I’ve been lucky to spend time in Stockholm – mostly for work. In the summer, it is absolutely beautiful. In the winter…. Burrrrrrrrrrrr… It’s mighty cold and dark.
Unfortunately, I missed this “fun experiment” on their public transit system. I hope you enjoy what happens when The Fun Theory plays around with the stairs of a Stockholm subway station.
When I launched this website years ago, I had two fundamental goals:
My first goal was to educate patients and caregivers about the realities of heart valve surgery.
My second goal was to empower you to make the right choices given your diagnosis and prognosis.
Over time, these goals have turned into one of my life passions. That passion has churned out a lot of blogs over the years. Today, this website has over 2,200 pages of free content to help you through heart valve surgery. As a result, my friends have started calling me the Dear Abby of heart valve surgery.
Given the recent post about endocarditis, swine flu and heart valves, I’ve received several emails about these topics. Laura just sent me an interesting question asking for your help about dental cleanings, gum bleeding and atrial fibrilation.
I just received a great email from Janice about directions for the incentive spirometer after heart valve surgery in which the heart-lung machine was used.
She writes, “Hi Adam – I just read your blog about the incentive spirometer, fluid in the lungs and pneumonia. I’m 64 and going in for mitral valve repair next week. I’m curious to know how patients actually use the spirometer. Can you help me prepare? Thanks, Janice”.
In the past, I would immediately direct Janice to a blog titled, “How To Use An Incentive Spirometer?”. Today, however, I decided to see if there were any online videos that could help Janice out. It took about five minutes, but I was lucky to find a pretty good video that addresses Janice’s question. Although the production of this video is relatively amateur-ish, the quality of instruction is very good. That said, I hope you enjoy it.
FYI, if you have never heard of an incentive spirometer before, patients use this breathing tool after cardiac bypass surgery to (i) prevent pneumona, (ii) reduce fluid in the lungs and (iii) protect the alveoli.
About The Author:Adam Pick is a double, heart valve surgery patient and author of The Patient’s Guide To Heart Valve Surgery. This unique book integrates the clinical facts of heart valve surgery with the personal experiences of 135 former valve surgery patients to help patients and caregivers better understand the problems, the opportunities and the realities of heart valve surgery. To learn more about Adam and his heart valve surgery book, click here.
