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mikeb85
Hello everyone from the other side! I would first like to thank everyone for all of the guidance, information and well wishes. The information I gained from this site really helped me through this whole ordeal. I feel that I still have a way to go and I am sure that the support will continue to flow. I would also like to thank the individuals who took the time to speak with me via telephone. Words cannot describe the benefits I gained from that and I am forever grateful. This is my third attempt to complete this post due to some glitch in the system that caused me to loose my thread twice when I hit the send post button. The shame goes on me for not generating the document on my hard drive first. Maybe Ross can fix that one. So, here is the whole story to date. My surgery time had been moved up to first slot and we arrived at the hospital at 5:30 am. The admitting office was packed but we were in the pre op area within an hour. The anesthesia tech came in and started a two IV lines. Next my surgeon came in and told me we were all set to go and that my cardiac CT showed no blockage. He said that I did have an ?unusual origin? on one artery but it was not an issue. I then said goodbye to my wife and was wheeled to the OR. I was placed on the table, turned on my MP3 player, put in my ear buds and don?t remember a thing until 10:15 PM! As the late Paul Harvey always said, here?s ?the rest of the story? The surgery began on time and around 12:30pm the nurse came to tell my wife that the aorta repair was complete, a new bovine aortic valve installed and they were restarting my heart. Within an hour the nurse returned and told my wife that there was a problem, the valve was leaking and the Dr. was going to replace it with a porcine valve for better fitment. It was 5:30pm by the time my wife was brought to my room in the ICU. I later learned that my aortic valve was badly calcified and the heart muscle wall was extremely thick and caused fitment and sealing issues. He also commented that he wished he had taken a photo of the valve for future teaching purposes. I remember waking up feeling like a mouse in a sticky glue trap and the glorious feeling that a wet swab on my lips gave me. I had to endure ?The Tube? for only about 45 minutes. I was in the ICU for the next 24 hours and went into A-Fib a few times which earned me 6 weeks of ACT. My DR. said that you only get one shot with A-Fib with him. I did come back into sinus on my own so the ACT should only be temporary. I was transferred to step down and released on Sunday afternoon seven days total! I must say that the whole hospital staff was excellent and those ICU nurses are really special people. The worst part of the whole experience for me was my right side chest drain tube. It felt like it was somehow touching a nerve in there and once it was removed I felt immediate relief. Coming home was a bit over whelming with all of the meds and stuff that the staff has been taking care of 24/ 7 which is now on my wife. I believe that I have also got a pretty good case of ?pump head ?because am getting these wicked emotional up and downs which are not usual for me. I would be happy to answer any questions that others may have and will keep you all posted on the rest my recovery
