Long Time Coming

Well it's been almost 2 weeks since the last post, so I figured it was time for an update. I'm still doing well. I'm still having to have my blood checked 2 or 3 times a week, but it should start dropping off even more the next week or two (hopefully). I'm off my potassium (biggest pill I've ever seen in my life) and fluid pills so now all I'm taking is the beta blocker and my blood thinner. The beta blocker I'll probably be on for about 6 months, but it's have of a 50mg pill twice a day, so it's no big deal.

We had a small scare 2 Sunday nights ago. My heart started doing something called a PVC where it contracts early. It's kind of like having 2 beats in the time it would normally only beat once. We went to the ER and they told me I was okay and that I should just go see my doctor the next day. So the next day we went to Dr. Kerr and he called Dr. Pacifico and Dr. Pacifico said that it wasn't unusal for this to happen and that it should last no more than 6 or 8 weeks. So nothing to be worried about, unless you're the one with the heart doing the crazy click pattern that you can hear.

I got a card in the mail the other day from St. Jude. It's to carry around with me so that EMTs will know what they're dealing with should anything ever happen to me. Evidently they keep a "confidential" database of everyone in the country that's recieved one of their valves. Hopefully this "confidential" database never makes it onto a laptop that gets stolen or gets posted to the web accidently.

Probably the biggest news of the week; I'm going to go back to work tomorrow. I'll be 5 weeks post-op. I'm ready to go back. There's a lot to do and I'm ready to get going on it all. I'm only going to go half-days to start with. If that goes well for a week or two then I'll start back full time. I don't think DeAnne's ready for me to go back yet, but once I'm at work, she'll just start spending time doing stuff up at the school.

Let's see...anything else I've left out?...

I think that's about it for now. I can't think of anything else that's happened the last couple of weeks. We've just been relaxing. We usually get out once a day and go to the post office or Wal-Mart or the grocery store or something just to get out of the house for a little while. I'll try and post this weekend and let you all know how my first day back at work went. I imagine I'm going to be talking about the surgery a lot and just trying to catch up on all the news. Take care till next time.

--Paul

This is a picture of Dr. Mayer taking the staples out. I don't know what DeAnne was saying but evidently, it was funny.

Staples, No More!

Everything went really well yesterday in Mobile. They were running really far behind though, so it took forever for anything to happen. We got there around 11:30. The appointment was for 11:45. Around 1:00 they took us back and got my weight and blood pressure (both good). Then they put us in an exam room. There happened to be a rocking chair in the room they put us in (he's pediatric remember), so DeAnne took that and I got on the table. Eventually I laid down and we were both asleep before long.

Eventually the tech that does the echoes came and got us and we did an echo. It was pretty wild. Even I could tell an immediate difference in the way it looked and sounded compared to what it was prior to the surgery. DeAnne even noticed the difference and she only saw one echo before the surgery.

So after the echo, we were put back in the exam room and we didn't have to wait long after that for Dr. Mayer. He came in and checked my pulse and listened to me and said the echo looked great. I don't have any fluid around my heart and the new valve is neither leaking or blocking anything. He then had me lay back down on the table and he started pulling the staples. It really wasn't that bad. There were a few that stung and usually those were the ones that bled a little, but overall it didn't really hurt.

It feels a lot better to have them out. I'm not so scared to wear a pull-over shirt anymore and overall I just feel more comfortable now that they're gone. The scar is a little red and irritated from the staples, but it looks pretty good. Most of the scabbing that was left came off in the shower last night and this morning I've noticed on small spot where it's oozed some during the night, but it's stopped and I don't think it's large enough to be concerned about it. It's amazing to me that after only 3 weeks a place where they cut me open and pulled my chest apart has now closed back up. It just seems like something that traumatic to your body would take longer to heal up.

We took some pictures of the staples being pulled and a couple of after shots to go along with the post-op pictures from the hospital. I'll see if I can get them up sometime during the next couple of days. I'm also going to try and finish the recap of our time in the hospital sometime soon. Dr. Mayer gave me two more weeks before I can start going back to work, so I've got plenty of time on my hands still. I was hoping I could go back after next week, but he shot that down pretty quickly.

