Recent content by mustlovepoodles

Tomorrow DH will be 4 weeks post-op and 10 days post his secondary admission. He is doing so much better. Not ready to run any marathons, but he is talking more and moving about the house much better, even going outside some. His scar looks great, his oxygen use is limited to increased activity...

UPDATE-- DH was released late this afternoon. He failed the 6-minute walk again, but this time he's only on 1L oxygen during the day, 2L at night. He is walking well, up to 5 minutes on flat surfaces. He's pretty tired now from just the activity of going home but he is soooo happy to be here. He...

DH has been so sick for 10 years. He is not the least bit medically oriented. I've been nurse for 37 years, so I have made it my job to take care of him and advocate for him. I am a firm believer that when people are in the hospital they need someone to stay with them as much as possible...

DH is still in the hospital but getting better each day. Still having some small seizures but that's better too. They are trying to wean him off the massive doses of IV steroid and IV Lasix so they can put him on slightly less-massive doses of oral steroid and Lasix. Once that happens he can go...

Update-- DH took a turn for the worse July 2 and had to be readmitted for severe shortness of breath and fatigue. He could hardly even make it from his bed to the toilet without passing out from lack of oxygen. They worked him up for everything from PE to heart failure to kidney & liver failure...

Well, I had to take DH to the hospital. They did an xray and examined his heart. The heart is all right. He has no swelling in the feet and hands, no fluid in the lungs or around the heart. The heart surgeon is inclined to believe that this is all related to the damaged lungs. Since DH is stable...

Things are not so great today. For the past 2 days DH has been very fatigued and, at times, very breathless. He is now on 5L oxygen and even the mildest exercise, such as walking to the kitchen or going up our 4-5 steps to the bathroom tires him and makes his oxyen level drop to the mid-80s. He...

I haven't heard DH say anything about tooth sensitivity. I'll have to ask. Today is post-op day 11 and our 4th day home. DH did not feel well yesterday--breathless and fatigued. I finally had to just turn up his oxygen from 3L to 5L to bring him back to normal. I kept a good eye on him all...

Update! DH is HOME. He was released this afternoon. They sent him home on oxygen and with a walker--he is pretty weak and breathless. He's doing well sitting in the recliner, except when he's doing laps in the house. He's only allowed to go upstairs twice a day and not allowed to be in the bed...

We're in Marietta. DH is at Kennestone Hospital. We have been very happy with the hospital, other than his CCU experience, and really that was just that one night, about 15 hours. This was our only bad experience dealing with Kennestone and we have both been patients there several times.

Day 3...everything is better. Less pain, eating more. Got a shower, walking. He's still needing oxygen due to the severe lung disease, but I am very happy with his progress.

DH has a really rough night last night--poor pain management--but once the day shift nurse came in, she got him set up with some long overdue pain meds and got him moved to step-down. Blessed relief! I'm telling you, it is so much different there, so much calmer. They're every bit as pushy about...

DH has had a rough day. He came off the vent this morning. He is eating a very little bit and drinking well. DH has had a LOT of pain today. He says the pain meds don't help, they just make him sleepy. From my observation, it does seem like he gets at least some pain relief, but not for very...

DH had mitral valve replacement this afternoon. It was supposed to be done late July or August but he got much worse over the weekend. He is in the special heart surgery CCU and has a 1:1 nurse tonight. DH is heavily sedated on propofal. We've been up at the hospital since Wednesday and I'm...

I can give you a little perspective from my experience as a nurse. As soon as they see your sternal scar, the cat is out of the bag. No hiding that. They're going to get an EKG, chest xrays, a ton of labwork and probably an echo. Now, if you have other conditions you should wear a medic-alert...