Open Heart Surgery

[Porky82]

Welp, here's the poop, troop...

At 56 years old I'm heading for open heart surgery in about 8 weeks. They said I need a mechanical aortic valve. In 2 weeks I will have a heart cath. Definitely not looking forward to having my sternum cracked open.

Any IC members undergo open heart surgery? Tell me about your experience..

This is my best mates 6 year old daughter. She was born with a defective pulmonary value. This is a photo of her after her 4 open heart surgery since birth.
She's just had a pace maker implanted and will have to have the pace maker replaced every 10 years for the rest of her life.
All the best with your surgery and hopefully you have many healthy years ahead of you mate.

 

[HarleyJammer]

Unfortunately, a lot of sick people don't have a support system, they _are_ the support system of those who love them. You just got to take it one day at a time and deal with what's in front of you.

IC, you guys are my support system. Appreciate your positive vibes.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

This is my best mates 6 year old daughter. She was born with a defective pulmonary value. This is a photo of her after her 4 open heart surgery since birth.
She's just had a pace maker implanted and will have to have the pace maker replaced every 10 years for the rest of her life.
All the best with your surgery and hopefully you have many healthy years ahead of you mate. View attachment 18973376

I know more about those various tubes, monitors, and catheters than I care to remember. Even though I haven't practiced in many decades, it looks like not a whole lot has changed since then. I used to spend 10 hours a day, 4 days a week, treating patients who looked exactly like this.

From 400g neonates to massively obese octogenarians knocking on heaven's door. If they couldn't breathe, I'd slam a tube in their trachea, secure the shit out of it by attaching it to their face with Zonas tape, and put 'em on a vent. Scenes like that photo is what I had to see, every fucking day. In addition to the family fainting and crying, the first time they saw their kid hooked up to a machine. It eventually caused a good case of PTSD.

So I flamed out and changed careers.

 

[BrassNwood]

The lord works in mysterious ways or the universe has a twisted sense of humor I can't decide which. It turns out that hospital B blowing the appointment will actually work out in our favor after all. Meeting with the A team cardio surgeon went sideways as my past years of smoking cigs plus age makes the whole body cut he'd need to make to replace my entire Aorta a very high risk and the last resort. The cut would start on my back circle under my arm and run down to my groin. Holy mother... This was not totally unexpected news and I knew from stats that open surgery was not going to be the first choice considering age alone.

Now we meet with who my surgeon considers the best at very complex endovascular jobs who is at Hospital C. Woohoo they are in the VA network so nothing to do. If we had actually done the missed appointment, it would have locked us into B and it would have taken a big deal to change it to C.

The bad news is the whole aorta is trashed. Root, ascending, descending, abdominal..... Top to bottom we need a whole new main service from street to house. Referrals have been sent so his office should call early next week. Root to Boot it's called.

 

[flylowgethigh]

I was already planning on opting for my cousin Sunshine's space cookies instead of smoking. They make 'em potent and delicious. One cookie and you will not be able (or want) to even drive!

They say it will be a 3-6 month recovery. Without this surgery they said I'll last less than 2 years.. so, I'm gonna cowboy up because the alternative seems less appealing

A neighbor had a shredded aorta, and to fix it 5hey took his heart out, worked on it on the bench, put it back in with a new section of aorta. It has been 2-3 weeks and he is ok. You will be also hopefully. Good luck.

 

[Hombre del mont]

The lord works in mysterious ways or the universe has a twisted sense of humor I can't decide which. It turns out that hospital B blowing the appointment will actually work out in our favor after all. Meeting with the A team cardio surgeon went sideways as my past years of smoking cigs plus age makes the whole body cut he'd need to make to replace my entire Aorta a very high risk and the last resort. The cut would start on my back circle under my arm and run down to my groin. Holy mother... This was not totally unexpected news and I knew from stats that open surgery was not going to be the first choice considering age alone.

Now we meet with who my surgeon considers the best at very complex endovascular jobs who is at Hospital C. Woohoo they are in the VA network so nothing to do. If we had actually done the missed appointment, it would have locked us into B and it would have taken a big deal to change it to C.

The bad news is the whole aorta is trashed. Root, ascending, descending, abdominal..... Top to bottom we need a whole new main service from street to house. Referrals have been sent so his office should call early next week. Root to Boot it's called.

Man, that's some serious shit you're going through.
Sending positive thoughts your way brother.

 

[BrassNwood]

A neighbor had a shredded aorta, and to fix it 5hey took his heart out, worked on it on the bench, put it back in with a new section of aorta. It has been 2-3 weeks and he is ok. You will be also hopefully. Good luck.

Man, that's some serious shit you're going through.
Sending positive thoughts your way brother.

Thanks guys it's a full stop moment in life where you get / have to do some serious reassessment on priorities.

 

[buzzmobile]

Thank you, @CharlesU Farley , for all of your counsel in this thread. The irony of your former job is very few if any of your patients knew what you did for them.

You earned every bit of wisdom that you are sharing. My wife is a retired ICU/PCU nurse.

Facing surgery while waiting for information is the slowest that time will ever pass.
@HarleyJammer and @BrassNwood , your cyber support team is here.

 

[BrassNwood]

Thank you, @CharlesU Farley , for all of your counsel in this thread. The irony of your former job is very few if any of your patients knew what you did for them.

