Charlie's Posts

It definitely feels like a milestone...4 weeks post-op and life is beginning to return to normal. This week I traveled for the first time for work and all in all, it went perfectly fine. I spent the day at my partner company's office and went out to dinner with co-workers, returning to my room by 9pm. A bit tired, but feeling pretty good. My stamina is definitely improving! I was in pretty strong cardio shape prior to the surgery and I'm nowhere near close to that as yet. I've also gained about 10 pounds since I eat whatever I want...that needs to change :) For me, regaining lung capacity has been the challenge. If I push things, I feel a tightness in my chest from inflammation. My heart rate tends to hover in the mid 80's to high 90's as a resting heart rate which is very high for me...my resting heart rate prior to the surgery was 68 to 72 bpm. I understand this is normal after surgery but I'm looking forward to my heart working more efficiently. Anyway, I'm very thankful to my surgeon, Dr. Murphy who seemingly did an expert robotic repair that has allowed me, by all accounts, a fairly smooth and fast recovery...which continues on a daily basis. Good luck to all of you on your journey and I wish you a speedy recovery! Cheers, Charlie B.

Today is 15 days post-op and it seems like the right time to summarize my MVR experience. I'm hoping this may help others that are approaching their own dates with destiny. Pre-Op Two weeks ago we checked in at 7:30am for a planned 12:30 procedure. Needless to say, you essentially hurry up and wait. Not the most production use of time but let's face it, you are there at the convenience of the surgeon, no more, no less. At about 11am, a medical tech came into the room…it was time for the upper body shave….and time for things to start heating up. At about 11:45, I was wheeled out the room to the pre-op staging area with both Melissa and my cousin Rhonnie walking beside me. I had felt very calm for days leading up to the procedure and, in fact, had an impromptu family dinner Wednesday night and felt perfectly fine. Any remaining calm and coolness began quickly to melt away, replaced by raw emotion as I looked into Melissa's eyes and saw a look of fear and anxiety…exactly what I was feeling at that very moment. It's a natural feeling of course, venturing into a world of the complete unknown with no guarantee of the outcome…but I have to admit, it caught me completely off-guard. Before entering the pre-op area, the med tech told Melissa she could not accompany me into this area. She protested slightly, but then, thought better of it and kissed me goodbye. Of course, 15 minutes later, she came strolling in with the charge nurse from the ICU floor (her new bff) to again wish me luck and kiss me goodbye…Melissa simply won't be stopped. It's now about 12:15 and the medical staff in pre-op is all business. I'm trying to joke around a bit to lighten the mood (for me) but they're really not having any of it. I guess I'd rather have them focused on their job then by my somewhat (at best) charming personality. Surgery The PA approached and it was time to insert the first IV. She then said she wanted to push some meds to help relax me. No complaints here. Once that was done, I decided I'd close my eyes to get myself as calm as possible before they wheeled me into the operating room. Uhhh, lights out ladies and gentlemen! Never saw, heard, smelled or tasted another thing until long after the surgery was done. The next thing I know, I hear someone (who turned out to be the respiratory therapist) telling me the surgery was over and he would be pulling the breathing tube. This was about 11pm. I could not open my eyes despite how hard I tried, but I remember thinking "it's over already?" I did a quick scan of how I was feeling and in my post anesthesia haze, I determined…not bad! I could feel the tube coming out which was a huge relief. For some reason, the breathing tube was something that really bothered me prior to the surgery and having it pulled as early as possible was one of my goals. I could hear Melissa talking to me as well, telling me she had talked with the surgeon and everything was successful. Again, I couldn't open my eyes yet but I heard every word she said to me. ICU At 4am in the morning, I was awoken by the night ICU nurse. It was time to get me out the bed and into the chair. Unfortunately, she approached the entire episode completely unprepared and sat me up on the side of the bed half way before she realized she had (i) all my IV lines wrapped around my neck and (ii) hadn't prepared the chair for me to get into. So….she said 'hold on' while she got pillows and blankets for the chair as I