J
John Cochran
I just got back from visiting Jennie at St. Mary's Hospital in Rochester. I was supposed to have surgery the day after Jennie (both of us were to receive the new SynerGraft aortic homograft) but my surgery was postponed due not having the right sized valve--still waiting for a donor. Anyhow, I decided that since none of Jennie's family came to be with her, I'd take the pleasant 90 mile drive down to the Mayo to see how she is doing. Jennie was pretty surprised to have one of the VR.com folks show up in person, flowers in hand! I am pleased to say Jennie looks just great, and is progressing nicely with a planned release date of Sunday or Monday.
Jennie had a few initial problems in that the pain meds made her nauseous. They've ironed that out, and she's now eating a little, but says food doesn't taste very good. Jennie said that one interesting immediate benefit was that, for about the last year, her hands were always cold, but now they're nice and warm! Her original valve was in much worse shape than anyone thought, so this surgery came at the right time.
Jennie had a full sternotomy, but the Mayo has a technique where the skin incision is smaller than normal. This will allow Jennie to wear a regular blouse or even a tank top without the scar showing.
Jennie says she is a little short of breath at times, but apparently this is normal in the early stages post-op. She also says her heart feels like it is beating quite strongly, but this is also a normal and expected by-product of surgery which goes away after a while. Other than being somewhat sore and not feeling like eating too much, Jennie says she feels good. Her color is wonderful, her spirit strong, and her smile radiant. Jennie really appreciates all the thoughts, prayers and e-mails from the group (nice flowers, Mara!).
My visit to Jennie did ME a lot of good. Knowing I'll be having essentially the same surgery with the same valve is a lot easier after seeing Jennie doing so well. She sends her best regards to all of you.
--John
Jennie had a few initial problems in that the pain meds made her nauseous. They've ironed that out, and she's now eating a little, but says food doesn't taste very good. Jennie said that one interesting immediate benefit was that, for about the last year, her hands were always cold, but now they're nice and warm! Her original valve was in much worse shape than anyone thought, so this surgery came at the right time.
Jennie had a full sternotomy, but the Mayo has a technique where the skin incision is smaller than normal. This will allow Jennie to wear a regular blouse or even a tank top without the scar showing.
Jennie says she is a little short of breath at times, but apparently this is normal in the early stages post-op. She also says her heart feels like it is beating quite strongly, but this is also a normal and expected by-product of surgery which goes away after a while. Other than being somewhat sore and not feeling like eating too much, Jennie says she feels good. Her color is wonderful, her spirit strong, and her smile radiant. Jennie really appreciates all the thoughts, prayers and e-mails from the group (nice flowers, Mara!).
My visit to Jennie did ME a lot of good. Knowing I'll be having essentially the same surgery with the same valve is a lot easier after seeing Jennie doing so well. She sends her best regards to all of you.
--John
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