Hello Folks,
I got back home on Monday afternoon. I
had one of the shorter visits for an aortic valve replacement
(tissue).
It went like this.
Mayo St Mary's Hospital JAX. Pre-op visit on
Wednesday afternoon.
Motel Wednesday night.
Admitted to hospital mid-morning Thursday.
Surgery late afternoon Thursday (four
hours)
Into the recovery room at 7 PM but no rooms were
available (regular or ICU) so I stayed in recovery room until Sunday
morning.
I was up walking Saturday. Doing
breathing exercises. Sunday at Improving very well.
Monday morning the doctor came in and said "would
you like to go home?". I said sure!
I got ahead of other things that were on track to
take me home-- but we got it all worked out.
I was involved in a clinical trial of a new
treatment. It involved placing a diverter past the aorta cannula and
downstream from the clamp to make sure none of the debris/clots were able to get
into the brain after releasing the clamps. It also regulated the blood
temperature into the brain (cold) and warm into the body. Apparently one
of the largest risks of the surgery is a stroke after hooking everything back
up. (You're switched over to a heart lung machine and the heart is stopped-- and
a machine takes over heart lung functions.) I needed nor used ANY blood
products!!
I had a comprehensive neurology test before and
after. And I'll have another at the four-week mark. To see if I had any stroke
or decreased mental functions.
I go back to the doctor in 3-4 weeks. He
expects 6-8 weeks to be fully recovered.
It is going well and I'm able to function fairly
well but still hurting might have been run over by dump truck on my
chest.
Considering the wimp that I am, I count it a
miracle that God is chosen to answer these prayers and provide help that I
needed and just the right moment, from just the right people. Many many
thanks to Doug Johnson who got me into see the right Dr.-- many thanks to Dr.
Pajaro who treated me like his dad, and to nurse Lorain who gave me the best in
care and instructions how to cope with this trauma.
This is the first I've been able to prognosticate
about the future-- but I believe that if the new aorta is pumping good and my
angina is gone, and if the stamina, so I can ski this winter into the normal
things people do without pain, I should be able to get my physical back,
passing a stress test in the spring.
Thanks for your prayers!!
Charlie Kohler