Congratulations Joey and Sylvia

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Nancy

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 9, 2001
Messages
9,896
Location
upstate New York
Joey and Sylvia-

I read your posts within some of the other threads and am so happy for you both that things went so smoothly. It's a great relief to have it behind you. Best wishes and here's to better health.
 
Joey! Sylvia!

Joey! Sylvia!

Tell us how it went! We need to know. Did you get the Ross Procedure?

-Mara
 
OK, now you've got me crying....

mara, yes, he got the rp. and what a good decision it was to get that! he is physically doing spectacularly, according to the dr's. he is, however, feeling really lousy today. nauseas from the percoset,but trying to eat (soup) and drink lots.

nancy and mara,
i just called and he was in terrible pain. they had to reinsert the foley catheter, because he couldn't urinate_ i know how that upsets him. i wish i could have been there with him to hold his hand . when i asked if he was ok, the nurse told me he just wanted to close the door and go to sleep. i wish i were with him now to comfort him.

the worst part for us is when i have to leave... we are such a team. one without the other is such a weak link.... it's so hard for us both.

can't wait till he comes home.
thank you both for your tremendous support,
-sylvia
 
Cheering big time for both of you through bumpy post-operative times. Many here have been there in varying degrees, praying and knowing Joey will pull through.

Peter
 
Hi Sylvia-

I'm so sorry that Joey is in that much pain. Pain control is a big priority after heart surgery because they want the patient breathing deeply and coughing a lot to loosen up the phlegm from the anesthesia. So I'm sure they will come upon a med. that will help in that respect and not nauseate Joey.

I bet that by tomorrow, you will see an improvement.

I'm thinking about you and hoping for a better tomorrow.
 
hi everyone!
thank you all for your well wishes. i'm off to see the patient in about an hour. he sounded very drugged this morning and atually fell asleep while talking to me on the phone. hope today's a better day!!!

peter,
what a beautiful family you have! enjoy !

again, thank you all for being so supportive and for all your encouragement. i'll write more later, although i'm hoping they will let me stay even later tonight!
please all be well,
-sylvia
 
How's the patient?

How's the patient?

Sylvia-
How's the patient?

Did he get to come home yet?

-Mara
 
what's the ross procedure? I have heard about it and heard about it, but I don't know what it is!
 
hi everyone!
joey was doing spectacularly well, but went into a-fib on saturday night. he has had some bouts with a-fib in the past and is very sensitive to it and knows immediately when he is in it (no need for an ekg). now, however, with his newly fixed heart, the way a-fib manifests itself is by a racing,elevated heart-rate (palpitations, i guess). this is new.

we were told that this is perfectly normal. still, it's distressing to have to stay put in bed on meds so your heart rate doesn't go too high, especially when you want to go strolling down that hallway and move your blood around a bit.

he came out of afib less than 24 hours later and went back into afib 17 hours later. this is where we now stand....

game plan is as follows: they started a heparin drip and he will be taking coumadin for a few months preventatively (especially if he should flip flop in and out of afib). inaddition, theywanted to start him on procainamide, but although this has converted him successful 2 out of 3 times in the past, the third and last time, it didnt work and he had to be cardioverted. so, this was not the ideal drug of choice in this case.
so, amiodarone is what we are going with. they will be monitoring him very closely. one of the side effects is hypothyroidism, which joey already has, so they'll just up his synthroid dose. they don't seem concerned, despite the fact that this is supposed to be one strong drug. ( i think i'll spend some time on that amiodarone thread tonight making copies for joey).

he's also anemic (his hematocrit is 22ish out of 35-40! that tank is half full!!!! he is taking iron (they didn't feel the need to do a transfusion, but he's pretty anemic!)
they also just gave him a lasix because the chest x-ray showed some fluid in his lungs (must be because they won't let him up and move around)

we both feel comfortable with a game plan, atleast we feel we're going in some direction. dr. stelzer is planning on discharging joey on thursday if all goes as planned and nothing new surfaces.

he is a bit down, but when we go over it together, he realizes that although we knew this might happen, we had not counted on it. plus, i actually think he thought he'd leave the hospital and run a mini marathon!
his incision is really not troubling him much (he actually coughs without the pillow sometimes).

i can't wait till he is upstairs in bed with me and he turns to me and says "that is the deepest breath i've taken in umpteen years. wow!" that, to me, will make this all worth it.

so, that's where we are.... i am so glad to hear everyone out there rooting for joey.
thank you all so much; you have no idea what a morale booster this is for us... all this wonderful support and your encouraging words...

i'll try to keep posting over the next few days.
my best to you all and God bless you.
-sylvia

p.s. anyone hear from chris and McCln?
 
