MrP
Well-known member
AllForDad's surgery was this past Wed...any word on how he's doing?
Any word from AllForDad?
- Thread starter MrP
- Start date
Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:
A
AllForDad
Update!
Update!
Hey everyone!
My dad's surgery was Jan 31st and he did wonderfully. He came out of surgery at 3:00pm and was sent back to the OR at 4:00pm for bleeding. The surgeon chose the conservative approach and wanted to check for any missing sutures, but he found nothing. My dad was sent back to recovery and the bleeding continued all night. Thankfully, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston is very well equipped to deal with any problem, and the pathologist, often called the "mystery man" stayed with him all night to get the bleeding under control. Because they did AVR with ascending aortic aneurysm replacement, Dr. Coselli put him under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The pathologist tested for all types of coagulopathies/bleeding disorders and found nothing. After replacing probably my father's entire blood supply with packed red blood cells, platelets, plasma, cryo, and albumin, the bleeding finally came to a close. Dr. Feldman, the pathologist, attributed the bleeding to the severe cold. At 26 degrees the platelets are known to lose function and because my father was cooled to 17 degrees he had no remaining platelets to stop the bleeding. He was transferred out of the ICU on Friday afternoon, just a day and a half later. Also during the procedure they must collapse a lung, so the pleural chest tube stayed in a little longer, keeping him in the hospital until Tuesday when he was discharged, just 6 days after surgery. Before leaving the hospital he was able to walk a mile in the hallways and now being home he is walking more and more everyday.
The only remaining issues are low grade temps and shallow breathing while sleeping lying down. Since post op day #1 he has been running low grade temps around 100.5 that come and go, usually when pain medicine is wearing off. Anyone else experience this? With breathing, he finds it harder to breathe deeply lying down or slumped so he is currently spending most of the might in the recliner when he is able to sleep with his back straight. Also, anyone experience this for a time?
Thank you to everyone fore being so supportive. I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Coselli and his team at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, TX. His residents and nurses are great and I learned while there thatn Dr. Coselli has the lowest mortality rate in the WORLD! Great place to be taken care of especially if you need work done on the aorta.
I'll be around!
-AllForDad
Update!
Hey everyone!
My dad's surgery was Jan 31st and he did wonderfully. He came out of surgery at 3:00pm and was sent back to the OR at 4:00pm for bleeding. The surgeon chose the conservative approach and wanted to check for any missing sutures, but he found nothing. My dad was sent back to recovery and the bleeding continued all night. Thankfully, St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston is very well equipped to deal with any problem, and the pathologist, often called the "mystery man" stayed with him all night to get the bleeding under control. Because they did AVR with ascending aortic aneurysm replacement, Dr. Coselli put him under deep hypothermic circulatory arrest. The pathologist tested for all types of coagulopathies/bleeding disorders and found nothing. After replacing probably my father's entire blood supply with packed red blood cells, platelets, plasma, cryo, and albumin, the bleeding finally came to a close. Dr. Feldman, the pathologist, attributed the bleeding to the severe cold. At 26 degrees the platelets are known to lose function and because my father was cooled to 17 degrees he had no remaining platelets to stop the bleeding. He was transferred out of the ICU on Friday afternoon, just a day and a half later. Also during the procedure they must collapse a lung, so the pleural chest tube stayed in a little longer, keeping him in the hospital until Tuesday when he was discharged, just 6 days after surgery. Before leaving the hospital he was able to walk a mile in the hallways and now being home he is walking more and more everyday.
The only remaining issues are low grade temps and shallow breathing while sleeping lying down. Since post op day #1 he has been running low grade temps around 100.5 that come and go, usually when pain medicine is wearing off. Anyone else experience this? With breathing, he finds it harder to breathe deeply lying down or slumped so he is currently spending most of the might in the recliner when he is able to sleep with his back straight. Also, anyone experience this for a time?
Thank you to everyone fore being so supportive. I would HIGHLY recommend Dr. Coselli and his team at St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital in Houston, TX. His residents and nurses are great and I learned while there thatn Dr. Coselli has the lowest mortality rate in the WORLD! Great place to be taken care of especially if you need work done on the aorta.
I'll be around!
-AllForDad
P
Phyllis
Thanks for the update on your Dad and thanks to MrP for reminding us of his surgery- don't know how he slipped by being put on our calendar!
Glad he had such a great experience at St. Luke's and such good results. Sleeping in a recliner is something many have experienced. We were told to take Dick's temperature twice a day and report any spikes. If you have any doubts, I would ask the cardio or surgeon. Best wishes to your Dad for a fast and uneventful recovery.
Glad he had such a great experience at St. Luke's and such good results. Sleeping in a recliner is something many have experienced. We were told to take Dick's temperature twice a day and report any spikes. If you have any doubts, I would ask the cardio or surgeon. Best wishes to your Dad for a fast and uneventful recovery.
MrP
Well-known member
Great news! Thanks for sharing.
The first 10 days or so at home I had night sweats pretty bad and woke each morning with very wet sheets...probably had a low grade fever. Slept inclined on my back for a few weeks.
Dr. Coselli and his team are indeed the very best. Glad everything is working out so well for your father.
The first 10 days or so at home I had night sweats pretty bad and woke each morning with very wet sheets...probably had a low grade fever. Slept inclined on my back for a few weeks.
Dr. Coselli and his team are indeed the very best. Glad everything is working out so well for your father.
EireCara
Well-known member
Hopefully the difficult bit is behind him now, so..... ''BEST WISHES'' to your DAD for a speedy and uneventful recovery.
K
Karlynn
Wow, he really had a go of it! I'm glad that he seemed to bounce back quickly. Best wishes for a smooth recovery for him.
Ross
Well-known member
The low grade fever and breathing problems are pretty much normal. If the fever goes any higher though, get on the phone to the Doc. It should all subside in a week or two.
S
Susan BAV
Glad to hear that things are coming along well for your dad. Hope things get better and better for him and that the fevers resolve soon. I had night sweats too but I don't recall my temperature being elevated by those.
