JoAnne's Posts

Hi Everyone, It's been about a month since my last post. I wasn't sure if I was going to write another one but I felt I needed to have closure. I started cardiac rehab Thursday June 24th. It's Mon., Wed. & Fri. mornings. On Wed. there's an hour long class on how to keep your heart healthy. I know most of the stuff but it's good to have it reinforced. On Fri. there's a yoga class before the workout and will last six weeks. I'll finish on Aug 6th. It made me decide to take the rest of the summer off and not look for a part time job yet. I'm so glad I have the time to spend on getting healthy. I saw my Cardiologist on June 29th and he's impressed with my progress. He was glad to hear I was starting rehab. I told him I still get tired easily and that when I can, I take naps in the afternoon. He said it will take another three months till I start feeling like myself again. I still have a tight feeling through the layers in my chest but it's only uncomfortable when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed. I started using my Cpap breathing machine at night and I'm sleeping much better and feeling more rested. This has been such a hot summer that I'm glad I don't have a lot of patio plants to water. I've always had lots of container plants and different beds in the yard I've tended. The vegetable plants Steve put in have been all I could keep up with this year. He keeps most of it watered and I just do the harvesting. Two days ago I went out in the afternoon and picked a couple of tomatoes I was going to use for dinner and they had cooked on the vine in the 100 degree heat. We've been having some problem with blossom end-rot but they weren't discolored, just mushy. Anyway, I want to thank you all again for all your prayers and good thoughts and I'm grateful to be able to drift through the rest of the summer. My Love to You All!! JoAnne

Hi Everyone, Sorry I haven't done any entries in a while. I've been a lot more tired this last week for some reason. I've been out for the walk around the neighborhood I used to do before all this happened. It's just over 1&1/2 miles and I'm doing it in the mornings while it's still cool but I don't think that's what is doing it. I'm still not sleeping well and I can't really lay down when I do sleep because of the pulling feeling I get down the front of my chest. Steve took me to see Dr. Kern on Monday and I had a couple of x-rays before he saw me. He said everything looks great. The sternum is healing well and there was no fluid around the heart or in the lungs. When I asked him how long the discomfort was going to last in the incision area, all he would say was that everyone heals differently and wouldn't give me any time estimates. He did say he wanted to see me again in six months because of the repair he had to do on my aortic artery. There was a lot more to the surgery than just the valve replacement and there is a lot of deep healing going on. I asked him when I could drive my car and he said anytime now I could take it out for a test drive. Yesterday I went over to Whole Foods to get something good for lunch. It went pretty well. My car doesn't have power steering and I felt strong enough to drive it safely. I'm doing some light housework now and keeping up with laundry but if I had to stand on my feet all day that would be too much. I'm watching lots of DVD's and doing jigsaw puzzles on my laptop. It's become almost an obsession because I love searching for the shapes and colors. That's all I can think to write for now. Today is 5 weeks since the surgery and it continues to be a roller coaster ride. I would do it again in a minute to get to where I am now. I'm just looking forward to really getting my energy back and being able to run through my life again. I was always able to get so much done in a day but I'm enjoying the quietness. I'm so grateful for Steve and his patience with me and being such a good provider so I have a wonderful home to live in with lots of peace and quiet. My life is truly a Blessing! Thank you God for all the wonderful family and friends that support me. Love, JoAnne

Today is only three weeks since the surgery. I made a lot of progress this week. My back pain is gone and I can lay on my side for longer periods of time. I'm sleeping for longer periods of time. I'm still up half the night and the very worst TV is on then. I have the entire series of Six Feet Under and I'm starting to go through that again. The acting is outstanding. When I saw Dr. Shelly, Steve and I were concerned about the amount of blood and blood products I had to get when I was in the recovery room after the surgery. I made it through the surgery with no blood loss at all but when it was all finished and I was in recovery before being moved to the ICU I started bleeding out. I have no idea what was going on but I suspect it had something to do with the aspirin tablet I was given before surgery. I was told it was standard procedure. Twice in my life I got uncontrollable nosebleeds from taking aspirin for cold symptoms where I had to go to the emergency room to have my nose packed. Anyway, Steve and I wanted to have my blood tested for possible contaminants in the blood. I have total confidence with the blood department at UVA but because of that slight chance that something slipped through, Dr. Shelly gave me a prescription to take to UVA for the testing. So, this past Monday the 24th, Dad took me to the hospital. Well, Dad has a bad knee and can't walk comfortably for any distance. By the time we walked through the parking garage and into the hospital he was limping so bad that we picked up a wheelchair and I pushed him along to Primary Care. I took it slow and the wheelchair was so well balanced that all I really had to do was nudge it to move along. We both thought it was pretty funny that I was the one pushing him instead of the other way around. Dr. Shelly called me Thursday morning with the results. Everything looked fine but we found out I'm anemic. I'm so glad I found out because I've been having some shortness of breath. She said that was being caused by the fact that the new red blood cells that my body is making don't yet have the capacity to carry enough oxygen for my body's needs. She told me what kind of iron supplement to take. I have to take three tablets a day with meals for three months. I am so grateful for all the prayers and well wishes I'm continuing to receive. I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial DAY weekend! Love and Blessings to You All! JoAnne