned my lesson that is for sure.

 

[njean]

Dear Sarah,

Welcome to the community!

What a moving & inspirational story you have told! Your valor & preserverance is to be commended & serve as an inspiration to all who are facing OHS. I pray that you will not have to have surgery again anytime soon & that you & your God given babies will live a long & happy life together.

Take care & best wishes to you!

 

[noel]

Welcome to another North Alabamian

Welcome to another North Alabamian

Sara, your story is interesting to say the least. Noel had both the mitral and aortic valve replaced by Dr. McGiffin at UAB ...after having had open heart surgery just 9 months earlier. He is a miracle doctor and we are thankful to Mr. Capshaw for having recommended him to us. He was a God-send. Best wishes although it doesn't seem you need them as you seem to be doing great! We live about 40 miles from UAB.

 

[ALCapshaw2]

I DID know about it before the surgery (I have had a few smaller non heart surgeries)and I guess I took it for granted they would give it around the clock. I will not make that mistake again!! I did not even think to ask for a notepad, nor would I have known how. Who is your cardio? Are you in the HSV area? Was Dr. McGiffin your surgeon?

Sarah -

I did NOT receive your e-mail through VR.com (apparently my ISP rejects mail from VR.com but does allow connection to the site).

Ask ROSS for my Direct e-mail address.
My PM mailbox is not working (since it is FULL).

'AL Capshaw'

 

[pamela]

Sarah -

I did NOT receive your e-mail through VR.com (apparently my ISP rejects mail from VR.com but does allow connection to the site).

Ask ROSS for my Direct e-mail address.
My PM mailbox is not working (since it is FULL).

'AL Capshaw'

Hi Al,

If you don't want to delete your private messages you can download them to your computer and store them in a way you can print them out. You could even email them to yourself and maintain a repository online if you choose.

Select the "check all" box and then scroll down to the bottom of the page, there, you will see the move to folder... menu. Instead of the first choice, highlight the block to bring up the dropdown menu choices and choose what format you want to store your messages.

Clear as mud? It's a good way to archive your private messages and free up space in your inbox as well.

Take Heart,

 

[ALCapshaw2]

Hi Al,

If you don't want to delete your private messages you can download them to your computer and store them in a way you can print them out. You could even email them to yourself and maintain a repository online if you choose.

Select the "check all" box and then scroll down to the bottom of the page, there, you will see the move to folder... menu. Instead of the first choice, highlight the block to bring up the dropdown menu choices and choose what format you want to store your messages.

Clear as mud? It's a good way to archive your private messages and free up space in your inbox as well.

Take Heart,

What I would LIKE to do is separate them by TOPIC and then store them in separate folders. That was EASY with JUNO but NOT possible with my current Service Provider and I haven't figured out how to do it in MS WORD.

I'm definitely not a computer guru ! :-(

'AL'