Two days till lift-off
Two days till lift-off
Thanks, folks -- and thanks to the others who have conveyed thoughts and good wishes on other posts, not to speak of the countless who have gone before us!
I'll use this thread for an eleventh hour update rather than resurrect the older thread on "Prepping for the Big One." I spent most of Thursday in Gainesville for pre-ops at Shands Hospital. Overall things went very well. The people in the various units (Central Testing, Cardiovascular, Anesthesiology) were great. Only the coordination BETWEEN units left something to be desired -- a few missed signals here, a ball slightly fumbled there, but no blood lost, literally or figuratively. Shands is one busy place. When my son had his surgery there (under the care of a wonderful pediatric urologist), the place reminded me a bit of the O'Hare Airport of surgery: so many takeoffs and landings going on simultaneously that you really needed an air traffic controller!
I wasn't able to see the surgeon, who was -- where else? -- in surgery; but had a good long talk with the Physician's Assistant, who took all the time I wanted. It looks as though my wife will not be able to stay in the room-- obviously not in the ICU, and permission to stay with patients in semi-private rooms is up to the floor staff and -- said the PA -- not usually given.
Still haven't made a final choice among the two options -- CE Pericardium and Cryovalve SG -- and it may go down to the wire, so to speak, given my Gemini nature and the PA saying they could go either way up to the hour before the operation. But I suspect I'll have things sorted out by then. I feel able to hang fire a bit because, basically, both choices are good and the surgeon and team seem highly competent to handle both.
I inquired about exactly WHO does the surgery. I was told it is Dr. Martin assisted by a team of "fellows." Shands is a teaching hospital, but the PA said that Dr. Martin is at the controls.
We discussed comparative cross-clamp time and subsequent effects. The PA has less of a technical grasp of this, I think, than either the surgeon or the chief anesthesiologist. (I noted in the anesthesiology section an office labeled "International Study of Post Operative Cognitive Dysfunction," no less.) Am I right in thinking that, other things being equal, severity of "pumpheadedness" is a function of length time on the heart-lung machine?
Now it's final preps at home. including get the kids squared around for our absence. I am told I can expect to be 7-10 days at the hospital, but then to be released to come back to Tallahassee without any need to hang around on an outpatient basis; but I guess that can vary (particularly on the down side) quite a bit according to the case. Steve Wieland was out in more like four days, I believe. We shall see!
Think I'm ready for the plunge. Jordan's water is muddy and cold, chills the body but not the soul.
Peter
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