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lancashirelad

Hi Guys

Its Lancashirelad here. Firstly i must apologise for my incoherence because the drugs and the bypass machine have affected my memory quite a bit. I just returned a week ago today from hospital. Sorry i have not posted a reply till now but i have been feeling extremely tired, and i have found it quite difficult settling back into home. Going from the highly monitored and controlled environment to home has made me a bit unsure and insecure but i am improving as time goes on. The last three weeks has been a complete blur and i am still coming to terms with my whole ordeal. I am overwhelmed by all the help i have recieved from the nurses, surgeons and doctors. They were incedible and i owe them my life. Following my proceedure on 2nd (6 hrs) i sustained a lot of post op bleeding so i was rushed back into theatre 9 hrs later for a further 3 hrs. However i was out of ITU by 11am the same day. It is down to my ITU nurse, my surgeon and all the staff that i am sitting here typing and i could not think of the words to say in gratitude. I had a 20% chance of a ROSS proceedure but i got it thanks to the incredible skill of my world class surgeon Mr Brawn. He was incredible yet so modest, when i shaked his hand and tried to thank him he just shrugged his shoulders and said no problem. He never left me from 9:30am till 3 am the nect morning. He was fantastic with my family because he kept talking to them and trying to cheer them up and generally helping them through the emotional ordeal. My cardiologist Dr Sara Thorne was fantastic as well. When she came an visited me it really cheered me up. Besides being very helpful and reassuring, she has such a good bedside manner as well as being rather attractive as well. Both Sara Thorne and mr brawn knew of my terrible anxiety, so all along they went out of there ways to reassure me and cheer me up. .I only found out 4 days later about what had gone on, and it was quite a shock. I could not believe i had got the ross, i am so lucky because i dont need to take warfarin at all. It has made me think about life in a different context, i have been given bad luck with my condition but such good fortune to have a) probable the best team in the country and b)the ross and a second go at life. I am going to treasure this gift by looking after myself and also i intend to help others in my position by sharing my experiences and advice. Jonathan was great help to me pre op, because no one can really help u unless they have been through the ordeal. I consider him a true friend even though i have only just met him. He is a very kind and helpful person, and i hope to do the same for others. I am also finding it difficult to thank my parents and freinds for all they support. They must have gone through hell. Despite that words cannot describe how grateful i am. We live 4 hrs from the hospital where i had my op, but despite that my folks travelled back and forth without hesitation and cared for all my needs, all i can really do for them is get better. Following my ops i had a few complications which nagged my recovery, inparticular a pericardial infusion. They had to carry out a tricky proceedure to fit a drain which tapped off 1 pint of blood. It made me feel a lot better but it was incredibly painful, even more so than the chest drains. Despite all the probs i had i am still very fortunate compared to many others and from now on i am not looking back and remaining positive. When i first got to the ward i had some post waiting. On opening it i found a card from all the GUCHs that jonathan knew + a printout from this forum. I was so overwhelmed by it i could not believe it, i actually became quite emotional. I would like to thank everyone for there msgs and best wishes, it was so incredible. I never even imagined such an incredible response. Just knowing that i had all that support from people who were in the same boat as me really aided my recovery and helped me to remain positive throughout. But after coming through it i see myself as a better person but i still remain a manic worrier, who worries about every little twinge, but i will always remain a worrier because i know too much. Ignorance is bliss i tell u. Throughout my time in hospital i always worried about everything too much because i know too much medical stuff but some knowledge is useful to have. I can not thank you enough, and i would really like to remain in touch with you all in the future. Anyway i have babbled on enough so i will be off. I look forward to speaking to you all and hopefully meeting you in the future.

Kindest regards, best wishes and good health to you all


SIMON

Now aged 20 (10th OCT)- could anyone possibly ask for a better birthday present - Despite feeling awful as they tried with various drug combos to bring pulse rate and BP down - really messed me up - spent my birthday with a BP of 65 compared to normal of 120 . But hey beggers cant be choosers
 
Keep babbling

Keep babbling

Keep babbling, Simon, its a great read and wonderful news, and I'm sure we all want to know about your progress. And you're going to be such a help to others, especially when they're young and scared. All the best.
 
