Cheryl's Journal

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0936HQ9BL?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

not sure if this will come through or not. Bras I ordered from Amazon. Very comfortable after the surgery. Im a 36 c/d and I ordered the x-large and they fit well. The occupational therapist said they were better than what the hospital provided. And IMO very reasonable cost wise.

Coronary Angiography today.

Today went extremely well.  Late getting into the Cath Lab for the procedure.  Apparently things didn’t go as well for the patient before me.  Hope he/she is doing okay.

My procedure was to be diagnostic only in order to give my cardiac surgeon a heads up if there would be anything else he would need to do in addition to the valve replacement in two weeks.

The good, change that, great news.  I’m making his job easier.  My arteries look great.  Yeah.  

The cath surgeon often goes through the wrist for the angiography , but I only have one arm available for poking due to lymph nodes being removed during breast cancer surgery many years ago so no IVs, vaccines, blood pressure, etc in that arm.  So with the IV in my left arm, the catheter going to the heart needed to go through the femoral artery in the groin area.  

Off to the cath lab.  Lots of people there.  At least five others and the doctor.  Impressive team work.  Two technicians did a superb job of cleaning the area where the catheter was going to be inserted.  They actually did both sides of the groin.  I’m sure they scrubbed off several layers of skin.  They did mention the liquid they were using was blue and it’ll wear off in a couple days.  For now, I’m light blue from my groin to mid way to my knees on both legs.  The Smurf effect.  The procedure itself was almost painless.  A bit of pressure in the groin area and that’s it.  Got a mild sedative of lidocaine but still wide awake.  At one point I could even see the monitor showing the catheter and arteries.  I asked about it and after the procedure, one of the technicians showed me the videos of the catheter and arteries and pointed out my heart.  Very cool.  

Getting on the surgical table from my bed was me scooching over.  After the procedure, can’t do that.  I’m actually laying on an inflatable mattress, they inflate it then swing me back onto the bed.  Only criteria, the cath nurse said I needed to say “weee” as they swung me back to the bed.  So I did, with enthusiasm.  We all had a giggle. Gotta have fun when you can.

Then, back to post op and two hours of bed rest.  And they meant bed rest.  Not allowed to raise my head up from the pillow.  Nurse said if I needed to cough, clear my throat, laugh or pass gas, I needed to press down on the area of the incision.  It truly would have been in bad form to bleed out after the angiography went so well.  

I’m supposed to take it easy for a couple days.  No lifting anything over 10 pounds, no pushing or pulling, or exertion.  Easier said than done, but I’ll do my best.  The area is a bit tender now, but not too uncomfortable.

 I am so impressed with the University of Virginia (UVA) hospital nurses and technicians.  Real team work and so friendly.  My pre/post op team consisted of a nurse, two technicians, and a nurse practitioner.  They all worked so well together and so genuinely friendly to me, to Mike and to each other.  When I left, everyone wished me well on my surgery in two weeks.

Tomorrow is my cardiac catherization / coronary angiography.  The technician/ doctor will put a plastic tube through one of my blood vessels in my wrist and into my heart, then inject dye into the tube.  An X-ray will take pictures of the heart arteries and vessels and evaluate for any blockages.  Since I’m having surgery in two weeks, they are checking to see if anything else needs fixing in the heart.  The whole procedure takes between 30 minutes to 2 hours.  Then I have “bed rest” for 1-4 hours before they let me go home.  

What does one wear for this kind of procedure?  I’m thinking dress for comfort.  

Yoga yesterday and a 40-minute walk with Mike today.  It’s sunny and hot out today.  I’m supposed to be hydrating for the procedure tomorrow.  Also practicing with my volumetric exercise.  Five breaths four times a day.  An interesting contraption to help with deep breathing which will ward against pneumonia after the surgery.  Thankfully we do deep breathing exercises in yoga so I already have good lung capacity.  Also wearing my sternum security device to get used to it.  It’s a contraption worn across the chest that you can pull tight when you sneeze or cough after the surgery.  Unfortunately it squeezes the girls as well.  You also get a pillow to hold to the chest to help with the pain.  From what I’ve heard and read, coughing and sneezing will be quite painful for a while.  Coughing is good, though, to help clear out the lungs.  

My heart has spoken.  The aortic valve needs to be replaced.  We put it off for 2 1/2 years, but now it's time.   Had an echocardiogram in March and the stenosis had substantially increased over the last six months and was clearly severe.  Had another CT scan, met with my cardiologist and then met with my surgeon on Friday.  Then, the ball started rolling.  University of Virginia hospital cardiology is a well oiled machine.  We all agreed, I knew it before my meetings based on research, that I would be doing the open heart surgery rather than the Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement (TAVR).  It was either do the TAVR first time and about ten years later, do a surgical replacement.  Or do surgery now and TAVR next time.  This made more sense to me.  Do surgery while I'm younger and probably healthier.  TAVR in TAVR is tough.  And, as I found out yesterday, probably not an option for me.  One, my aortic root is small.  They like to put in a 26 valve, but in my case it's a 23.  Secondly, there wouldn't be room because I have effaced sinuses near the valve area.  So, it's going to be surgery this time.  The surgeon is hopeful he may be able to enlarge the area while he's in there.  He's also concerned about any other possible scarring from the radiation I had 26 years ago, so open heart gives him an opportunity to check that.  Next Wednesday I'm having a cardiac catherization/ coronary angiography procedure to check for any other blockages in the heart.  And surgery is scheduled for 05 June.   I'll be in the ICU for 2-3 days, then acute care for 2-3 days until I come home.  Mike is allowed in the ICU 24 hours a day.  So, he'll stay with me.  Between the time I found out it was time until I met with the surgeon, I'd done lots of research.  We even watched a surgical AVR on YouTube.  So, we know what to expect.  I'm comfortable with and I like the surgeon.  His staff really likes him as well.