Been a while...

[ntsammy5]

Hey John. I should check here more often, but I knew all this from FB. Good to see you're home. How 'bout them Steelers!~

 

[RvUsa]

Hi yall!!!! Doing ok, just feeling a little crappy this afternoon.... You don't know how much this all means to me! I love all you morans!!!


I cut and pasted this from my open heart forum, in case anyone whats some infor of my last 7 days... LOL

A quick rundown of my week, with some gory details...

Tuesday 1/11:
Woke up about 4, got there about 5am, took me right in.... from there on, my xanax has thankfully erased my recollection... LOL Erica my wife says they took me back about 7.... all a blur to me. Surgeon came out and talked to her around 2.
I went straight to CCU, she saw me around 2:30 (it is the unit that she works in, so may have had an in..... I was intubated, sedated and my chest was left open all night. The doc closed me around 10am Wednesday, took about a half hour. They started to wean me from the vent about 11, extabated at about 1, I don't remember anything besides the PANIC till about 4 pm.... then it was O U C H!!!! LOL I was up and sitting in the chair at about 6 and a few of my family stopped by. I even got to see my 8 yr old Matt for a little while (Erica covered all the nasty stuff up, and said I looked great so she let him do it.) I had lots of nausea from the anesthetic, couldn't work it out of my system.
Thursday, up in chair again... etc etc etc, but dang did my back HURT!!!! They took out my art line, my introducer (a garden hose size pipe in my neck) and finally the chest tubes, yikes, not fun... LOL Around 5 they took me to the step down unit, lots of transferring, hugging my heart pillow etc...
Friday, after a night of N O sleep, I had 3 stroke patients around me who were yellers whiners and screamers, just more standing and sitting etc.... then out with the folley and the pacer wires, again OUCH!!! Took my first tiny walk
Saturday after a better night sleep, thank you mr xanax again, I got up and had first shower... WOOO HOOO and got a couple more IV's taken out, not much else to talk bout except they wanted me to go home, but my wife and son were at the hockey tournament, so said I could wait till sunday.
Sunday, got the last IV out, packed up and headed home. This by the way was the FIRST time I was in the back seat of the wife's car, it sucked lol.
Been chilling out here ever since, lots of walking showering dressing and repeat!

My incision is about 22.5 cm
They did a cutdown in my left groin for the bypass, about 5cm
I still have a huge hole in my neck that is killing me from the intrajugular introducer...

Right now, just some incision pain, and I can hear the clicking, and sometimes it is not regular, but my wife says it's fine...

My back and neck are really sore too, but I can live with it....

 

[mnsprk]

It's really good to be hearing the "Gory details" from you and not somebody else.

Keep heading up the hill...

Thoughts and prayers your way!

 

[BRDof3]

My back and neck are really sore too, but I can live with it....

You'd better, or you're in big trouble.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Dang John, your day/days sucked !! You have no idea how happy we are everything came thru,,dude, your gonna be a new man, LITERALLY !!!

I always think of stuff two days after the fact,,I shoulda called the surgeon and had him put a hidden Mickey when doing your stiches .

Take it slow big guy,

 

[RvUsa]

He did Frank, I have 2 drain holes side by side with the bottom of the scar between them, when Matt first saw it, he said "look, a hidden Mickey!!!" LOL

Thanks for thinking about me everyone!

Rob, I mentioned the ticking of the new valve bothering me a little, and the surgeon told me not to worry about the ticking.... till it stops.

 

[Minnie&Mickey]

Glad to hear that you are doing so well, John!

 

[AuburnJen92]

Yeah John!

 

[homebrew2]

Hi yall!!!! Doing ok, just feeling a little crappy this afternoon.... You don't know how much this all means to me! I love all you morans!!!


I cut and pasted this from my open heart forum, in case anyone whats some infor of my last 7 days... LOL

A quick rundown of my week, with some gory details...