One last note: We're getting closer to getting my blood-thinner regulated. It's been right where it needs to be for the last 2 days. They gave me instructions for the weekend and they're letting me skip on getting my blood drawn on Monday, so I'll actually get a 3 day break from the vampire starting today. I'll be glad when we get everything straight. Now that the staples are out, getting the blood-thinner right is really the last major thing to do. I'm just glad to catch a break from the lab work. My arms don't look near as bad as I thought they would, but I'm still tired of having needles shoved in them.

All for now.

--Paul

Staples

Today marks 3 weeks since the surgery. We're going to Mobile today to see Dr. Mayer and to get my staples out. I'm really excited. They've been really bothering me all week and I'm ready for them to be gone. A couple of them have started to work their way out and they're just driving me crazy over all. They itch pretty much all the time and they sting when Dee cleans the incision, so I'm hoping that all that improves once they're out of me. I'm also interested in seeing what the incision looks like without them. I think it's going to look pretty good from what we can see at the moment.

Also, yesterday was the last day for home health to come and get my blood. Now we're going to have to get up and go to Dr. Kerr's office to have it done. I would have loved for home health to have kept coming, but insurance wouldn't reapprove them now that I can drive and we can't afford to pay to have them come so off to town we go each morning now.

Speaking of that, it's time to go and get the lab done. We'll take some pictures post-staples and let you all see the grossness :)

--Paul

Picture Mania!

As you can probably see, I've posted several pictures from our time at the hospital and from when we got home. They're in some what of a chronological order, but they posted in reverse, so you may want to scroll to the bottom and work your way back up. One warning: There is a picture of the incision that some may consider to be a bit graphic. View at your own risk.

In other news, we got out yesterday and hit the town pretty hard. We went to Wal-Mart and Winn-Dixie and did all of our shopping for the next couple of weeks. I did good and I had a good time and enjoyed being out of the house. It took us a little longer in Winn-Dixie than I thought it would though and by the time we were finished and we got home, I was pretty tired. It was well worth getting out of the house though.

We go back to Mobile on Friday to get my staples out. I'm pretty excited about that. They're really starting to bother me and I'll be glad to see them go.

Finally, the biggest news, DeAnne has been offered a job teaching 4th grade next year at Andalusia Elementary. We're both really excited. She's already been up to the school to see what room she's getting. They're re-painting the hall she's on though, so she wasn't able to get down to it. She's chomping at the bit to get in there and get set up. I don't know that she even really slept last night. We're both just so thankful for all that God has done for us. Just in the past month, I've been given a promotion, made it through surgery and am having a great recovery and now this. It's just amazing how the Lord has blessed us.

--Paul

After coming home it seemed like the dog and cat knew I didn't feel good. They piled up in the recliner with me on a regular basis.

On Sunday they also had me start walking. They left the IV in my neck until the day we left the hospital. The pack I'm holding on to is the heart monitor.

A little graphic. On Sunday they took the bandage off of the incision. There wasn't as much bruising as we thought there would be and it really didn't look as bad as I thought it would.

This was Saturday evening. They got me up and sitting in a chair for the first time. The incision is still bandaged and the blue strap around my neck is the tote for the heart monitor.

Post-Op. They had just moved me to a room from ICU and I was doing what I did the majority of the time we were in the hospital...Sleeping. You can see the IV in my neck and the heart monitor on my chest. The incision was still bandaged at this point.

This is DeAnne and I just before they took me to surgery

Waking Up

I was asleep before they even got me out of my room. After that, everything was very surreal. I remember waking up and DeAnne being there and I remember having the breathing tube in. With it, I wasn't able to talk. I slept in between visits from DeAnne and everyone else. I didn't think they were ever going to take the tube out. They eventually did though and I was able to talk after that. The rest of the day was much the same. In and out of sleep, mainly waking up when visitation was allowed. They eventually let me have some ice to wet my mouth with and that led to later having an actual sip of water every so often. Like I said, it was very surreal coming in and out of sleep and not really knowing what was going on.

Every so often they would come and take a chest x-ray. They used a mobile x-ray machine and in order to get the image they had to push a board that had the film in it up under my back. This meant that I had to roll towards one side while they pushed the board under me. Not something I looked foward to.

Saturday morning they decided I was ready to go to a room so they pulled the chest tubes and after a little while they took me to the room where we would spend the rest of our visit.

On a side note, today is our 1 year wedding anniversary. We've been talking about it and we both agree that the last year has flown by. It's hard to believe that we've been married a year already. I know that marraige has it's ups and downs, but if the future is as easy and wonderful and blessed as the last year has been for us, then we shouldn't have any problems whatsoever.

