Hi - Post surgery from ROBTHATSME.

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Great to know you are home, Rob :)

Take it easy...rest enough and eat when you can and walk small steps at a time. In no time you shall be feeling great.

Feeling light-headed is normal and I think it might be due to the medications, which might need to be adjusted if it does not go away.

Enjoy the long and quiet nights and sleep at home. When I complained to one of the nurses about waking me up too often when I really needed to sleep, his reply made great sense: "this is not a hotel, this is a hospital and you are here not to sleep, but to feel better and we need to make sure you are fine"!

:smile2:
 
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as of noon today (Monday):

10/4/10 12:00 noon Hi everyone. We are very glad to be home. Bob is doing ok. The morning is his worst time. He has had some shortness of breath, yesterday and today. If this continues I will take him to the ER. We are trying to determine what will help. Could be he has to be propped up more at night to keep his lungs clear. He seems to be taking big enough breaths. I’m not too concerned right now, but I will stay on top of it. He still has the rash but it’s getting better. He is still light headed and dizzy and still pretty pale. Even though the worst is behind us, we still have a long way to go. I still think he is on track and maybe ahead a bit. His brother Tom will come in tomorrow afternoon so I can get back to work on Wednesday. He will be a big help. Hoping to have some friends visit, he will enjoy that for sure. If you want to visit let me know and I will send you directions.

As for me, is this October??!! Wow! The weather is beautiful today. I don’t miss Cleveland. And I have a ton of laundry to do..lol.

When driving home last night Bob said he couldn’t believe he was here again. He really didn’t know if he would make it through this….me either :)

BTW: As of this morning we have over 600 messages sent to us through the site! Thank you all so much. He looks forward to reading the new ones as they come in. I can’t say enough how grateful we are for all your caring messages! We love you!!!
 
600 messages...wonder how many hits they had on the site.....WOW!!!!!
Love you two!!!!

Don't over-do it...take your time and recover in your own way my friend!!!!

Love Ya!!!!
 
Sure glad to hear your home Rob, bet puppy was happy to see you both. Now with all this reading (600 messages...holy crap), don't forget to get your walks in and rest often.

Take Care and be good to yourself.
((((hugs))))
 
10/5/10 2:00 am Well, one step forward, two steps back. Bob is in Vanderbilt in cardiac ICU. We came here today around 1:30 when he continued to have trouble catching his breath. His blood ox level was extremely low when we arrived. Of coarse it took a while to tell them the whole story and some didn’t get it even then. I brought the post surgery reports from Dr. Roselli and Dr. Pettersson. One of the ER Drs. told us he was having or had a heart attack because his EKG showed a left branch bundle block! Scared us!! I immediately called Dr. Roselli and he said it was doubtful. That it is not uncommon to show that block after a major heart surgery and it usually will clear up during the healing process. He felt like the issue was fluid still. So, what it has come down to is fluid around his lungs. They started oxygen and treatment with 80mg of Lasix in the ER, he has been on 40 mg post surgery at home. They did a CT scan, blood work, EKG, an echo cardiogram…..etc. Everything looks good except the fluid. His b/ox level is good as long as he is on oxygen but as soon as he isn’t it drops very low. Up here in the ICU the Drs. want to do a Thoracentesis, or a needle aspiration of the fluid. They’ll check for blood and/or infection and just relieve some of the pressure. They checked his INR and it is 4.4. Too high for a procedure. They ordered 4 units of plasma to bring the INR down before talking with us. When I heard this I told them that Bob was jaundiced in Cleveland after 3 units and his liver enzymes were elevated for 24 hrs. They decided to treat with more Lasix and call Cleveland later today to get more info on the jaundice and liver enzymes. Good plan! So here we are again. Hoping and praying that this guy gets well soon and doesn’t have to go through any more. I ran home at 10:00 pm to let Jaxon out, he didn’t want me to leave, then came back. Bobs brother Tom is still coming in later today. Doesn’t look like much sleep tonight, Bob is dozing off and on but we are both mostly awake. Wish us luck and keep the prayers up!!!



10/5/10 10:00 am The cardiac team came to see us this morning. They have decided to take the slow and easy route with Bobs treatment. We are on board 100% with that idea. He will be there a couple of days while they treat with lasix. If he doesn't respond they will bring in a lung specialist but there is no reasonn right now to think he won't respond. I came home to catch some sleep before Tom arrives this afternoon. Bob is comfortable and stable right now so we shall just wait this out and hope he gets to sleep in his bed again soon!
 
Oh my, sad to read this.
Do hope this is just a little bump, and you, Rob respond quickly and your home soon.

You've got my continue prayers.
 
Turk/Ben, thanks for posting that update.
Many of us end up back in ER by the third week...it's such a bummer. Good thing that Cristi is there to reassure Rob and keep tabs on things. Sending more good vibes !!
 
Very sorry to read this update and hoping for swift and excellent improvement.
 
thanks Ben for the update.. Rob is so very lucky to have you by his side..:)
I will send some more prayers his way.. I know all too well how discouraging the set backs can be and wish for Rob, Cristi and even you as his friend to find some peace in all of this soon! Hugs
 
"Slow and Easy" sounds like a good conservative approach.

I'm glad to hear that Vandy is willing to consult and listen to Bob's Docs at CC.
Gives me confidence in Vandy.

Hang in there Bob! You're an inspiration to many of us on this site.

'AL Capshaw'
 
keepin an eye on thread and sending out more prayers your way
Godbless as you get through this pothole.I hated these potholes
in the road to recovery.
 
Wednesday Morning Up-Date:

10/6/10 8:30 am Good Morning! Bob is still in the hospital. They did move him from ICU into the step down unit. Brother Tom arrived and will sit with him today while I go back to work. It will be really hard for me not to be there with him but right now he is doing ok while they pump him full of Lasix. Lasix in…..fluid out…..he’s a peeing machine. Hopefully today will be uneventful. He says he is feeling weak this morning but he isn’t eating much. I am reminding him how important it is to eat right now. He’s on fluid intake restriction and his mouth is very dry so it’s uncomfortable to eat. Yesterday afternoon they took him off the oxygen mask and put him on a nasal cannula then reduced his oxygen to 6 from 13. So, he is making progress. They want to get him up and walking. As of right now there is no sign of infection and nothing came of the internal bleeding question. That’s where we are. Lets hope for a good day and maybe I can have him home tomorrow.
 
Hi Everyone,

It's me, Rob. I am doing ok, just weak, and it really feels as though I have to go back to square one and begin with a walking routine in the hospital hallways again, and re-gain my balance while standing, walking, and sitting.

I will try and add more later as the day goes on.

Love to you all,
Rob
 
As Nancy always says, "Never Give In and Never Give Up"!

Keep up the Good Fight Rob.

It sounds like Vandy is taking a Careful and Safe Approach to your care.

You just need to give it time to work.
As you probably already know, Recovery often takes Longer than we like.

Patience and Persistence wins the day.

Best Wishes,

'AL Capshaw'
 
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