Wow thank you all so much. I'm so humbled by all the love, energy, light, Zaps, prayers and support. It's so hard to believe I'm finishing up my 1 week since ...Read more
Wow thank you all so much. I'm so humbled by all the love, energy, light, Zaps, prayers and support. It's so hard to believe I'm finishing up my 1 week since surgery. It still seems surreal to me. So far everyday has been better than then previous and today is no different. My chest pain is very low now, but a decent cough or hack still is a bit frightening. OMG, so glad I have not had to sneeze! One day while I was recovering, my Doc (the surgeon) came to see me. I was eating lunch in my bed, actually part way into a salad. He asked me if I had been fitted for a "harness" that fits around my chest that I can squeeze when I feel a cough come on. I told him I had not and so he left to go get me one. The minute he left, I took a bite of my salad and inhaled a Tiny piece of lettuce into my lung that started the most painful cough in the world. When he came back with the harness, I told him he was too late! So, still just taking it easy being protective of my chest. According to one of the cardiologists, my heart is fine. I'm good to go. 50 year warranty. But I need to be most protective of my chest, letting that grow back together and heal. So for now it seems I'm "out of the woods" so to speak and plan on taking it VERY slow just one day at a time.
I can't thank you all enough for all the love and support. I truly believe it makes a difference, so I thank each and every one of you for contributing to my healing and allowing me to continue this wonderful journey we call life!
With humble and sincere love,
Dave
Sorry for not updating sooner, life after the ICU was very busy and I may have been feeling the stress just a little bit...
Fortunately Dave is doing well ...Read more
Sorry for not updating sooner, life after the ICU was very busy and I may have been feeling the stress just a little bit...
Fortunately Dave is doing well and progressing as best as possible. We are so grateful for all of the amazing messages, thoughts and prayers. We know that all of the love and positive energy has helped him do so well.
We love you all, thank you so much for all of your support.
Dan Merkel Great to hear all the good news! Dave, please keep it up and move along home, soon!
Love ya!
Dan
Dave has officially been moved out of the ICU and is now in the room where he will be for the rest of his stay. All his tubes have been removed and he even ...Read more
Dave has officially been moved out of the ICU and is now in the room where he will be for the rest of his stay. All his tubes have been removed and he even has his own private bathroom now. :)
Dan Merkel Great progress and more!
True happy Valentine day.
Give her a kiss David?
Dan
Lisa Marx That's great. WOW. Seems like things went just perfect. I'm so thankful for both of you!!!!!!!! N ... Read more
Lisa Marx That's great. WOW. Seems like things went just perfect. I'm so thankful for both of you!!!!!!!! Now I'm going to have to be all healthy and shit. haha
It was a quiet night in the ICU, so yay for Dave being able to get some good sleep in! Around 4am they needed to have him stand up so they could weigh him, ...Read more
It was a quiet night in the ICU, so yay for Dave being able to get some good sleep in! Around 4am they needed to have him stand up so they could weigh him, and thankfully Dave was able to get out of bed without incident. He is continuing to do great and all things indicate he will be able to leave the ICU today! Woo hoo!
Dan Merkel Leaving today, wow,
David!
And happy Valentines Day for Katie!
Dan
For those of you who are curious about how the day is progressing:
They started waking him up around 2pm, about a half hour later (once he was breathing ...Read more
For those of you who are curious about how the day is progressing:
They started waking him up around 2pm, about a half hour later (once he was breathing safely on his own) they removed the breathing tube.
His pain has been pretty high, which apparently is common for someone as young as he is and with more muscle tone. So they’ve been working on getting enough pain meds on board to make him comfortable enough to rest and get some sleep.
Today is all about him resting and sleeping as much as he can so that his body can start to recover from the trauma of surgery.
So far everything is going as planned. :-)
Dan Merkel Sounds like you are on the right road! Keep it up and know we are here thinking of you and hope the ... Read more
Dan Merkel Sounds like you are on the right road! Keep it up and know we are here thinking of you and hope the road brings you home, soon.
Love ya!
Dan
Mark Schellhase Thanks for the update. May he sleep well and heal fast!
Dr. Castro just came out and spoke with us after the surgery and let us know that everything went smoothly. He said his heart looks good, he was able to repair ...Read more
Dr. Castro just came out and spoke with us after the surgery and let us know that everything went smoothly. He said his heart looks good, he was able to repair the valve completely and it should last him another 50 years!!! Yay!!
Thank you all for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. I truly believe all of the positive energy has helped to make this whole process go as smoothly as possible. I've been reading everything to Dave and will continue to pass along your messages. He really appreciates all of your support, and so do I.
Now we just have to focus on a smooth and easy recovery!
Love you all!
~K
Dan Merkel Great news Katie! Look forward to that smooth and easy recovery!
Love to you both!
Dan & Sonja
Mark Schellhase Amazing news! Let him know Steph, Bella, Mason and I all send our love and are ecstatic to hear the p ... Read more
Mark Schellhase Amazing news! