J
John Cochran
I got out of the slammer at about 11:00 AM Wednesday, and am now enjoying the comforts of home. Many many thanks to all of you who sent your wishes and prayers...I think it all helped more than you know! Big thanks to my heart buddy Brooks M and his wife Rebecca for the big stuffed bear and balloons 
That cheered me up quite a bit!
My wife Debbie and my kids were real troopers through all of this, but I need to tell you Debbie really hesitatated (knowing many of you are still awaiting surgery) to tell you the whole story. Since I think the exchange of information here is important, and that we all realize things can go wrong, I've decided to share the rest of my story with you. I apologize in advance for any misspellings or ramblings, as I am VERY pump headed. My surgery lasted for over 14 hours, including over 10 hours on the heart lung machine. You read those numbers rigtht. At one point, after having received 25 units of blood, they told my family my chances were at best 50/50. Here's what had happened. I am suspending any personal support for CryoLife SynerGraft valves until quality control issues are resolved to my personal satisfaction.
I started out receiving a CryoLife SynerGraft allograft from a 28 year old donor. It wasn't until the valve was fully installed and my heart restarted that Dr. King realized something was very wrong with my new valve. It continued to seep blood and would not stop. When they pulled on the conduit, it tore. Finally, a decision was made to remove the valve completely and install a SynerGraft from a 50 year old donor. That one ended up working, but by that time I'd had 14 hours of surgery, and had been on and off the heart lung machine 3 times. My family was told I might have a stroke, and/or I might not recover neurologically.
In the last two days, due to the fabulous staff at North Memorial Hospital, I have become a near miracle. On Saturday evening--3 days after surgery--I suddenly "woke up" but had lots of other problems. I had gone from a normal 165 lbs. to 191 lbs. in surgery. All the extra fluid from blood products caused a lot of swelling, and a blood vessel burst in my eye (I look like I've been in a bar fight). Extra fluid in my chest was keeping my lungs from expanding, so early this week they drained it off through needles in my back, with immediate improvement. I'm now breathing just fine, and using my IS religiously.
Many people I can't rememeber came to my room and shook my hand who had played a role on the surgical team...God bless them all! I still can't believe they pulled me through all this. My wife Debbie told them, in the midst of the difficult surgery, "John is a fighter and incredibly stubborn. He won't give up, so get back in there and get to work!" So they did, and here I am. A man could not possibly have a more wonderful wife!
Thank you all again for your kindness and support during this difficult time. Now I'm planning to go smell some roses on this side of the mountain!
God bless you all,
--John
That cheered me up quite a bit!My wife Debbie and my kids were real troopers through all of this, but I need to tell you Debbie really hesitatated (knowing many of you are still awaiting surgery) to tell you the whole story. Since I think the exchange of information here is important, and that we all realize things can go wrong, I've decided to share the rest of my story with you. I apologize in advance for any misspellings or ramblings, as I am VERY pump headed. My surgery lasted for over 14 hours, including over 10 hours on the heart lung machine. You read those numbers rigtht. At one point, after having received 25 units of blood, they told my family my chances were at best 50/50. Here's what had happened. I am suspending any personal support for CryoLife SynerGraft valves until quality control issues are resolved to my personal satisfaction.
I started out receiving a CryoLife SynerGraft allograft from a 28 year old donor. It wasn't until the valve was fully installed and my heart restarted that Dr. King realized something was very wrong with my new valve. It continued to seep blood and would not stop. When they pulled on the conduit, it tore. Finally, a decision was made to remove the valve completely and install a SynerGraft from a 50 year old donor. That one ended up working, but by that time I'd had 14 hours of surgery, and had been on and off the heart lung machine 3 times. My family was told I might have a stroke, and/or I might not recover neurologically.
In the last two days, due to the fabulous staff at North Memorial Hospital, I have become a near miracle. On Saturday evening--3 days after surgery--I suddenly "woke up" but had lots of other problems. I had gone from a normal 165 lbs. to 191 lbs. in surgery. All the extra fluid from blood products caused a lot of swelling, and a blood vessel burst in my eye (I look like I've been in a bar fight). Extra fluid in my chest was keeping my lungs from expanding, so early this week they drained it off through needles in my back, with immediate improvement. I'm now breathing just fine, and using my IS religiously.
Many people I can't rememeber came to my room and shook my hand who had played a role on the surgical team...God bless them all! I still can't believe they pulled me through all this. My wife Debbie told them, in the midst of the difficult surgery, "John is a fighter and incredibly stubborn. He won't give up, so get back in there and get to work!" So they did, and here I am. A man could not possibly have a more wonderful wife!
Thank you all again for your kindness and support during this difficult time. Now I'm planning to go smell some roses on this side of the mountain!
God bless you all,
--John
