Connie's Guestbook

Hi Connie, Amazing story, thank you for sharing your experience. I am moderate to severe aortic valve stenosis and will soon be climbing my mountain as well . I will read your recovery journal and also take notes on what worked for you. Bless you and good luck . Joan

Hi Connie, Thanks for posting and Happy anniversary to us what a great line:-) After looking at your Guestbook comments, it seems that we are not the only ones with ocular events after surgery. Our sample, albeit of three suggests it might be a little more common. All the best Paul R

Please keep pushing on the vision and memory issues. Cleveland Clinic appears to be in absolute denial on these issues. My cardiologist is with University Hospitals...I got him to put my complaints in the records, at least. J Tefft

Hey Connie T. From Nov 30th. I am trying to get caught up on emails. So I will hold you to the lunch date. I would have come up to Greenville if I knew. Tell your husband gas is down to 2.97 today. Pretty cheap. Cost of living in SC is better than NC or GA.. Maybe that will help and if you are 65 years old, you can homestead your house if you buy. Thats a big plus. Talk later LInda H and Elsie AVR 9/19/12

Hi Connie! I had my first visit to the CC on Nov.20 with Dr. Griffin, All went well. I do need to have surgery soon on the mitral valve, hopefully they can repair both leaflets. The anterior leaflet is the worst, that is harder to repair. The main problem is I have a tumor/mass right beside/behind the mitral valve and it is right where they need to work to fix the mitral valve. The mass is big and they don\'t really know what they are going to do with it, possibly just leaving it alone. They don\'t think it is cancer and I will have to go through more testing so they know what they are dealing with during the surgery. I\'m having problems with the left ventricle too! Dr. Griffin was full of good news!!! Right now CC is working on getting more appts. set up and we will go from there! I\'m very glad I\'m going there and have complete confidence they can take care of the tumor/mass and the mitral valve. The dr. did say my heart was very unique and unusual!!! Just what I always wanted to hear! Please keep sending out updates on how your recovery is going. That helps me soooo very much. Thanks. Teri S.

Hey Connie, Glad to hear from you. So sorry I didnt get to meet you when you came to SC. That would have been awsome. My enjoying rehab also. Although I dont have the 78 crowd. When I go around 1100am is not busy. So I pretty much have all the nurses to myself. I do find it fun but boy Im starting to really get sore and stiff. When I told them I was sore they uped the level and times on me. The nice thing is if I get there a little early its ok. I like that.. The first time I put the heart monitor on I felt like I was wearing a bomb. Well they got the wires inside my shirt and now I feel better,except taking the little tabs off. That kinda hurts as I have so much flab. But now I snap them then stick it on. I just cant believe how I am walking etc and not getting out of breath. So nice :) I have rehab for 36 times which will take me up to Feb. Well until later friend. Mooing all over Linda H and Elsie AVR 9/19/12

Hi Connie- Glad to hear you are doing well. I loved cardiac rehab and stopped 2 wks ago. I was the youngest there as well, but met a lot of great people who had gone thru similar heart episodes as we have. I hope your trip to see your son was all you expected and then some. Our Matty is well. I owe a blog so keep an eye out. Karen Campo

Yay, 12 Weeks!!! San Diego is a great place that\'s for sure. Enjoy the warm weather and time with your son (but let him pamper you also - you deserve it). It\'s good to stay connected with the people we love and feel normal. I\'m hoping the occular events diminish soon for you. I\'ve had a couple of weird bright white lights appearing, but they went away (hope they stay away). Keep on Ticking!! Lee Castro (My Surgery 8/13/12)

Have a wonderful time! So glad you are taking time to feel normal again. I have been going to various doctors now since August 10th while they figured all this out. In the middle I got a call to come have my annual Well Woman exam. I told them I would come in after all this settles down because I just couldn\'t be poked and prodded by one more person! :-)

Connie, I am still laughing at your comments in your most recent journal - your comments are just too funny! Seriously, have a great time in San Diego and enjoy being \"normal\"! You deserve this vacation after the year you have had. I will talk to you soon girlfriend! Take care and safe traveling! Denise K

Connie you cracked me up. My husband was wondering what was wrong with me I was laughing so hard. Now I will probably be thinking of those words next time I see him, which will be the big day. Hope you are doing good keep up the good work. Mooving on up Linda H

Hi Connie, I may be rocking rehab, but I am so exhausted when I get home I crash on the couch. I am concerned the chronic fatige is back I experience pre-surgery. It concerns me that the moderate leak may be getting worse. I am still disappointed that my perfect repair has turned out to be not so perfect. Normal would be nice - lol! What a merry-go-round you are on with your doctors! I don\'t blame you for being jupset and frustrated. We all go through enough with our surgeries, and don\'t need our local doc\'s dropping the ball on our post surgery care. You have every right to be upset, especially with the possibility of TIA\'s - they should be right on that!!! I will try to call you this week one afternoon to try and set something up for us to meet for dinner. We can do an week night or the weekend whichever works for you and Dan is okay with us. Take care and I will talk to you in a few days! Denise

Ok Connie I will give you a peek. Google ST Francis Bos Scours Hosptial. Go to physicans pick cardiovascular surgeons. It is Dr Mazaras and also Dr Dennis Linda H

