Mountaineer Bill (wlaldridge) is home!!!

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
W

wlaldridge

I am tired, have tried to nap, field phone calls and get on line to "TALK" to you all. Got home at 2:30 today it is 8:53 now! I have not been able to get "on line" til just now due to some glitch with the cable company. I have finally gotten it straightened out but this not a day for me to have to be Mr. fix-it. I have not had time to read the posts from anyone. MY family has been bringing me news in the hospital. I will do a lot tomorrow after my first night sleep in weeks, I think..

Thank you all for all the help an well wishes.. Was supposed to come home on Sunday but a slight setback(more later) and I am for now just raising my ugly head to all.

I plan to go check on Scottie, eat some homemade chicken soup and cornbread. suck on the spirometer and go to bed. See you all in the a.m. with my tale of adventure.

Best to all

Wimpy Mountain Bill
 
Hi Bill,

Glad to "see" your wimpy face on-line again. Happy to learn that all is well, that you're home and on the other side of surgery. That is the most important thing. The rest will come slowly, just give it time. Take it easy, walk, walk, walk, and use that spirometer 3x per hour.
"Talk" to us tomorrow, and let us hear your war story.

Christina
Congenital Aortic Stenosis
AVR's 8/7/00 & 8/18/00
Tucson, AZ
Dr. Gulshan Sethi
Mechanical
 
Hi Bill-

I'm so glad to see that you're home now. A little more healing and you'll be good to go. Congratulations and take care.
 
Welcome Home

Welcome Home

Welcome Home Bill, Congratulations on your sucessful surgery. It's wonderful to "see" you back online and look foward to hearing about your trip over the mountain. Rest, Walk, Rest, Walk! So glad your doing well and all the best for a speedy and uneventful recovery. Big HUGS!!
 
Hi "Wimpy Bill"

SOOOOO glad to hear you back on line. Remember the rules, "WALK, WALK, WALK, BREATHE, BREATHE, BREATHE, NAP, NAP, NAP" and it doesn't have to be in that order. Can't wait to hear your "war stories!" Your wife and son were wonderful to post to us while you were "on vacation."

Evelyn and Tyce
 
Good Morning Bill

Good Morning Bill

Hope you had a good night's sleep. As you see, I'm up early..Just go to bed too early..But anyway, glad you are home. Now you can change that wording under your name to I HAD my AVR......:D Don't sit long at computer..get up and walk. :D :D Bonnie
 
Hey Bill - so good seeing you home again. You stayed in for the last "storm" safely between the sheets but guess what - you might not escape the next one heading this way!!! At least you have your boys home to pick up the yard stuff!

take it easy and rest all you want - the real world will wait for you. God bless
 
Bill.

So glad you are home. I hope you have lots of pillows. I found the couch much more comfortable after the first few nights in the recliner.

What kind of valve did they put in? For me it was the St Judes and I can only hear it if I listen real hard. They are now working on regulating my coumadin levels. They want me at 2.0-2.5 and I am zeroing in on the 2.0 as we speak.

Doing a lot of walking and believe me the more of that you can do the better. My first week home I just walked/wandered from room to room two to three times a day. I now walk 30 min in the morning and 30 min at night. I also started re-hab. Mostly bike, treadmill, stretches and some small weights. They are really designed to help by-pass folks so us valvers just follow along. I was surprised how many young folks are having by-pass problems.

Started back at work last week. I come in around 9-9:30 and last till 3-4 in the afternoon.

So hope you bounce back shortly as well. Don't overdo but do try and move around as much as you can stand.
 
Mountaineer Bill (wlaldridge) is home!!!

Hey Welcome Home Bill,

The tough part is over...but don't expect a lot of sleep..besides the finding of a comfortable sleeping position there will be a lot going on in your head..hang in there!!

The next tough thing is to be patient..don't rush the recovery process...don't try to do too much too soon..just go with the flow for awhile. For me this was the toughest part. Just keep walking, do the breathing exercises and let others look after you for awhile( really now does that sound bad??)

PS. Don't forget to thank your significant other...their help is soooo! invaluable.

jack ( Welland )
 
WOW Bill !

Do you remember your first post ?

You sounded pretty scared as I recall.

Now, you sound like, 'No Big Deal'

WAY TO GO !

Hope your recovery continues to be smooth.

Best Wishes, 'AL'
 
What Al just said is VERY IMPORTANT for newbies. Almost all come in scared, get involved with questions and information, get through their surgeries as Bill has done - with great success. Newbies, take heart - nearly everybody's comes out this same way. God bless:)
 
