Janet's Guestbook

Nancy D  welcome home!! Good idea to keep the dogs boarded a bit longer...now is the time to take care of you first! Rest, adjust to being home, and take good care!

Elaine Foster  So glad for you. The worst is over, take it a day at a time and before you know it you will be good as new.

Joan Napier  That is wonderful news Janet! Keep us posted on your progress. Positive thoughts and prayers for you for a very smooth recovery! Joan

Eleanor R  This is really good news, janet. I am so glad the surgery went well for you and that you are home. I know the pups will do a happy dance, too. Now the active part of healing begins, but I am confident you will also do great in that. You will quickly see what you can and can't do. Use the dreaded spirometer, and do small walks, whatever the home visitors advise, and I hope you can take cardiac rehab a bit later on. I'm in the midst of it and it really helps to get back in shape, in a safe and monitored environment. I'm doing great, and celebrate that you are too! Eleanor

Janet Underwood  I'm feeling great, Linda. Ready to go and put this behind me. It turns out that my friend who will be taking care of my classes while I'm in the hospital had this surgery two years ago. His was for a leaky aortic valve, but same dif in the surgery. I'm feeling very positive and very supported by my friends and medical team. Everything has come together perfectly.

Janet Underwood  Good idea, Eleanor! I'll be sure to ask. There doesn't appear to be a Mended Hearts chapter here in KC, though. Oh well....The nurse told me the harness supposedly works better than the pillow, but she also said that if it doesn't help me, I can just take it off, so as I read your post, I was thinking that it probably would be a good idea to take a small pillow with me "just in case." Thank you so much for thinking of me! I hope you're doing well!

Janet

Eleanor R  Who used the harness is Terrie, I recall from her journal, and I actually thought of buying one before surgery, but then I was told I would have the mini sternotomy and I thought I wouldn't need it. Well, the incision is smaller, but the muscles and nerves get moved around anyway and something was needed, especially with sneezes and coughing. I don't know if you have a dry cough or not, I didn't until right before surgery, as a symptom. Shortly after surgery it continued, and the ICU nurses wanted me to cough, to avoid pneumonia, and anything to brace your sternum is great. You should do well, I will be thinking of you. I am now 3 months after surgery, driving, back to volunteering at the local first grade, walking my 9lb. dog (in the photo) and driving, which I really missed. I hope you have a steady recovery, sounds like you're on top of things. Eleanor

Janet Underwood  I do have a dry cough and have had it for a few weeks, but like everything else associated with this, I attributed it to anything but my heart (I thought it was allergies). The nurses have already told me about the coughing. I had to do that when I broke a rib and know it can be painful, but it's a lot better than getting pneumonia. Thanks for your well wishes!
Janet

Janet Underwood  You're so sweet, Linda. Yes, surgery is still on for the 23rd and frankly, I don't think it's a minute too soon. SOB is getting much worse and even doing simple things around the house wears me out and I break into a sweat like I was doing hard labor. I went in yesterday for pre-op tests and stuff so that when I get there on Thursday morning, they can just prep me for the surgery and the surgeon won't have to wait for any test results. I'm a bit disappointed, though. I was looking forward to getting a cute heart pillow. Instead, St. Luke's puts a harness with handles on heart patients and when you cough, you pull the handles together. Definitely not a fashion statement. LOL! Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. Take care.

Eleanor R  Hi, Janet, I am thinking about you and counting the days along with you until your surgery. Like you, the last couple of weeks were hard on me. I was bending over a lot in the garden, weeding and picking up twigs and stuff, and just that little exercise would make me out of breath, to say nothing of climbing the stairs to bed each night. There were a couple of nights when I wondered if I would make it to the surgery, as I was getting very short of breath, and scared. I made it just fine, and you will too. I wish you the smoothest of surgeries and recoveries, and that you are soon at home taking care of your little brood of pups. Best wishes, Eleanor

Janet Underwood  Are you reading my mind again, Eleanor? (smile) As I was talking to my friend Dana this evening, she asked me if Dr. Borkon told me how bad my heart really was when he said I had the worst of the day. I told her no and furthermore, I didn't ask. I plan to ask after the surgery, but not before because I know I'd just worry. It's almost here and this cloud over my head will soon be gone! Oh -- I got my hair cut short today. I like it lots and know it will be ever so much easier to take care of while I'm recovering. Take care.