Sylvia
I had post op a-fib, and they put me on Amioderone, it stopped it completely. They took me off the Amioderone after about six weeks, and it is now about 12 months later and no a-fib, cross fingers. The only thing with the Amioderone is it played around with my INR, when i was coming off it.
Joey is the same age as I was when my surgery was done, I will be interested in his recovery.
All the very best.
Dave
 
Sylvia

Sylvia

Hi Sylvia-
All of the things you mentioned are common after the RP, and other valve replacements. I had some a-fib in the hospitl, and am on a beta blocker to prevent that now. I am taking a baby aspirin instead of the coumadin.

My hemo was way down and I got 2 units of blood in the hospital. Then I ate red meat everyday for a month and had 3 iron IV's and take b-12 and iron injections. ugh. But, I feel a lot better than I did even before the surgery, when my iron was low to begin with.

Tell Joey not too worry these are not terrible setbaks, although I am sure he is becoming exasperated.
Leslie D, who is on here, had her RP 2 weeks after me and she had some fuid on her lung and had a longer hospital stay. She is doing great now...at least that's what she told me.

Good luck Joey and keep at it.
-mara
 
hey mara, dave!
joey will finally come home tomorrow. he has a very consistent recurrence of a-fib every morning around 8 am. yet, they disappear in the afternoon. he has started taking amiodarone and coumadin so that he can safely come home. he is severly anemic but dr. seltzer thinks he will (being as young and fit as he is) build it up on his own. lasix is for the extra water he is retaining, luckily in his body and not his lungs (bit my tongue... it seems every time i rave about something i jionx us). in any case, he had a terrible day today until we realized that percoset really does not agree with him. makes hjim emotionally different_ no sense of humor ( and you must know, joey is the funniest person i know, so this is big!).
so, he's being discharged tomorrow on all these meds, but it'll be great to have him home. the a-fibs will be back and will scare us, but atleast he'll be on coumadin as insurance.
it's been quite an experience driving into nyc each day t a jewish hospital (beth israel), considering what's going on... scary! can't wait til he's home... thank you for thinking of us.
God bless you all.
-sylvia
 
Hot Damn

Hot Damn

Congrats Sylvia and Joey.

How exciting that Joey comes home tomorrow/today!

Now the fun begins. My doc said I had about 2 weeks of sympathy time and then that was it.

Get all those pillows out and get the recliner warmed up.

Wahoo!

that Lasix is a fun one...hahahaha

Keep us posted

-Mara
 
Congratulations to Joey

Congratulations to Joey

Hi Sylvia and Joey-

So glad that things are coming along right on schedule for you after surgery. You'll soon be feeling better.

Best wishes to you both.
 
Trying to catch up on reading and just got to your good news. Joey will have pain and soreness and you just have to be there for him. Have heard many in here speak of going into afib. Please be patient and the really good part is coming. Soon as he's able, he will tell you he can now breathe better - before you get home, I bet. As to anemia, most of us have it after the surg and drs usually prescribe something to bring us back to normal. If he loses weight, don't be surprised. It will also come back.

Keep his little pillow handy!!

Best to you both and God bless
 
Joey's home!!!!

Joey's home!!!!

hi everyone!
first of all, thank you all so much for helping us (me) through this! i truly could never have done it without you.

joey is finally home and, ofcourse, overdid it a bit yesterday. he came home in total sinus rhythm (considering the fact that he has been going into afib consistently every morning), only to go back into it this morning. oh well, that's what the coumadin id for, right? he's still on a loading dose of amiodarone. hope that stuff works, considering all the scary stuff we have been reading about it.
good news is he is barely in much sternal pain. he uses his pillow for big coughs, but actually coughs without it sometimes. he has no trouble sleeping on one side! he has tylenol 3 , but hasn't felt the need for it yet.
he is concerned about the swelling in his ankles/feet. although it's not severe, by the end of the day they are clearly swollen and i think it scares him. he is taking lasix every other day so i hope that will help.

he can't wait to lose the extra weight he's carrying, hensylee. how long does it take? he was told he might retain this water weight for a few weeks!

he's taking so many meds (including vitamins, magnesium, folic acid, b6, b12, iron) . we can both appreciate how difficult it must be for people like his parents (80's) to keep track!!! gotta laugh!

so, we're into our bumpy recovery, but i look forward to the time when things even out and settle down.

again, thank you all so very much.
God bless you all,
sylvia
 
Yeah Sylvia and Joey!

how cool that Joey is home a doing so well.

Walking really helps the ankle swelling.

-Mara
 
Probably once he loses the water weight you will see a drop in his actual weight. Because of the balanced diet in hospital along with the physical strain on our body from the actual surgery, energy is used to recuperate and could account for some weight loss. Unfortunately, it comes back unless you work hard to keep it off. Mine did! Aw shucks.
 
Sylvia and Joey
What a roller coaster ride you have had! I just read the entire thread, beginning to end. Not a straight uphill recovery.... that is sad to hear. However, it sounds as if you are on track, and on the way home.

Take it easy for a while, and dont over do.

God bless.

mindy
 
Hey Sylvia
I have been away for a few days, and just caught up with the news that joey is home, sounds like he has had a few ups and downs, hope he is ok now.
Cheers Dave
 

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