About Me (In My Own Words)
I am writing on behalf of my husband Jamie, who had aortic vavle replacement in Dec. of 2009 at 40 years old. He had rheumatic fever as a young child and that left him with a heart murmur which eventually led to severe aortic leaking. The ironic thing is that he is the picture of good health - very lean and active, skis in the winter, is a competitive road biker and soccer player. So when we realized he needed open heart surgery we were shocked. But everyone told us because he is young and healthy he would do just fine.
The surgery took place at Rochester General Hospital with Dr. Ronald Kirshner as the surgeon. He came highly regarded and we felt comfortable with him. The surgery seemingly went very smooth - he was out in just over 3 hours. When I went to see him I was surprised at how small the scar was. We were expecting a 9-10""zipper." But Jamie's scar was only about 5.5" Within 24 hours Jamie was off the breathing tube and everything appeared great.
Two days after surgery his lung collapsed. Another surgeon had to quickly perform the surgery in his room to insert a chest tube in and re-inflate his left lung. This was the low point in all of this. We ended up staying in the hospital for 8 days, mostly because the chest tube had to stay in for three days.
After we were discharged Jamie had a lot of pain in the left side of his lung, (in addition to the sternum pain). About 10 days after coming home, Jamie developed pneumonia in the left lung which had collapsed. The fear of course is that if the pneumonia enters the bloodstream it could infect the heart valve, which would be very bad. We spent four days in a local hospital, close to home, hooked up to powerful antibiotics, taking daily xrays, and a TEE (thorac echo cardiograph) until the doctors were confident the pneumonia was gone.
Another 10 days passed and Jamie developed pneumonia again. This time we went to a large hospital in Syracuse which also had a cardio thoracic unit. We spent 8 days there with more xrays, another TEE, and a CTscan. During this time they concluded that in addition to the pneumonia which probably never left from the first incident, he also had inflammation and fluid in the lung.
It has been 2 months since that last episode and now Jamie is starting to feel the same pneumonia-like symptoms. I have been dealing with a chest cold for about a week and we assume that he may also have a cold. However, because of his compromised lungs, even a cold has the potential to send him back to the hospital.
I am wondering if anyone out there has any information about what life is like following heart surgery with complications such as pneumonia. My husband feels very vulnerable and although everyone kept telling him he will be better than new following the surgery, it does not seem to be the case. Three months later he feels compromised, vulnerable, and worries he will never have his old active life back.
Your thoughts are most appreciated.
Thanks,
Tina Phillips
I am hoping that anyone
More Info About Me & My Heart
More About Me
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I am from:
cortland, New York
