Deb's Guestbook

Hi Deb, I was wondering how you are feeling? I have the same diagnosis as you.
I have not set a surgery date but I know I will have to soon.
Hope you are doing well. Love to talk you more about your diagnosis and recovery. Juli

Hi Deb, this is Frances, Cliff's wife.  I thought I would reach out to you since your surgery was only two days after my husband's.  He's still experiencing hearing and feeling his heart pounding loudly and strongly and I was wondering whether you were experiencing the same phenomenom?

Hi Deb I have been thinking of you and was wondering how your healing process is going.
My thoughts are with you everyday! You have giving me so much encouragement and education regarding having this surgery soon. I hope to hear soon from you.

Juli

Greg MIchalowski here….

Deb got home on Monday, September 4.  We were in the car heading home less than 4 days from the time surgery started at 2:27 on Thursday August 31. That was one day earlier than expectations.  Yay. 

All the credit to Deb’ surgeon, Dr. Riley, and the medical care staff at Honor Health including Gladys,Mathias, Petra,  Cheyenne and Sarah. They were blessed and Deb/we were too.  

Needless to say Deb did great.  She reached her goals for walking and progressed with that.  Her blood pressure was high but came down to more normal over time.  Her lungs were clear.  There was no “clicking” from the rubbing of the sternum bone that was not connected properly. Eating was a chore but she did her best (not surprising). She had pain in shoulder immediately after surgery but that abated (anyone else have that?).  They weened her of the all the connections including the external pacemaker connection.  The last to come out was the IV.  When you first get out of surgery,  be prepared for the spaghetti of tubes and wires from all places.  Then there are the beeps from the machines when something happens (nothing serious), but if the nurse was tardy in coming to the room, the beeping would get louder.  Maybe it was done on purpose to wake Deb from her sleeping  There is plenty of that. The hospital stay is also about learning about managing at home.  Showering, medications, the spirometer, how to put on a shirt, how you should sleep, the compression socks.  You can read about it or learn by doing.  

Once all that is complete, it’s time to head home.  

All that sounds fairly straightforward and simple, but if there is a bell curve of the first 6 days of recovery post-op, it would be HARD as the positive extreme.  Then in the “heart” of the bell curve it would be REAL HARD and then REALLY REALLY HARD.  


It’s hard to eat. It’s hard to drink. It’s sometimes hard to keep food down.  It’s hard to take all the pills.  It’s easy to sleep, but hard to not just sleep on your back. It’s hard to talk for any extended period of time.  It’s hard to text, or post on heart valve surgery.com.  It’s hard to walk for any distances.  It’s hard because you just don’t feel anywhere near  100% and that can mess with your mind too.  

Deb’s in the heart of the bell curve.  Having said that she is better today.  That is another thing…you can feel worse today than you did yesterday.  It’s not always a straight line.  However, it’s normal.  

Thanks for all your support and continued support.  All is hard , but all is good too. 

So glad to hear all went well!  Thanks for keeping us all posted, Greg, and Deb, I was thinking about you all day yesterday.  So glad you're on your recovery path!  You accomplish everything you set out to do.  As Jerry Brown posted - we all want to be like you!

Wishing you good luck and Godspeed with surgery, Deb! Be patient with your recovery. You'll feel much better in 3-5 weeks, but not 100% so go easy on yourself. It's a process! Each week will be better than the previous. My Aortic valve replacement surgery was 5 months ago today and I'm hiking and finally back on the pickleball court. I highly recommend cardiac rehab if that's an option for you. Sending good thoughts for the 31st. You got this!!

Thinking of you, Deb. You are almost there and will soon be in recovery mode and all fixed-up.  You will be massively exhausted the first several days, but will get better exponentially. Godspeed, heart warrior!