--Paul

Mobile

We went to Mobile yesterday to see Dr. Mayer. He was pretty pleased with everything. He didn't do an echo, but he wants us back on the 16th so he can take my staples out. I'm guessing that he'll do an echo after he gets them out.

I was a little worried about making the trip, but everything went well. I was tired by the end of the day so after we left the office, we made a quick pit stop to get some food and then headed for home. I was tired enough that I slept the entire night without getting up. That marks only the second time that's happened since we got home from the hospital.

My blood pressure's starting to get back to normal. It's been running a little high since the surgery, but it's been better the past couple of days. Also, we're starting to get my blood-thinner regulated. We've been pretty close to the target range the past 2 days. I'm guessing that today it's going to be a little high and that we'll bring the dose down a notch. I think then that we'll probably have it and maybe they can quit coming and sticking me every day.

The pain is starting to get better also. I've cut back to taking one pill instead of two at the time and I've been able to go longer than the 6 hours required between taking them. Hopefully in a few more days I won't need them at all.

I'm going to try and get some pictures up either today or tomorrow. We've got some that Dee took while we were in the hospital. See if we can't gross you all out one good time.

All for now.

--Paul

Day One Memories

As everyone knows, we had to be at the hospital the day before the surgery. We got there and after waiting forever to get through admitting, they moved us up to the cardiac floor and put us in a room.

The first thing was the heart monitor they hooked me up to. It was a small pack that transmitted my vitals wirelessly to the nursing station. I got to tote the thing around with me the whole time we were in the hospital. I eventually gave it the nickname "Sparky".

After that, we went and had a chest x-ray done. Either before or after that, Dr. Pacifico, his residents and Nurse Practicioner came in. Dr. Pacifico went over what they were going to do and how he expected things to go.

After talking to the doctor, a couple of guys came in to do an echo. This was easily the coolest thing that happened in the hospital. It was a new echo machine capable of displaying a 3D image. We were actually able to see a 3D representation of my heart and how the blood was flowing through it. Awsome.

Not long after, they took me down to see another cardiologist who did another, traditional, echo and confirmed all that Dr. Mayer had said in his recomendation to have the surgery.

After getting back to the room, they started an IV in my left hand. By this time it was after 6:00 and things started getting quiter. DeAnne and her mom and grandmother made it around 8:30 and after they got there, pretty much everyone left and DeAnne and I just relaxed and watched some TV. Later that night, the nurse let DeAnne shave me. She got a kick out of that. It's kind of strange being shaved from neck to toe (including arms), but they wouldn't have it any other way. It was an electric trimmer though, so it wasn't like getting shaved with a razor. Thankfully, it's not itching as it grows back.

Other than that, they came in and started some antibiotic during the night through the IV. Then at 5:00 Friday morning they came and gave me a pill and a shot and before long I was in la-la land and on the way to surgery.

Up next...Post Op.

--Paul

Doing Good...

Still at home recovering. We've had a good bit of company and we want to thank everyone for coming by and checking in with us. We've really enjoyed all the visits. I'm doing good. The pain is dropping off a little each day and getting more active each day. I've begun walking the dog some and I'm enjoying that. My blood thickness number is getting closer to the target. The target is 3.0 to 3.5 and it was at 4.0 yesterday, so we're getting closer. We go back to Dr. Kerr today for a follow-up and then Wednesday, we'll be going down to Mobile to see Dr. Mayer. All in all, I would have to say that I'm feeling really good. The incision is healing well and everything's looking good. I've still got two more weeks before the staples can come out. I think after I get those out, I'll fell a lot better. If nothing else, at least I won't look like I've got a zipper running up my chest.

We've got a few pictures from the hospital that I want to put up. I'll try and do that this week. I'm also going to try and start recounting what I can remember about the hospital stay. For now though, the home health nurse is here to drain some more blood out of me. Be back later,

--Paul

We're Back!

We got back from the hospital late Tuesday afternoon. Everything went well and I'm doing good. I'm going to go back over everything when I feel more up to it, but for now I just want to say thanks to everyone for all the prayers and a big thanks to everyone who went to Birmingham to see us. It really meant a lot to DeAnne and I to have so many friends and family around us at such a hard time in our lives. I've got a long recovery ahead and plenty of time to write later, so that's going to be all for now.

--Paul