I got home on Saturday 13 Dec mid-day after my AVR on 10 Dec. Still on constant pain meds, but am walking three times a day for about 5-10 minutes each around the house. I'm faithfully doing my breathing exercises ever hour, despite the pain (when I cough). I have to say the hospital experience was a nightmare, and the first 36 hours at home were really rough. Had a great sleep last night, though, and some of my worries (water retention, aches in strange places, fear of fever), etc., have gotten better. I've had two showers, one at the hospital that was a freezing suckee quick shower they made me take before discharging me, and a luxurious one at home last night. My heart cath went fine (that was my last post), but the next day had to call the ambulance to take me to the hospital because the "collegen plug" they used to plug the femeral artery busted out somehow, and I immediately began internal bleeding into my leg. I applied immediate pressure (thank goodness), but the doofus medics with the ambulance made we walk down stairs!! Anyway, at the hospital the put a clamp on my leg for six hours, and they also pressed down by hand on the apple sized clump of blood in my groin to get the blood dissipated. That was the most painful experience I have ever had in my life (including the just concluded AVR)!! But it worked, although I have massive and quite impressive bruise running the full width of my upper leg near my groin. Yikes! Anyway, my energy is running out, so I'll go for now. Thank youo for all your support and I'll fill you in with progress in awhile.
Best regards,
Dave
Best regards,
Dave