Angela's Journal

Hi all, I will probably continue to pop in and out. The site was such a blessing before and after my surgery. I send out prayers to upcoming surgeries and people recovering from surgery.

Wow! Its hard to believe it has been 10 months/12 days since my surgery. I am doing great, loving life and overall just grateful that God gave me an opportunity to appreciate the things and people I took for granted. It's been a while since I have updated my journal and I wanted to say hello to my heart brother and sisters. Thank you again for your prayers and support.

I started rehab on Monday the 29th and it was great. I had the best caregivers in the world but it was good to meet and talk to other people. The plan is for me to go 3 days a week.

I had my 6 week check up on Tuesday and everything is healing up. I have been referred to Cardiac Rehab and still waiting for them to call me and set it up. The best news is...I CAN DRIVE.

I just completed physical therapy and able to go up the stairs and walk without a walker. I am going in for a 6 week checkup next week and hopefully I will be allowed to drive. The next step in my recovery is to start the cardiac rehab program. I would like to thank everyone for the prayers.

After reading my daughters update I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. She was my little soldier. I am so happy and proud of how she stepped up took care of everything and she is still taking care of me. I came home on January 5th and have been getting stronger every day. I am so grateful to be able to sit here and update my journal. This has been a journey and it gave me time to do self inspection and also made my bond with God and my family stronger. God is so good. I will keep you updated on my progress. Thank you to everyone for the prayers.

Better day today! Physical therapy came and worked with her and she was able to stand, which is great after being bed bound for 6 days! She didn't completely pass her swallow study, but she didn't fail either. She is now allowed a full liquid diet, so, what's for dinner you ask? Well icecream of course! They decreased her tube feed, as Thanksgiving is over, so there really is no need to fatten my pardoned turkey. We will be willing hostages for at least 2 weeks, to allow her to continue to rest, and get back to her stronger self. The doctors are very pleased with her progress, and they feel, as do I, that she will get through this beautifully! Here's to the power of prayer!

Hello everyone. I am Necole, Angela's daughter. I am writing this update for her, as she cannot do it herself. Since I'm writing this, it will be filled with some humor, to help me cope since I am not allowed to have a nervous breakdown yet. So, hold onto your hats, this is quite a rollercoaster. As you know, she went on for surgery on Dec. 2, 2015. What was supposed to be a routine procedure has been anything but. *UPHILL* they ran into complications regarding the size of the mechanical valve in relation to her artery. That led to a patch to make the artery bigger, and a (unexpected) bypass to relieve pressure on another artery. After an almost 8 hour surgery, they could not stop the bleeding, which led to multiple transfusions, and ended with a transfer to another hospital. *DOWNHILL* Once at the new hospital, she suffered from V-tach and had to be shocked 3 times. They were successful in getting the rhythm back on track, as well a stop the bleeding, but she was on a vent as well as ECMO. Whoa. Now for the *CURVE*, and some positive news. It has been 5 days since this ride began. She is off of the VENT and ECMO. She is alert and oriented. She is getting stronger with each passing hour. She is still on RVAD support, but the right side heart function is getting better as well. Left side heart is doing great. Mom decided to throw us for a *LOOP* today and became very depressed, thinking that she was dying and she wanted us to pull the plug.....I threw her for a *LOOP* of my own, and let her know that there no plugs to be pulled, unless she was talking about her temporary feeding tube! She thought she was on life support! *Curve* I let her know that not only was she NOT on life support, that she was on minimal cardiac support, and that things were looking good, including her. We have a ways to go, but I think (and pray) we are coming to the end of all the curves and loops of this ride. My plan is to help my mom coast along until she is back and (I suspect) better than ever! She left a (a very long) list of things for me to do while she was in the hospital, including individual texts to no less that 10-15 people, phones calls to specific people, monitoring her real estate company, and of course, updating this website. No pressure mom!! I cannot wait for her to come on here and read this update. When that time comes, I will be in a closet somewhere having the breakdown I deserve! Love you mom! I hope I didn't frighten anyone, as all that has happened is not common. This type of surgery is usually routine, but as my mom herself would tell you, Angela is an alien. A very feisty one, at that. She may very well be the one that plagued Ridley all of these years! Thank you to everyone for the well wishes.

I completed my pre op procedures today and everything is set to go. I have to be at the hospital at 5:15 am and surgery should start at 7:45. Prayers going out to all who are having surgery and recovering from surgery. God bless all of my heart brothers and sisters.

Happy Thanksgiving to the best group of people in the world. Adam thanks for writing the book that answered all of my questions. I have said it before and I will say it again I am so blessed to have found this site.

I have been reading this site and I feel so blessed to have stumbled across the site in my search on open heart surgery recovery. The stories have been so helpful in alleviating some of my stress and anxieties.