Simon - It is great to hear from you. The surgery doesn't sound so good, but I guess it is over and time to recooperate. I must say that it is so wonderful that Jonathon helped you get through. It is the essence of the people on this web site. Good luck with further recovery.
 
Dear Simon

Dear Simon

I am so happy to hear you are home safe and well ....it's wonderful that you feel you had the best surgeon and team in the World ..really inspiring to fellow Brits I can assure you ...I am really delighted to see you back on the board ...a belated HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!! well done to you .....take things easy and take care of yourself ...we are thinking about you ...
Scottie
 
Hi Simon

Great to hear that things went ok for you and that you got what you wanted. All you have to do now is to take things easy for a while. It's a comfort to those of us who are still waiting on surgery to have good news from others who have just had their surgery and everything is well.

All the best,

Peachy
 
Hello there Simon,

Read your story, and I am so glad you made it through. Most of us do!
Just know that all of us will be here to talk to whenever you need it.
God Bless, and glad to have you on the better side of surgery. Just rest and let everyone pamper you for a while. Before you know it you'll feel so much better. There is LIFE after heart surgery.

Hugs,

Christina
Aortic Stenosis
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
St.Jude's Mechanical
Coumadin, 20mg a day
 
My dear Simon - it is so good to hear from you and know that you are doing so well, even tho you had a few prblms to overcome. Some get lucky and have no prblms but some just have to duke it out, but you sound fine. Not to worry.

You said you want to remain in the site - didn't we tell you? Once you come in here and join up with this bunch and go over the mountaintop, you then BELONG TO US! So you have no choice but to stay here and relate your experiences to those who come after you. God bless
 
Simon, it sounds like you had a tough go of it, but your attitude and spirits sound high and hopefully, that means you are through the worst of it.

Take good care and don't push yourself too hard. It takes time to recover.
Kev
 
hi simon!
so glad to hear that despite your rocky road, it has smoothed out and you are home recovering.
take it easy and slow and just focus on resting and getting stronger.
be well. so happy you're ok.
-sylvia
 
Hi Simon

Hi Simon

Simon-

Glad to hear from you now that you're on the other side of the mountain. Sounds as if you had a terrific surgery team and they did a fantastic job on you.

Continued excellent recovery.
 
Hi Simon,

I am so pleased you are now home and on the road to recovery, I am having AVR on Nov 7th at the Cardiothoraciac Centre, Broadgreen, Liverpool. so I hope to join you, and all our friends on the other side. I send you kind thoughts for speedy recovery and best wishes for your future.
You are an inspiration to those of us who are waiting
Thank you for telling us your story

Jan
 
Simon
What great news that you are home and on the mend!! A rough road undoubtedly, sometimes unfortunately it happens. Keep your chin up, and depend on us to be here. Happy Happy Day!
 
well done

well done

Hi Simon,

as we share both a name and the date of our surgery, mine was Oct. 2nd last year, I feel especially qualified to welcome you back to the site. Your post rings other bells too, as I also had severe post-surgery bleeding and had to go back into surgery at 11pm - my poor wife got a phone call then and had to wait until 2am until another call telling her I was OK. BUT, that all seems a very long time ago now - I hope you recover as well as I did.

The best advice I was given was to exercise as much as possible and I urge you to do the same. In the six weeks after I came home from hospital, I quickly built up my daily walk to three, and sometimes, seven miles - not by being stupid and pushing things, but being both sensible and careful. I do have the advantage of two dogs and the fantastic north Hampshire downs - indeed the dogs thought they had died and gone to heaven!! Try and do the same, your body is young and will recover quickly.