Hey Connie, About the breast pain. Did your Doctor have you where a bra 24- 7? Stephanie was suppose to do that for several weeks. It takes away some of the strain from the girls. I always thought women did better then men cause they do so much sports and lifting etc.Not going to let that stop me. I will prove them wrong lol. I am woman hear me moo remember? Beside have you ever seen a man have a baby except that one freak. I dont think they could handle the pain. lol. Sorry men still love ya and I will need my husband pretty soon. Any way glad you are doing pretty good. Keep your pom poms out going to need them soon. Meet another surgeon on Thurs. as I get 2. It is more complecated with the anuersym. Oh well until later. Mooving on up Linda H

Hi Connie, If it makes you feel any better, I lost vision in my right eye too for about five minutes. It was the day of my first rehab session. I was home making dinner and my vision went gray, like I was holding a piece of cardboard in front of my eye. Like you, my doc changed my 325mg aspirin to Plavix and a 81 mg aspirin daily. I had a MRA and an ultrasound of my carotid. everything came back clean and the neurologist wrote the episode off to migraine. Unfortunately, during the ultrasound, they found nodules on my thyroid so that\'s started a whole other issue. I\'ll be having a biopsy for that soon and hopefully put that to rest. Glad to hear your chest tube wound are healing. Not going in the pool in the summer where you don\'t have a whole lot else to do is a bummer! Take care, Nancy B

Hi Connie - I got so wrapped up in my cardiac rehab this week I forgot about your appointment - was going to call you on Thursday to see how things went. I would be frustrated too if the nurse did not even know what you were there for - especially after going through OHS - that is unacceptable! Not to mention the distance you travel to see him! I will be praying that our breast infection heals quickly - glad to hear your chest tube holes have finally closed - YEAH! The sleeping will improve soon as well, especially once you start cardiac rehab. I was exhausted yesterday after my 3rd class. I start each class by weighing in, then hooking up my wireless heart monitor. After a blood pressure check I do a 5 minute walk around the track with 2 pound weights. The treadmill is next for 15 minutes, and then10 minutes on the Nu-step - combination of leg and upper body work out - really kicks my butt - feeling it in the legs and arms this morning! No pain no gain I guess is the saying! Finally I do 5 minute cool down around the track and then the cool down stretching exercises and final blood pressure check. At this rate I will have my \"squishy\" upper arms toned up in no time - LOL! Let me know when you are feeling up to it and have your appetite back and the 4 of us can get together in Sidney for dinner one evening. You are in my prayers - hoping for quick healing of your breast infection. Tell Dan Ric and I said \"hello\"! God bless, Denise :-)

Hey Connie, Sounds like you have had your share of bumps in the road. I also had a very sharp pain in the left side of my chest that went into my breast. They told me it was nerve damage. It GRADUALLY got better, but it took about 8 months to completely heal. Not sure if that is what you have or not, but thought I would pass it along. It also took me a good four months before I could sleep on my side without hurting. Seemed like forever. I hope things continue to improve for you. At least it is behind you! Deb Z

Hi Connie- Just returned from our 18th annual (so blessed to be able to say that) beach vacation week and catching up on my fellow HVJ friends. I am sorry to hear that you were having a tough time for a bit so glad to read on and hear that you turned around after your family visit. I think it is so important to not focus on what we were able to do, but what we are able to now do. Certainly spending time with our loved ones does reinforce that doesn\'t it? I feel so blessed in my life, now more than ever, and sounds as if you are on the same page. Keep up your good healing and keep the posts coming. Karen Campo

Hey Connie, Great story. It just shows everyone that there are good days and bad days, and unfortuneltly there might be another one or two, Hope not. Your train on Good Golly Mountain just had to make a stop and get more gas or desel.(SP) I have been thinking about you wondering what happened to you. Anyway glad you are back on track. Do you have a pic of your Grand daughters, might help to have it around. I know when Stephanie told Cortney what was wrong with me she said. Mommy now you will be twins. Little does she know later in life we will be triplets, but not for a long time hopfully. She found out last year she has a bicupsed aortic valve, but not to worry yet. Oh well guess I better think about getting ready. Will post later tonight of my fate. Getting there Linda H

Connie, Bless your heart - that is really the pits when you feel like you are going backward instead of forward in your recovery! Believe when I say I know exactly how you felt!!! This hot summer has put a damper on alot of us getting our walks in which really slows down the recovery process. Thank God for grandchildren. I always perk up when my grandsons or grandaughter come for a visit, even if I am having a bad day. They are my reason for pushing forward in spite of the setbacks. So glad to hear that your\'s helped you to get your focus back - you can do this!!! I will call you sometime today to talk. Take care and hang in there! Denise :-)

Connie- So sorry I missed wishing you well post-op but glad to log on and see you are home and doing well. Cute pic of you and Denise, glad you got to meet. Have you seen your grandaughters yet? I think the whole US has been too hot to get out and walk...take the time to fully recover and enjoy your family and friends. Again, so glad to hear you did well. Should I put Matty on a plane to come take care of you and blog for you? LOL. Karen Campo

Connie - Hip Hip Hurray! So glad to see that your home! WOW! We are impressed! Thanks for your thoughts and prayers for Charlie! Keep us posted how your recovery! Julia & Charlie