My incision is about 22.5 cm
They did a cutdown in my left groin for the bypass, about 5cm
I still have a huge hole in my neck that is killing me from the intrajugular introducer...

Right now, just some incision pain, and I can hear the clicking, and sometimes it is not regular, but my wife says it's fine...

My back and neck are really sore too, but I can live with it....

Hey John ......how big is that in real numbers. I can't speak metric

 

[2goofycampers]

Hey John ......how big is that in real numbers. I can't speak metric

8.86 inches

 

[ntsammy5]

8.86 inches

Give or take a cm!

Gee John, that stuff sounds pretty serious. I hurt now just from reading it!!!!!

 

[Just Beachy]

I am SO glad you're ok!!! I hate hearing what you went through, but you're alive, so it's all good! I hope the rest of your recovery is uneventful and pain free. I've been praying like crazy for you. Can't wait to see you, Erica and Matt for some camping this spring!!! Let me know if you guys need anything...

 

[mgsmom]

Wow! What an ordeal! I'm so glad you are healing and you know this will all be SO worth it! Definitely take it slow...
I can (sort of) relate on the nausea - anesthesia always makes me SICK as a dog! But, I've never had to deal with it after such a major surgery so I can imagine it was 10x worse.

Keep on keepin' on!

 

[ftwildernessrick]

Keep on going a little bit more day by day.

Hope you will be feeling perky soon.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

Good morning Johnny !
How ya do'un buddy , coherent yet ?

 

[RvUsa]

Coherent, but get tired walking from the bed to the recliner.... feel great just really really tired.

 

[Born 2 Fish]

So very glad your doing good John, Just remember, don't over do it,,slow and easy winns.
Whats so weird about a big surgery is, it seems like healing goes real slow to a point, and then all of a sudden,it just goes like crazy and you think you can take on the world ! So when you get to that point, just remember slow and easy.
We love you buddy.



Hey,, tell Erica to post some pics of our favorite sky high guy !

 

[auntie]

He did Frank, I have 2 drain holes side by side with the bottom of the scar between them, when Matt first saw it, he said "look, a hidden Mickey!!!" LOL

Thanks for thinking about me everyone!

Rob, I mentioned the ticking of the new valve bothering me a little, and the surgeon told me not to worry about the ticking.... till it stops.

So, it was a valve you had replaced then?...Sorry, not on FB so I don't know the exact reason for your surgery. (is that the thing that was supposed to have grips..to secure it to the artery?..I remember we talked about that once?)..Okay..enough of the nosey inquiries...

I'm just glad to hear your healing nicely and recovering at home. You've been through quite an ordeal..take it slow. Thanks for posting here and letting us know how you're doing.

 

[ntsammy5]

...Sorry, not on FB

Sorry for hijacking your thread John. Your stamina will come back though.

Join us on the dark side, Phyl. I noticed your quote - we just stayed at the Hotel Clarence last week in Seneca Falls - purportedly the influence for It's a Wonderful Life - we ate a a cafe called ZuZus ( the name of the little girl in the movie who said "Teacher says......... ). We even have a picture of the original bridge. Seneca Falls is also the site of the first Women's Rights convention in 1848. That's my educational statement for the day

 

[RvUsa]

So, it was a valve you had replaced then?...Sorry, not on FB so I don't know the exact reason for your surgery. (is that the thing that was supposed to have grips..to secure it to the artery?..I remember we talked about that once?)..Okay..enough of the nosey inquiries...

I'm just glad to hear your healing nicely and recovering at home. You've been through quite an ordeal..take it slow. Thanks for posting here and letting us know how you're doing.

Phyllis, I had a bicuspid aortic valve and a 5.8 cm thoracic aortic aneurysm... the replaced them both at the same time. They use a St Jude bileaflet valve with graft.

Thanks for checking up on me... I miss talking to you, you really do need to come to the dark side soon, we have cookies!!!

Sorry for hijacking your thread John.

Don't lie to a guy who just had his heart stopped for 7 hrs.... LOL

I miss you too Al.