Thinking of you and wishing you a speedy recovery,

Simon
 
Hi Guys

Thankyou very much for all your responses. I really appreciate all the support, it has meant a great deal to me, and has helped me get through the tough times. I feel privileged to be amongst people such as yourselves. I asked myself the other day; If i had the choice to have to heart problem i could vanish it away, would i do it? My response was yes an no. Yes because of all the pain and distress caused, however i would say no because it has given me a new perspective on life, and i have learnt so many things and it has opened a door for me to a group of fantastic people who i have the upmost admiration for. To go through life as we do requires determination and guts, and i prefer it on this side of the mountain. This has completly changed my life for the better in most respects and i would not have met you guys if i had no problem and would have continued on with life idely as normal (probably wasting it). It has been very tough, frightening, emotional and distressing but i cannot escape it so i must go forward as hopefully the worst is over. My surgery was not as bad as that, the worst was endured by my family. I have been very lucky relative to alot of people, there are much worse things that can go wrong, and as i said i am extremely lucky to have had the ross, so a few bumps is immaterial. As i say that, i feel my heart go into AF again. I had to go to hospital on friday morn l yesterday evening. I was goingh to have a 24hr ecg fitted when i collapsed walking back down the corridor. I kept having really scary heart beats which occured more regularily and for more time. It felt like my heart paused and fluttered and thumped. That is the best i can describe it because it is one of those things u cannot describe. On mon morn i had a really big attack of it. I passed out and was then surrounded by doctors and machines. I honestly thought that i was going to die, i shaking, sweating and very frightened. My heart was all over the place in my chest. Thank heavens i was in hospital when it happened. They did ecg when it was in progress and diagnosed Atrial fibrillation (clocked my atria at about 300 but ventricles at 159 - however the heart has a fantastic safety mechanism which insulates ventricles from atria and the signals can only travel down special; fibres in middle of heart so it prevents full blown heart attack - i think th4e heart is the most fascinating organ despite my problems) which apparently is very common and harmless. My consultant told me that although it is very frightening it is common and harmless when treated with drugs. Anyway i am still here and that is more hurdle navigated. I just have to try and ignore it. Anyway i have babbled again, i apologise, i am not very concise.

Kindest regards and best wishes


Simon
 
Hi Simon-

You're having some frightening things happen, but you couldn't have chosen better circumstances for yourself. Doctors were right there to see it first hand. They will work hard on your problems and you'll be straightened out soon. All kinds of things exist to help, meds, pacemakers, and some other things. Unfortunately after heart surgery, some arrhythmias can happen, but most all of them are resolved. Stay strong, don't get discouraged, your heart will calm down.
 
hi simon!
nancy is right! my husband, joey, also had a ross about 6 weeks ago. he had had some bouts with a fib before the surgery, but nothing that lasted more than a few days. he was put on sotolol for the a fibs and they were kept at bay.
then came the surgery..... although he felt great, the dr's had prepped him to expect some afibs, because they are fairly common after such surgery. in any case, while he was in the hospital about 4 days post op, his pulse rate went up to about 160 while he was lying down. as they remained as calm as could be, they quickly tended to him....administering meds, checking bp, on the spot ekg, etc. the room was filled with medical people and drs.
i was happy that it happened there and not at home! i can totally relate!
this kept happening every day or so.... it was very disconcerting. i learned on this forum that magnesium is helpful with arrhythmias. ironically, they were already giving it. the sotolol was not working, so they have put joey on amioderone temporarily. i hate to count my chickens...but it seems to be doing the trick for now. keep praying!
i've learned that for every two steps forward, there is usually a step backwards....then onward again and so on.
please be patient. as nancy said, there are meds, pacemakers, etc. and a fib is really not supposed to be serious (the only complication is supposedly forming clots, so one should be taking coumadin if flip flopping in and out of afib).
i wish i could offer more cheer, but it sounds like you are well on your way to recovery. i hope it keeps going this way.
be well and God bless,
sylvia
almost forgot... dr said that it was because joey's heart didn't know yet that it no longer has to work that hard!!
 
Hang in there

Hang in there

Simon...I'm praying for you every day as I know everyone in this group is. Hang in there! It'll all be just a memory some day!
Barbara
 
well done

well done

Hi Simon, have just been going through the post and saw your note about being home. You certainly sound to have been through the mill but I am delighted for you and your family that you are safely back home. Take things day by day and listen to your body because it is the best guide regarding what you can manage to do. Really peased that they were able to do the Ross procedure for you. It's a shame that the NHS has so many problems when most of the people who work in it are really second to none.!!
hope you continue to make good progress. Regards Adrienne:p
 
Ho lancashirelad

Ho lancashirelad

Hi, well done you came through.The afib is scary, but it'll settle down, and let yourself be emotional you deserve it!
love debs xxx ( actually a lancashire lass...)
 

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