Vik-Thor's Journal

Well, there's no real change in status. Still healing as expected. My exercise walks are up to 20-30 minutes. (No, I don't play PokémonGo, yet. I'm thinking about it. I do play Ingress, PG's predecessor on them. I have 5 portals I can get to on my walks.)

A chunk of the surgical glue has come off, so most of the sternal incision is now visible. My first followup visit with doctor was yesterday, with my primary care physician. She took one of my prescriptions down to half. (I have a total of 7 daily prescriptions right now, and a couple of pain scripts as needed.) I actually haven't been needing the pain pills much this past week.

I've been working on reorganizing my comics, breaking the long boxes down into short boxes. Seth has to get the boxes set up for me, as they are well over the 10 pound limit.

Well, last Tuesday (21 June) I went into the hospital to have my bicuspid Aortic valve replaced with a tissue tricuspid valve. I don't remember much of the day (which is a good thing!) The surgery went perfectly by the book., I think I was told it took about 2 hours out of an expected 2-4 hour time frame. The surgeon did not replace any of the aorta itself, just the valve. That was the one thing he was unsure of until the actual surgery.

Chest tubes HURT!!!!

Once the chest/drainage tubes were removed, I was in much less pain, and could move around easier.
I was downgraded from ICU to (I don't remember the actual term) CCU during the day Saturday, but they left me in the ICU room, because there wasn't a room available in the CCU. Then they transferred me at 5AM Sunday morning. after finally getting asleep about 3:30AM. (I did not sleep well during the entire time I was in the hospital.)

Walking in the ICU was more regulated, I had to be accompanied by a nurse at all times, which is understandable. Once I woke up Sunday, I did a round with the physical therapist, using the walker that had been transferred with me from ICU, and was told no longer needed to have a nurse with me, could walk around the floor whenever I wanted. That felt so freeing! I still couldn't leave the unit, so I was walking around a lot, going back in to room to watch some TV, then walking some more. at some point in the early morning, after being cleared to walk by myself, with a walker, the floor cleaning crew came through. The first time I went out after that, the walker was no loud. it was no longer sliding smoothly. And the nurses said I was steady enough, don't even bother with the walker any more, just take is easy.. Endless to say, I went walking quite a bit. And was smiling a lot, because of the freedom, (one of the nurses even took to calling me Smiley, because I was smiling most of the time as I "made my rounds". And in fact did let the nurses know a couple times when someone was verbally calling for a nurse rather than using the call buttons, so I was useful. :)

There was a death in the unit sometime late Sunday. It was the first time my nurse had ever lost anyone under his care. There was one gentleman at the opposite end of the floor from me, who was in for basically comfort care, to keep his passing as tpainfree as possible. He also died at some time while I was in this unit. Another gentleman was in for cancer, and I talked with his wife on one of my rounds (she didn't want to stay in the room when they were doing something to him.) She wondered why I was still in the hospital, since I seemed to be doing so good. (Basically, they don't release heart surgery patients on the weekend.) every other day I was in there, my surgeon or someone from his practice had come around to my room by 9AM at the latest. Monday, they didn't get there until 12:30.

Paperwork for checkout started @~1:30PM Monday. We finally rolled out of the hospital door about 5:30 PM.

and time to take the last of my scheduled medicines an head to bed. as it is getting hard to keep my eyes open.

I had a panic/anxiety attack this past Sunday (08 May 2016). First one I've ever had, and it was enough that ended up going to the ER via ambulance. (NOT looking forward to that bill… though I beleive most, if not all, will be covered by insurance.) They gave me a prescription for generic Xanax, to take as needed. Haven't used any of it yet, but if I had them with me here at work, I think I would be taking one now. Instead, you get a post. :)

Saw heart surgeon Wednesday, 11 May. Seems a good enough guy. Our dentist has had friends (or relatives) operated on by him. (Found out from javarod after he had some cleaning done on Monday.) They quite like him, which is a plus, someone not directly affiliated with the hospital giving him a good review.

Will be seeing another surgeon on the 31st. Or at least that is currently the plan. I am sorta thinking just going with the one we saw Wednseday. Going with him would mean the surgery happens at SSM DePaul, which is where everything has been done so far. The other surgeon would be at a different hospital, east of us. (DePaul is southwest of us, but between Seph's work and home.)

At this time, the only real voice for major delay is our chiropractor. He says that people live full lives with leaky bicuspid aortic valves. Or at least should wait until I'm having major symptoms. But according to cardiologist & surgeon, by the time I'm having major symptoms, my heart muscle will have irrevocably enlarged.

The second surgeon was originally scheduled on the 18th, but got changed to the 31st. I have an EchoCardioGram on the 20th, at the request of the surgeon.

Well, yesterday was pretty much good news, healthwise. Went in for a Heart Catheterization, to get some details regarding my Aortic Regurgitation, and see the status of my heart in advance of surgery.

Bicuspid (Most people have a TriCuspid) Aortic Valve has (recently?) started leaking. (Question on the recently, because I have never had any indication about it previously in my life, but also never had anything specifically looking at the heart in that detail. However, there has been no changes in the heart as a result of it.)
Yesterday confirmed that there is nothing else wrong with my heart, no blockages/narrowing. So while I should get the valve replaced sooner rather than later, it is not urgent enough that I have to get it right away.

This is good, as I will be able to fully fund my HSA next year, to cover most of the Out of Pocket costs. (This was >$600.00. Their 25% discount took it down enough that it was worth it to stick it on a credit card.

Time to RESEARCH!!!

Well, last night was … interesting.

Gaming night was a bit off, mostly shopping, which my character didn't do much (any) of. So we broke up early.
Home and in bed ~ 11:30 PM.
Woke up @ ~ 12:30 for bathroom and hiccups, so down to kitchen for some cold almond milk. (my hiccups usually are accompanied by heartburn, and the milk normally stops both. Did last night.)
Back up to bed, and can't seem to catch breath fully, and my heart beat feels weird. Sorta like it's skipping a beat occasionally, is the best way I can describe it. Tried relaxing, but after about 30 minutes of still breathing almost like I'd been running and the odd heartbeats, got dressed and had Seph take me to ER. Not much waiting in the first part, but once I got seen… of course, my heartbeat had regularized by that time (if it actually was beating oddly). So, released @ 5AM with recommendation to see regular doctor and a cardiologist.

How was your night, Internet?