Janet

Janet Underwood  Thank you, Linda! I was getting a bit overwhelmed by things so I decided to step back and simply focus on what my doctors were telling me. I met with my surgeon last Monday. Really nice guy. Turns out that my condition is critical and so my surgery has been scheduled for Oct. 23. Lots to get done before then. One of the nicest things ever is that my VET has offered to drive me to the hospital. I was going to drive and leave my car in the parking lot, then my friend Dana was going to bring someone with her when I was released from the hospital to drive it home. Since the hospital where my surgery is to be done is quite a distance from my home, that means my vet has to pick me up at around 5:15 a.m. to get me there by 6, and then drive back to his clinic to do his work. Totally unexpected and deeply appreciated because I may be a bundle of nerves that morning. Meanwhile, I'm amazed at how many people in my "world" think that open-heart surgery is out-patient surgery and I will only be out of commission for a day. LOL!

Janet Underwood  What a sweet note, Bob! Thank you! I truly appreciate your support. Sorry I've been away for a few days. I was getting overwhelmed and decided that I needed to step back and focus solely upon what my doctors were telling me. When I met with my surgeon (finally!) last Monday, I was the last patient of the day. He's a really nice, calming type of person and I like him lots. Good thing because he told me that he had seen lots of people with stenotic aortic valves that day, and mine was by far the worst. My "prize" was that I was put at the top of the list for surgery. Mine is scheduled for October 23. I go back this Friday for pre-op lab work. I'll sure be glad to get rid of this cloud over my head! Take care.

Janet Underwood  Thanks, Linda. I'm really enjoying being lazy today. I have to catch up with my classes, but I'm answering a couple of posts, then taking a nap, answering a couple more, than take another nap. LOL!

Adam Pick  Linda, Awesome suggestions for Janet (and everybody else reading this)!!! I had never heard of "Dial-A-Ride" before. Thanks so much for sharing your ideas and your love!

Eleanor R  Linda, you are so right about Mended Hearts. I would google them and the American Heart Association for branch offices near you Janet. And, check with the social work office at the hospital for further ideas, for you cannot be the first patient this has happened to.

Janet Underwood  You guys all are so awesome! The problem has been resolved, though. A social worker at the hospital suggested a transportation service called OATS (Older Adults Transportation Service) that we have here in Missouri, but warned me that they are pretty much only catering to Medicaid patients these days. She also suggested calling a taxi service called Ten-Ten, but hesitated when I asked if the hospital would let me go home in a taxi. A few phone calls later, I discovered that the answer was, as I suspected, NO. They don't care how I get there, but they will only release me to someone who has an affiliation with me who will be able to listen to the instructions and remind me of what I'm to do and not to do if I'm still a bit out of it. As I was going through all of the options, Dana called. She appreciated that I've made arrangements to get to the hospital in the morning but said that she's cleared her calendar so she will be available to pick me up when they say I can go home -- even if it's in the evening. Crisis averted! But I'm going to look into Mended Hearts and see if they have a chapter around here. Thank you so much everyone!

Eleanor R  I am glad you got it arranged Janet, and I hope your friend realizes you cannot keep postponing this test. It is good to have options, and contacts now with taxi and transportation services. Maybe Dana can take someone with her to drive either her car or your van home, when she picks you up. Hope it works out well for you, I know how annoying it is to have to rely on someone else, when you sound much like me, a very independent woman. Best wishes. Eleanor

Janet Underwood  Thanks, guys, I'll be taking the taxi to the hospital and then Dana will pick me up and bring me home, so I don't have to worry about getting my car home from the hospital. I'm thinking of this as a kind of a practice for the surgery, which will be at the downtown KC hospital.

Janet Underwood  Thanks, Adam. I really enjoyed talking to you too. You're doing a wonderful thing here and I know it's a really big job. I really meant it when I said to feel free to enlist me to help you. I would be honored.