Mama2Rylan
Well-known member
I had the worst experience a couple months ago, and thought it was time to share it with you folks here at VR. I don't know if you remember, but I had my open heart surgery just over a year ago (Aug, 2005) while I was having my surgery, I developed pnemonia (sp?). So of course I had a very rough time getting over that and dealing with recovery but everthing went along and I got through it fine. Here's where the fun stuff begins...
So a couple months ago I went into the clinic because my throat was bothering me, I thought I might be getting strep and wanted to get it cleared up right away. I decided instead of waiting for my regular doctor I would just visit the walk in. So the doctor there looked at my throat and told me that everything was fine, and not to worry about it. Blah Blah Blah. Then he decided to listen to my heart and lungs, just the normal routine. Well, he was listening to my lungs for a very long time and told me that he wanted to get a second opinion. So he brought in another doc, and he took a listen too. Well, they decided that my breath sounds in the left lung didn?t sound very strong so they wanted to do a chest X-ray. So they took a few x rays and told me that they would wait to get some other xrays from Mayo Clinic to compare. (I live in La Crosse, but had my surgery at Mayo Clinic?that?s a whole other story).
Well, about a week later the doctor called me and told me he wanted me to come in and have an MRI done. They said they found something in my lung, they weren?t sure what it was. They thought it could still be pnemonia or scar tissue, they just weren?t sure but wanted to check it out. So I went in for the MRI and after it was completed they told me that they thought I had a hernia! I couldn?t believe it, I didn?t even know what a hernia was but I knew it wasn?t something that I was suppose to have. So there I was all by myself in the room, talking to the techs about my so called ?hernia?. They were talking about how I would probably have surgery and would need to get it looked at very soon because it was pretty big. They also told me that since they had done the MRI in the chest area, they wanted to do ANOTHER one in my abdomen area.
So the next week I came back, with my mom, and had the second MRI done. After that one, they said it was a hernia and kept talking about how I would need surgery, and that I should set up an appointment with a surgeon, and it would be a tricky surgery because of my heart condition and that I was on coumidin. So of course at this point I was hysterical, since in my head I had just gotten through heart surgery I didn?t need this too. Well, they decided to take a couple more pictures because the hernia they were looking at didn?t appear to be a bowel hernia but more vascular. So they kept looking at it, and talking amongst themselves. Again, came back and told me that it was a hernia, vascular and it would be even MORE tricky to have surgery on. While I was getting dressed, my mom went in the back room to take a look at the pictures and was listening to them talk about my ?hernia?. They all were really amazed at how big it was and where it was located. Then the guy started talking about how weird it was that this hernia was going through my new mechanical aortic valve I had just got put in, so then my mom told him about my conduit (For those of you that don?t know, instead of my aortic valve being replaced they decided to sew in a conduit from the bottom of my heart connecting to my aorta, that way it sort of bypasses my bicuspid aortic valve and my coartation) which has it?s own mechanical valve. So then they all figured out that there was NO HERNIA, they were simply looking at my conduit!!!
I couldn?t believe it, after all my worrys and tears?.it was NOTHING! I mean they were almost to the point of scheduling my surgery, and they would have found the piece I had just got put in there, that was suppose to be there helping my heart!!
It just goes to show you that heart problems can be very complicated, even for people that are suppose to know what they are looking for. They were all very nice about it and apologized for everything, they even told me that I would be going into their teaching manuals for new students. But what an ordeal that was. I?m just glad they didn?t cut me open and THEN find out what it was. Boy, would I have made a lot of money off of THAT!
So a couple months ago I went into the clinic because my throat was bothering me, I thought I might be getting strep and wanted to get it cleared up right away. I decided instead of waiting for my regular doctor I would just visit the walk in. So the doctor there looked at my throat and told me that everything was fine, and not to worry about it. Blah Blah Blah. Then he decided to listen to my heart and lungs, just the normal routine. Well, he was listening to my lungs for a very long time and told me that he wanted to get a second opinion. So he brought in another doc, and he took a listen too. Well, they decided that my breath sounds in the left lung didn?t sound very strong so they wanted to do a chest X-ray. So they took a few x rays and told me that they would wait to get some other xrays from Mayo Clinic to compare. (I live in La Crosse, but had my surgery at Mayo Clinic?that?s a whole other story).
Well, about a week later the doctor called me and told me he wanted me to come in and have an MRI done. They said they found something in my lung, they weren?t sure what it was. They thought it could still be pnemonia or scar tissue, they just weren?t sure but wanted to check it out. So I went in for the MRI and after it was completed they told me that they thought I had a hernia! I couldn?t believe it, I didn?t even know what a hernia was but I knew it wasn?t something that I was suppose to have. So there I was all by myself in the room, talking to the techs about my so called ?hernia?. They were talking about how I would probably have surgery and would need to get it looked at very soon because it was pretty big. They also told me that since they had done the MRI in the chest area, they wanted to do ANOTHER one in my abdomen area.
So the next week I came back, with my mom, and had the second MRI done. After that one, they said it was a hernia and kept talking about how I would need surgery, and that I should set up an appointment with a surgeon, and it would be a tricky surgery because of my heart condition and that I was on coumidin. So of course at this point I was hysterical, since in my head I had just gotten through heart surgery I didn?t need this too. Well, they decided to take a couple more pictures because the hernia they were looking at didn?t appear to be a bowel hernia but more vascular. So they kept looking at it, and talking amongst themselves. Again, came back and told me that it was a hernia, vascular and it would be even MORE tricky to have surgery on. While I was getting dressed, my mom went in the back room to take a look at the pictures and was listening to them talk about my ?hernia?. They all were really amazed at how big it was and where it was located. Then the guy started talking about how weird it was that this hernia was going through my new mechanical aortic valve I had just got put in, so then my mom told him about my conduit (For those of you that don?t know, instead of my aortic valve being replaced they decided to sew in a conduit from the bottom of my heart connecting to my aorta, that way it sort of bypasses my bicuspid aortic valve and my coartation) which has it?s own mechanical valve. So then they all figured out that there was NO HERNIA, they were simply looking at my conduit!!!
I couldn?t believe it, after all my worrys and tears?.it was NOTHING! I mean they were almost to the point of scheduling my surgery, and they would have found the piece I had just got put in there, that was suppose to be there helping my heart!! It just goes to show you that heart problems can be very complicated, even for people that are suppose to know what they are looking for. They were all very nice about it and apologized for everything, they even told me that I would be going into their teaching manuals for new students. But what an ordeal that was. I?m just glad they didn?t cut me open and THEN find out what it was. Boy, would I have made a lot of money off of THAT!
