Surgery in a week! (Mechanical Bentall)

[V__]

a blood draw a few times after being released from the hospital. This was the policy for UCLA- that upon release they scheduled for in home lab draws, so that my INR could be checked after 2 days out of hospital and then again a few days later.

For Kaiser, I got a schedule to test blood one time, a week after discharge (*). Was supposed to be done by in-home nurse visits, and there were about 4 of them (maybe about 6 were authorized). The nurses were quite good. One of them took off the stitches, they were checking on the progress, etc. But the provider was outsourced (I live outside their usual coverage area). And the initial visit scheduling was not going well. The scheduler didn't seem to care about the "1 week after" timeline. So my wife just drove me to the regular lab clinic instead.

(*) There was also a visit with PCP scheduled a month later, and another draw was done at that time. And cardiologist's appointment as well - they were really covering all the bases.

Hospitals generally have a person assigned to coordinating these things

Yes. Got the hospital contact information upon the discharge (as well as a handout, with a table of blood pressure measurements, temperature, walking times to fill in daily). It was quite useful - there was somebody on call 24/7 when I had questions.

 

[Deidra]

I do have fresh towels and shirts/robes and slip-ons ready to go!

I have Blue Cross Blue Shield as my insurance. I guess I'll see what their policy is about this stuff, but I'll definitely make sure to clarify the post-discharge plan while I'm in the hospital, thank you for the advice everyone <3

In other news, my surgery might be getting moved to Monday the 6th. Fine by me if it is, there's probably a lot of people in a more critical state than me. I can wait another 3 days

 

[V__]

In other news, my surgery might be getting moved to Monday the 6th. Fine by me if it is, there's probably a lot of people in a more critical state than me. I can wait another 3 days

Well, Monday is actually slightly better than Friday, as far as the surgical complications go. (Yes, there was a study on that too! )

 

[pellicle]

Monday is actually slightly better than Friday, as far as the surgical complications go

I've known that about "assembly line" stuff but surgery too ... wow

humans are humans no matter what they do for a job

This was a concerning series
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Death_(2021_TV_series)

 

[V__]

I've known that about "assembly line" stuff but surgery too ... wow

I have to correct myself. Saw the study "somewhere", and the explanation (people being more tired on Friday) looked reasonable.

But it's better to have a real reference (instead of my memory). From looking at Pubmed, apparently this topic has been researched a lot, with varying conclusions. For example, THIS large-statistics paper doesn't find the "Friday effect", contrary to the previous studies it mentions.

humans are humans no matter what they do for a job

Certainly. I find the "error rate" to be a useful concept

 

[LondonAndy]

Not sure about Fridays, but weekend excess deaths is definitely a thing here. Though for reasons you might not have thought! Patients admitted at the weekend are sicker and more likely to be near the end of life than those who come in during the week, according to this 5 year study.

 

[atlantadoug]

Hey everyone! Hope you're all doing well.

My surgery is scheduled a week from today (May 3rd) I'm a bit anxious of course, but overall I'm feeling good about it. I'm looking forward to being on the other side and starting my recovery. My pre-op medical appointment went well—according to them "Patient is below average risk for this procedure," which is always nice to hear.

I feel like I've gotten a good sense of the common "tips and tricks," but if anyone has any more they want to share I'm all ears!

I know my cardiologist is supportive of INR self-testing and I have an appointment with her 3 weeks after my surgery which seems like a good time to go over that kind of thing.

Diedra, all the best to you! You got his so just let them do their miracle work. ;-)

 

[Croooser]

Best wishes for a successful surgery and a rapid and complete recovery. The odds are overwhelming in your favor. I commend you for your attitude going in. That will only help you.

 

[Deidra]

Just a little update: I was scheduled to arrive at 6am for my surgery but when I did they said an emergency had just came in that needed life saving cardiac surgery! So I'm to report back in 5 hours. No worries from me, I live 10 minutes away and I can sleep some more lol

Update update: The surgeon himself called me and said the case today is so critical and complex they wont be able to fit me in today. He apologized and everything, but I really don't mind. So mine should be happening on Wednesday now.

 

[V__]

Just a little update: I was scheduled to arrive at 6am for my surgery but when I did they said an emergency had just came in that needed life saving cardiac surgery!

That's the issue with "elective" surgeries. The emergencies take precedence, so they cannot guarantee your date. It's very nice that you were rescheduled so soon!

 

[Deidra]

That's the issue with "elective" surgeries. The emergencies take precedence, so they cannot guarantee your date. It's very nice that you were rescheduled so soon!

Yeah for sure. Totally fine by me though, I'm more than happy to wait so other people can have their lives potentially saved. I'm probably near the bottom of the list in terms of how risky it is to delay my surgery lol

 

[pellicle]

Totally fine by me though, I'm more than happy to wait so other people can have their lives potentially saved.

great outlook. Hang in there...

Best Wishes

 

[NorthVanJosh]

Sorry it got delayed! Hang in there! hopefully you can enjoy the extra few days before coming out on the other side