You earned every bit of wisdom that you are sharing. My wife is a retired ICU/PCU nurse.

Facing surgery while waiting for information is the slowest that time will ever pass.
@HarleyJammer and @BrassNwood , your cyber support team is here.

Thanks folks. It really does mean a great deal to have another ear to bounce off of.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

IC, you guys are my support system. Appreciate your positive vibes.

Missing ya in the Music thread, hope all is well!

 

[HarleyJammer]

Missing ya in the Music thread, hope all is well!

Chuck, after I got over the sedation hangover I went down with a nasty sinus/upper respiratory thing.. slept for 3 days/4 nights. Finally getting over it and now Pops is sick.. The fun never stops.

 

[BrassNwood]

Chuck, after I got over the sedation hangover I went down with a nasty sinus/upper respiratory thing.. slept for 3 days/4 nights. Finally getting over it and now Pops is sick.. The fun never stops.

Sorry to hear about that. Sleep is an elusive thing the older I get. 4 hours is a good night. 3 days? holy sheet.

Endovascular surgeon's office called and setup for April 5th consult.

 

[bigsur51]

Chuck, after I got over the sedation hangover I went down with a nasty sinus/upper respiratory thing.. slept for 3 days/4 nights. Finally getting over it and now Pops is sick.. The fun never stops.

here is to a better day Amigo..

 

[HarleyJammer]

Sorry to hear about that. Sleep is an elusive thing the older I get. 4 hours is a good night. 3 days? holy sheet.

Endovascular surgeon's office called and setup for April 5th consult.

I was awake a bunch of times but not more than an hour at a time.. When I get a good infection and fever cooking I go down like a sack of steaming shyt. .. I'll save the gruesome details of the other parts of this bug.. It was a nasty one.

The past 2 nights the RLS was off the hook.. Nothing would make it stop.. Last night I passed out banging my feet on the mattress... Woke up, I was still banging my feet on the mattress ..

Either this bug or the sedation set the RLS to 11 .. When it gets this bad you question if life is really worth living.. no joke.. Its torturous and tormenting.

 

[BrassNwood]

JEFF LYNNE’S ELO ANNOUNCES 2024 NORTH AMERICAN FALL TOUR – Jeff Lynne’s ELO

One last Hurrah. Damn the first date is the day after my birthday and with the axe hanging over me Aug sounds like a better shot then Oct. Hell I'll do both if it works out.

Saw them the first time in 1973 in a basketball gym at a collage in Yakama Washinton for 2 bucks. Last was 2016 at the Hollywood Bowl and 2018 at the Pond in Anaheim.

Tickets go on sale the tomorrow and the 22nd for general.

 

[HarleyJammer]

.. but always trying to find that glass half-full .. I haven't had a cig since Friday morning.

Best time to quit is when you already feel like shyt.

I beat the physical addiction.. Now its a small task to rewire my timing habits of stepping outside to smoke

 

[BrassNwood]

.. but always trying to find that glass half-full .. I haven't had a cig since Friday morning.

Best time to quit is when you already feel like shyt.

I beat the physical addiction.. Now its a small task to rewire my timing habits of stepping outside to smoke

I kicked them damned things after my colon exploded in 2011. Mother of God it was a full year before I stopped seeing a butt in the gutter and thinking "That has a drag or 2 left on it" "I'll pick it up and just hold it a while."

 

[flylowgethigh]

I was awake a bunch of times but not more than an hour at a time.. When I get a good infection and fever cooking I go down like a sack of steaming shyt. .. I'll save the gruesome details of the other parts of this bug.. It was a nasty one.

The past 2 nights the RLS was off the hook.. Nothing would make it stop.. Last night I passed out banging my feet on the mattress... Woke up, I was still banging my feet on the mattress ..

Either this bug or the sedation set the RLS to 11 .. When it gets this bad you question if life is really worth living.. no joke.. Its torturous and tormenting.

Life is always worth living. The alternative is worse, and the pain you leave behind is way worse than what you are going through.

 

[CharlesU Farley]

.. but always trying to find that glass half-full .. I haven't had a cig since Friday morning.

Best time to quit is when you already feel like shyt.

I beat the physical addiction.. Now its a small task to rewire my timing habits of stepping outside to smoke

 

[CharlesU Farley]

I kicked them damned things after my colon exploded in 2011. Mother of God it was a full year before I stopped seeing a butt in the gutter and thinking "That has a drag or 2 left on it" "I'll pick it up and just hold it a while."

Quit smoking? It's easy, I've done it a hundred times!

Know exactly what you're talking about, first thing in the morning there was nothing better than a cigarette and a cup of coffee. Pack to a pack and a half a day smoker times 15 years. The weird thing was, in the '70s a large number of respiratory therapists actually smoked cigarettes, like almost everybody else did.

I turned 30 years old in 1985, never thought I'd make it that far because all of my experience with trauma patients in Miami in the '70s. So I figured I _might_ make it to 60 and I'd be _exactly_ like the patients I was treating on a daily basis. I wanted to be around my kids and grandkids without being a wheezing, invalid old man, so I put them down in 1985. I would dream about those fucking things, for a very long time. Like you, I was definitely a butt in the gutter kind of guy.

Quit January 2nd, 1985 and have not put one of my mouth since.