Kenneth's Posts

We have passed the year mark since Ken's surgery and I have to say that things really are back to normal. He has to just see the cardiologist on a yearly basis now. We went camping for a few days kind of in celebration of the anniversary and it was the best time...so peaceful. He had a ruptured cordae of his mitral valve and a 3/6 murmur that I could hear just by lying next to him. November 4th 2009 he went in for surgery hoping that it would be a repair and not a replacement and our surgeon was able to thankfully make the repair. I know we are very lucky that we have not had to deal with any complications, palpitations, or symptoms but I think that has a lot to do with the fact that we were proactive and opted to have the surgery before he had really any chronic symptoms besides the murmur and mild fatigue. So if any of you out there are weighing whether to do surgery or wait...it was our experience that we avoided lots of potential problems that make the surgery and recovery more complicated by having the surgery before his symptoms were chronic. I think too we just didn't want to always be thinking about it and constantly have it hanging over us...so for us it was best to "just do it." I do wish he was more committed to an exercise routine but that has always been a struggle, since I love to run it just doesn't compute to me. Well, I just wanted to leave an entry for our year post surgery mark for those who may still be around the journal that shared this with us and to give those going through it some feedback. Where ever you are in your journey, good luck and God bless! Tara and Ken

Ken had his one month follow up on the fluid in his lungs this morning. His cardiologist conferred with the surgeon and they both agree that there is the sound of fluid..but that it may have more to do with the diaphragm and other parts being repositioned during the surgery that are causing the lungs to sound,in his words,"a little dull"...So basically they are not worried because he has NO SYMPTOMS WHATSOEVER, no coughing, no shortness of breath, no swelling and ALL his numbers look great (BP consistently in the 110s/60s etc..) So much so he does not want to see him for another six months!! woohoo! Unless of course any of this changes. But today was a big sigh of relief and I could tell Ken was excited because the Dr pretty much lifted ALL RESTRICTIONS. I am a little apprehensive to just have him go about as if he is good as new...so now this is the hard part for me. How do I turn that off? Am I every really supposed to?..Oh all I know is things seem pretty much back to OUR normal and its kinda nice for once. Healing thoughts to all those in the hospital this week! Tara

Hey all..Ken had his first post op echocardiogram done a few weeks ago and all the things they were looking for looked good. His chambers have returned to normal size(yay!),his flow looks great with no leaks, and also his blood pressures have been GREAT 105-120s/60s so all in all our cardiologist was very pleased...He was concerned however to hear some fluid in the base of his left lung. I have to admit this scared me a bit..typing for cardiologists and knowing that this is a sign of congestive heart failure...but it could just as easily be him recovering from a cold(if he had had one I would have felt better maybe) so the Dr. had him go get an x-ray to compare to the one done at 4 weeks post op...and consulted with his surgeon..they decided that it was not too concerning and told Ken to get back on the spirometer regularly and keep the exercise consistent and he wants to see us in 3-4 weeks. Like I said it was a couple weeks ago that we found this out so he goes back to the cardiologist next week so he can listen to his lungs again. I don't know why I didn't update the journal sooner...maybe I was hoping that we were done with the heart thing (LOL). We both admitted that he is still not 100%, and I can't say as I have seen an increase in his energy level, if anything it seems that maybe it is a little worse...but then maybe I am looking for it more now..springing back into that care giver mode, much to Ken's dismay! I still have to be on him to weigh daily, and exercise. He is still on some restricted lifting, because of his type of work mainly. But hopefully next Tuesday when we go back to our cardiologist his lungs will be clear! I will let ya'll know! Happy belated HEART day, Tara