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Barbara Helen's Posts

Diagnosis: Aortic Regurgitation, Aortic Stenosis, Atrial Fibrillation, Coronary Artery Disease

Member Since: March 12, 2017

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Barbara Helen Dance posted an update

8 years ago (July 16, 2017)

When the nurse came in later, she wondered how come my bed was so 'high'......( yes I know they can climb I said, but it made me FEEL better I said, when asked.) . Most of us are aware of the terrible fire in the London flats..... well on the... Read more.

Soggy Rodent

Oh my goodness, that sounds awful! There was lots of noise when I was in the ICU and IICU but at least there weren't alarms going off. How r u feeling?

Barbara Helen Dance

Hi Soggy Rodent, thank you for getting in touch. I do feel soooooo much better now I am at home, though of course there are bad days and good days. Yesterday was a good day, haha, having 'dosed' myself up, and dressed up in order to attend my daughters graduation... Read more.

Soggy Rodent

Congratulations! What an accomplishment! That dang constipation! It really harshes the mellow, as if we didn't feel bad enough. I quit taking opiates within a week of being home to get things moving again.

Barbara Helen Dance posted an update

8 years ago (July 16, 2017)

Whilst self caring and waiting for my i.n.r to reach an acceptable level.....4-5 days.....I was in a side ward on both the step down and the final ward. The various designations of staff came and went, during which I got my meals ,drugs etc. The rest of the time...I became... Read more.

Jennifer McInerney

Possibly you were hallucinating as a result of all your drugs. Although why would you choose a spider. If I'm hallucinating, I'm hoping it will be someone tall, dark, handsome and fabulously wealthy but I digress.......

Barbara Helen Dance

Nope!?, I never did see where it went, an believe me I watched for a long time..... haha, I hope I WAS hallucinating, because if not where did it go??????, but at least you made me feel better, even if it seemed very, very, very real at the time....(chuckle).xx

Soggy Rodent

My brother recently told me that when I came home from the hospital, I was hitting bugs that weren't there. When he told me there were no bugs, I told him to not try telling me that. I smashed one and saw its guts. I had no idea I was... Read more.

Barbara Helen Dance posted an update

8 years ago (July 16, 2017)

Once home, my joy at getting to sleep in my own little bed was sheer bliss. However the second night.... less so..... restless, fidgeting due to restlessness leg syndrome..... The third night, discovering aches and pains I never imagined possible........😓. I am taking sufficient pain relief, but I always wake at some stage, disorientated and woozy. I eat well in the day, and drink enough, . The Bowels........(shudder......haha , taking Senna, 2at night.They don't always work, leaving me feeling nauseated an bloated. My gp has written me up for some anti emetics the stop the nausea. She tells me my blood pressure is still quite low. The hospital have sent me home on Frusemide , but have taken me off my Amiodarone, my Anlodopine, and my g.t.n spray. on Friday this week, I visited for my i.n.r , and it was 2.6!!. My dressing was redone(the removal of one of the pacing wires has left a small sloughy area,.... but with the exception of the swelling at the top of the scar , it all looks good. I am told the soft swelling is fine and usual and will go soon. All things going as they should. Others can hear my mechanical valve..... but not me!!. I have had about three small intervals of palpitations since leaving hospital, and though worrying at the time ,have been thankfully brief. My daughter has her presentation of her Law degree at Oxford University on Friday 21 st.........its early days, but I hope I will be a lot more mobile and have lot less sternum and general discomfort if only for that one day!!!!😊, and I will be so proud. My family have, as I thought they would, turned up trumps, and nothing is too much trouble....... however, it Has to be said , that when it comes to those moments when it is just you ,your 'aches' and your trusty cushion...... haha..... you cant help but be sorry for yourself.Then tomorrow is another day you should feel so thankful to be alive, and so you bounce back in the only way that recovering heart valve patients DO. My little dog was sooooooooop pleased to see me again, and sensing my vulnerability, manages to offer just the right amount of love without hurting my already delicate person, haha. I am very tired now, so please forgive me for going now, but I will be back to update things. I will just wish all my heart friends the very best...... and like me, those of you facing surgery soon, IT IS worth going through, after all ,without surgery ......our prognosis can appear definitely grim. With the surgery over, at least you can tackle each day as it comes,,. I found it hard to believe, as you do, but each day improves in one way or another, For every discomfort since my surgery, I have only to look at my family around me and I know that its worth every squeak and 'ouch', Keep faith, my love and best wishes, Barbara.xxx I hope to put a new photo on site soon..

👍 Sandy Laine reacted to this

Barbara Helen Dance

July 4th....day of surgery, and the first day of the rest of my life...... note to self..... no pain..... no gain.

Rita Savelis

Good show Barbara! It's okay to feel a little bit sorry for yourself... and then you move forward. Take care.

Barbara Helen Dance

Hi Rita, thank you for staying in touch. I find that it really is a case of good days and bad days.... Yesterday, it was thankfully a good day. Which was just as well, as it was the day of my daughters graduation from OXFORD university with her Law degree.... Read more.

Rita Savelis

Barbara, Your writing tells it like it really is! Thanks for always making me smile. Big congratulations to you and your daughter! There is nothing quite like graduation day....especially when it's at Oxford!!

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