Got surgery date 02-26-10

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Shari Thomas

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 20, 2009
Messages
57
Location
Beryl, Utah
Ok, just talked with my surgeon and we've set the date. I'll be having a full Cox-Maze IV, AVR and Mitral repair/replacement.

We've been waiting for my hyperthyroid to go hypothyorid after after two radioactive ablations. It crashed over this past weekend, sending me to the ER on Monday Jan 18.

My followup with the cardio yesterday confirmed I'm due. Still out of rhythm, and for the first time, I heard him say, "Boy, those valves really are leaky."

He's totally pleased with my "personal progress" having lost 35 lbs, and am keeping the edema at bay. My INR has even stayed in range for a couple of months. Of course adding .137 mcg of levothyroxin may mess with it in the next few days and we're expecting that.

Surgeon is having me discontinue warfarin with last dose Feb 20. I questioned him long and hard about that, but he's confident I'll still have enough in my system for a few days, and my personal risk isn't real high.

I'm on CPAP and he directed me to bring the machine and mask with me to use pre-surgery and post-surgery.

In St. George, they have you come to the hospital between noon and 1pm the day before your surgery. That way, they can run all the tests and do all the pre-op in a more "controlled" yet leisurely fashion.

Believe me, I'm devouring the info on this site. I don't post a lot, but y'all are most helpful. I even told my surgeon about this site.

Oh, and as much as I'd love to have him use the Kryptonite, apparently the International study isn't quite ready. Bummer, thought I had a chance to be a guinea pig and "give back" to folks.

If there's anyone here who has had the same "triple whammy", I'd love to hear from you.
 
You certainly sound well-prepared! Getting a date set makes it more real, doesn't it? Keep reading, ask any questions, and be sure to post after the surgery.
 
I didn't have the triple whammy, but I did have a mitral valve repair and a left Maze procedure done by radio frequency. I was on Coumadin for a couple of months before the surgery, but my surgeon said to stop only 3 days before the surgery. I don't know why my surgeon said 3 days and yours says 6 days.
 
Good luck on keeping your wits about you in this waiting period. I am pulling for you.
 
Your in my prayers Shari. The waiting is the hard part, but you are alomost their. I look forward to seeing your thread on the Post-Surgery side. :)
 
We're moving forward one day at a time here. One of our neighbor's is the administrator of an assisted living facility and he's pretty sure he has an extra "lift you out" recliner that he can loan us for several months. I've been using a roommate's recliner in her room, but it's a bit unfair for me to hog it all night long, too.

Interestingly, my heart rate seems to be going up rather than down as the thyroid meds take hold. The cardio has given us permission to self-adjust the carvedilol as necessary to keep the heart rate below 80, preferably below 70 and above 55.

The biggest change so far has been having to re-adjust my diet to make room for a 2-hour delay between the levothyroxin and minerals or dairy products. I take that as soon as I get up, then wait an hour and eat a banana and take everything except the minerals. The Multaq requires food to work more effectively.

Speaking of Multaq, we don't know if it's helping or not, but I'm continuing to take it. I'm still out of rhythm more often than not.

It's getting harder and harder to keep my weight down. I'd lost 35 lbs and have gained back 5 lbs, probably thanks to the thyroid crash.

I really appreciate all your encouragement, prayers, and thoughts as I face the biggest hurdle in my life. Yes, I'd love to have an earlier date, but that's the way things work. Oh 10 mg of Paroxetine is helping me keep my wits about me. Last fall, when the thyroid was really out of whack, and I was really emotional, I went to my GP and asked for some anti-anxiety meds.

Time to put one foot in front of the other again,
 
Hi, Shari, I thought I would mention that I, too, went to surgery with my trusty CPAP. One of the few things I actually remember about the ICU is the nurse helping me put on my mask and turn on my machine. The nurses were quite aware of its importance and it never presented any problem. Actually, I think the familiarity of its quiet whirrrring helped me sleep better in the hospital than I might otherwise have done. Let us know how things go with you.

Larry
 
Mentu, thanks for that reassuring piece of advice. I've been a little concerned about taking my own "medical equipment" to the hospital. I use a Mirage IV full face mask and it has portals for the oxygen thingy. I'm sure they'll have distilled water for the humidifier.

The nurses at DRMC are fantastic. I'm so glad this is happening in Utah rather than Oregon or even at one of the VA hospitals. All my friends have horror stories from both.
 
Shari, do you always sleep soundly until it's time to get up? I'm asking because what I do on the weekends with levothyroxine: I always wake up a couple of hours before I would normally get up (because I can sleep in compared to getting up during the week). I take my thyroid medicine then (and go back to sleep) so then I can eat when I get up for the day later.

I also shifted my vitamins to dinnertime to try to make it more routine all week.
 
I'm generally the last one up of us four women. That's because Mom gets up early. She generally makes sure the dogs get their "first out". Cindy is a fairly early riser as she and Mom (her Mom) like to chat a bit. Bev is next up, as she has to get ready and leave for work. I'm the last up as the bathroom is freed up for me.

Since 3 of 4 of us are "retired", our daily routines are just that... pretty routine. If I get up early and change the routines, then our 6-pack of big dogs think they have to change their routine too.

Of course, once I have surgery, my routine will get changed again. For the most part, I'll probably just "go with the flow" rather than try to micro-manage the routine. Fortunately, I'm pretty easy-going.

It's also possible I'll be off most of the meds by then.
 
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