Today is the one year anniversary of my surgery. I feel like I have had a 100% complete recovery. The surgery and hospital recovery seem like a dream, it seems ...Read more
Today is the one year anniversary of my surgery. I feel like I have had a 100% complete recovery. The surgery and hospital recovery seem like a dream, it seems like a different person going through all of the pains and challenges of recovery. I am so grateful for great doctors and the great facility of the Cleveland Clinic. It was well worth traveling across the country to get there.
Tammy Pilcher Congratulations on your one year anniversary, Vinson! You are inspiring! God bless you for sharing! ... Read more
Tammy Pilcher Congratulations on your one year anniversary, Vinson! You are inspiring! God bless you for sharing!
Nancy D Congrats on your milestone and fabulous recovery! I am very close to my year as well....looking forw ... Read more
Nancy D Congrats on your milestone and fabulous recovery! I am very close to my year as well....looking forward to counting the years and not the weeks or months!
I went to Cleveland too, and feel the same way you do. I will not be water skiing after six weeks, but am tremendously grateful for the care that I received from them.
I am doing really well, I feel great! I am not quite 100% but I feel good enough to go to the lake with my family. I even did a little skiing. I am so grateful ...Read more
I am doing really well, I feel great! I am not quite 100% but I feel good enough to go to the lake with my family. I even did a little skiing. I am so grateful I qualified for robotic mitral valve repair.
After 1 week in the hospital I have finally been released. I'm doing really well. Not much pain. I will fly back to arizona on Monday.
I can't say enough about ...Read more
After 1 week in the hospital I have finally been released. I'm doing really well. Not much pain. I will fly back to arizona on Monday.
I can't say enough about the Cleveland clinic. I am so impressed with the care and compassion coming from such a big facility.
Dr. Gillonov is all he is reputed to be. What an awesome surgeon and a good man. He treats me like I am his most important patient.
I feel a little guilty, I didn't get a zipper. . . I was able to have it done robotically.
Wow. . . This surgery thing is amazing. My surgery was Thursday about five days ago.i don't know if I like thinking about how hard it was, but in some ways ...Read more
Wow. . . This surgery thing is amazing. My surgery was Thursday about five days ago.i don't know if I like thinking about how hard it was, but in some ways I'm saying "that wasn't so bad". Coming out of the surgery was not fun and probably the worse part so far. The ventilator was huge down my throat. Because of the nature of the surgery they and to collapse my right lung, but not my left, so they needed a bigger ventilator. I woke up with it in my throat, with me throwing up, adm nurses suctioning out the vomit. Of course I thought I was in the process of dieing. But thankfully we had good nurses there who knew what they were doing. I was in icu for a couple of days longer than I had anticipated, but am now in a regular room in the hospital. I should go home on Wednesday or Thursday which is 6 or 7 days from the surgery. So far it's an experience that I never want to have to do again, but . . . It's not as bad as I thought it would be. I still have a chest drain tube in me, looking forward to its removal soon. I do walk and move like a very old man. I can't believe I will be back to 100 percent in just six weeks.
It is becoming real. Tonight is the last night at home and then I fly to Cleveland tomorrow for the big surgery next week. Today was filled with dealing with ...Read more
It is becoming real. Tonight is the last night at home and then I fly to Cleveland tomorrow for the big surgery next week. Today was filled with dealing with the insurance again. I'm having a problem getting them to approve the surgery. I guess I will fly to Cleveland and hope the insurance thing works out. (It is tempting to just forget about the surgery since the insurance company is being a pain) But I guess I do need the surgery so better now than ever.
I'm trying to get things done around the house so that I won't or my family won't have the problem with them after the surgery. It was weird winterizing my boat and PWC today. I usually wait until mid October, but this year I did it in July.
Now I've got to finish my packing, take care of a few financial things and try to get a good nights rest.
When I first scheduled my heart surgery it was for today, May 7th. But I rescheduled it for July 17th. I think the reason I changed the date was because my ...Read more
When I first scheduled my heart surgery it was for today, May 7th. But I rescheduled it for July 17th. I think the reason I changed the date was because my daughter Jessica just came home from college and is leaving on June 4th to serve a mission for the LDS church in Quito Ecuador. I didn't want to have her last month home being a baby-sitter while I was recovering from surgery. But maybe the reason I rescheduled is that I'm a bit nervous. (Why do today what I can put off until tomorrow?)
So I am trying to take this next 70 days and spend quality time with my family and get into a little better shape for my surgery. . .
Yesterday we went to Roosevelt lake and fought the wind and cold water to go water-skiing. I usually only ski to cool off and enjoy the rush of flying across the water, but yesterday I didn't need to cool off, I skied just to prove to myself at 51 I can still do a few athletic things.
I have tried jogging a bit in the last week. Hate to admit it, but after a couple of hundred yards I have to walk and suck for air. My goal is to be able to go a mile without stopping by June 1st. I will update my status. . .
I went to Cleveland too, and feel the same way you do. I will n ... Read more
I went to Cleveland too, and feel the same way you do. I will not be water skiing after six weeks, but am tremendously grateful for the care that I received from them.