sat half way up on the side of the bed. I began shaking uncontrollably, mostly from the effects of the anesthesia wearing off, but also because it felt like someone was sticking a knife in my side. Another nurse approached and said, 'you know, if you stopped shaking, it would be a lot better for you". Hmmmm, I guess she missed the class about voluntary vs. involuntary response….trust me, if I could have stopped, I would have definitely made that choice! Needless to say, the night crew on ICU was not my favorite part of my experience. By the time the day crew came in, it literally was the difference between night and day. Of course, Melissa's newfound BFF (the charge nurse in ICU) took me as her patient and she was everything you would expect from an ICU nurse; attentive, compassionate, friendly and really good at her job. She pulled the chest tube by 9am (my other major goal) and it was instant relief. I was on my way to step down by 9:30…my third major goal - get out of ICU as fast as possible. Step-Down Here's the really strange thing. I had absolutely no pain, zero. By mid-morning the nurse is asking if I wanted any pain medication. She gave a long explanation that they don't like to get 'behind the pain' because it's harder to overcome. All of which I politely ignored.. MISTAKE. By 3pm, I was looking one way and the pain ran over me from behind without even the curtsey of a honk. Now, when I say pain, it's a completely different kind of 'pain' than what I expected. What I expected was pain from the incision, internal pain where the robot made its multiple incisions. That's not what I got at all. In fact, pain is not even the right term. What I felt was my lungs closing down and so I had difficulty breathing and it felt like I had a terrible flu. Essentially, the inflammation from the surgery and my lungs trying to regain function from the heart/lung machine is 'the pain' I felt. This lasted about 24 hours and probably could have been avoided had I stayed on the prescribed dosage of meds. Trust me people…take your meds with a smile on your face and don't think twice. Hospital Stay The rest of my stay until check out on the following Monday was fairly routine, luckily for us. No infections, no clots...just bad food and the run-of-the- mill old guy walk around the nurse's station, increasing my frequency and time each day. Let me just say this, although I don't agree with the 'walk in the park' or 'piece of cake' descriptions I've heard said about recovering from robotic MVR surgery (let's face it, it's still major surgery) it is most definitely manageable. Recovery We spent the next week in Atlanta at the beautiful home of one of my cousins. We had planned to stay in a hotel, but it turns out Jason and his wife would be traveling that week and they offered us their home to recover in. I am forever thankful to them both. By Wednesday, Dr. Murphy had signed off for us to fly home by the end of the week. I had been dreading the flight back to California, but like almost everything I've dreaded about this journey, it wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Uncomfortable, yes. Horrible, no. Melissa had to go back to Scottsdale for the week, so my brother Richard flew in to stay a couple of days. At first, I felt like what I really wanted was to crawl into my cave and stay there until I was ready to come out. In some ways, I felt like I'd have to entertain him. I couldn't have been more wrong. He was a complete champ, cooking meals, running errands and watching golf with me. It was like we were kids again. I really missed him when he had to go back to San Diego. Each day now is a bit different. Some days I feel I've turned the corner, followed by another day where I'm feeling run down, my lungs hurt and I'm moving more slowly than the day before. As some of you have been kind enough to point out, this is normal and recovery does not go in a straight line. Seems odd to me, but I'm doing my best to accept it and go with my own body's recovery schedule, despite the fact my mind wants to get way out in front. For those of you approaching heart surgery, I cheer for you because I now know what it takes to face down the fear and come out the other side. The worst part for me BY FAR was the wait, period. For me, it involved four years; from the point of finding out about my condition, avoiding the consequences, researching alternatives to open heart surgery, selecting my surgeon, making preparations and counting down to the date…all things that certainly take a toll. In some ways, I can't believe the four year journey is essentially over, but it is…and it will be for you as well. I wish you the best of luck in your journey! Cheers, Charlie