Hey Bill

Hey Bill

Just home here ....got home yesterday ..that's Wednesday from the hospital ..so very very glad to see you are home safely too ...fancy coming over for a drop of Scottish Water so we can compare notes ?:)......I'll drop back in soon and give you the full story ...although all went well and I'm fine ...are you ?
Take care ...love Scottie
 
to both bill & scottie

to both bill & scottie

i'm glad to hear both of you made it thru and are home.. i'm 3 1/2 months post op.. i remember my first days,weeks - i didnt' have this support group of 'valvers' to compare 'notes' with and kinda went into a slight panic mode in the beginning.. things like, i can hear this ticking noise called my valve and now i hear when i have PACs, of course i didnt' know what they were then, just that my card wasn't too worried.. laying down.. now that was fun.. first day home, thought i'd take a nap in my own bed (been in hospital for 2 wks) problem was that we have a water bed and i couldn't get out of it.. resigned to the spare bedroom after that for about a month.. i agree on the walking and breathing part, although i dreaded it.. rehab helped me alot,.. i agree with those that mentioned rehab is mostly for by-passers, but i got alot out of it.. i actually finish it next friday.. the weight machine in particular helped stretch and losen up the scar tissue - i used to be a couch potatoe, now i have more energy than i ever did.. i can really tell if i skip a couple days of exercising..

hang in there and congrats once again..

christine
 
Bill - Great to have you back home. Sounds like you are enjoying life again. Keep up your recovery progress.
 
Bill:
Congratulations. I am sure you are really glad to be home.
As one who is about to go to surgery, next week, I am encouraged every time I read a post from another who has made the trip and came back.
May your progress be steady and upward.
John
 
Hey, thanks all.

Yes, Al, you got it right. I was very frightened by the unknown and it still scares me. But, "No big deal" is not in my vocabulary when it comes to this stopping the heart, etc thing. I do have to admit that both my kidney stones and day 1 and day 5 post tonsilectomy at age 31 have given me more physical pain in any moment. Thanks to the drugs. Now some of the discomforts are more ongoning, but with those I can cope.

My surgeon emphasized that this is a BIG surgery and I do not want to say anything that would give anyone an "unreal" view of it. But, as Al and Ron and others have said "Evaluate the aternatives" and witness that most times the odds are on the side of the surgery.

Actually slept in bed with my wife last night and was not too uncomfortable. Took Walter Wier and Bonnie and so many others advise to build a pillow pile/nest that made reclining relatively comfortable.

Having trouble reaching the level with the spirometer that I had in the hospital. That is one of my goals for tomorrow. Walk, walk, walk, breathe, breathe, breathe--I KNOW, I KNOW

Had to say that before Bonnie starts to beat me up again.

Night,
Bill
 
More posting

More posting

I was thinking of getting Ann (Hensylee) to drive down and drag you off the sofa. Hadn't heard from you before yesterday. Glad to know you are up walking..Did you walk thru Sam's or ride in the cute little motorized car...I admit I did at Walmart for first month...:p :p I liked the way people would stare at me:D Really, I was afraid people would push cart into me, ect. How is your INR..Mine went high for first time..Trip to Kentucky. Try to get that Protime home tester. Saves a lot of trips to Lab.:) Bonnie
 
Hi Bon,

Funny you should mention it. Just inside Sam's I stopped and leaned on the cart (actually just waiting for my wife to catch up and situate her purse, etc) there was plenty of room to get around me, the cart etc.
Well this "huffy" thirty-something push past me bumping the cart and showing lots of "attitude". I thought I ought to just lift my tee shirt and give her a sight to behold. My incision is not bad but still would have grossed her and my boobs looked better too, the little bitch. I understand your concern for being hit by the carts, of course sick or not I am a very big guy and the cart hits me about belt high so not to worry bout that one. I am really a pussycat but my massive size makes me pretty imposing and intimidating to most strangers.

One of my pet peeves is the fat slobs that are just too lazy to take care of themselves and "need" the cute little motoized carts at the stores so they can push their way into everything and block the aisles that others might want to visit. People who really need those carts have my blessing and sympathy, but a lot of the ones I see are pretty much the ones who push me away from the trough at the buffets, know what I mean??

No, waiting with baited breath to find out how my INR is going, should know today. Already don't think I will like the RN that is going to be regulating it, she is officious and put me in my place first call. They have thousands of people to administer and I don't get them calling to check results, I get them in goot time or don't change my dose. Well excuse me and thank God for VR.com folks or I would not even know how important it is. Hope for some info before close of business today or have to wait for the weekend. It was 2.3 on Tuesday when I got out of the hospital.

Thanks for asking,

Sorry to hear about depression, I only have a passing aquaintance with it and know it is hard to overcome sometimes. Now just plain old emotion, I have been a trip, the day before I left the hospital I met my Cardio's PA and sweet lady that she was I just started to sob then an hour or so later the cardio came in and I really wanted to talk to him. His matter of fact, no nonsense confidencee on our first meeting make pretty sure beyond a reasonable doubt that this surgery was necessary AND life saving. I did want to talk, but no word would come, he left saying "Yoy WILL be OK"

I just feel so lucky and blessed, words can not describe.

See ya later early bird,
B.
 
Ain't it odd that we sutheners get up so early! Don't want to miss that worm, do we? I love the early morning rising. Like you, Bill, I believe we all have a new outlook on life after our surgeries. We just don't know beforehand how important and lifegiving it is. And now we just don't want to miss one moment of it so we start early.
 
hi bill!
so glad to see you are up and around and you sound wonderful!!!
please try and take it a little easy and get some rest. besides walking and the spirometer, rest is also really important in recovering.
wishing you a continued smooth recovery. great to have you back.
all the best, sylvia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top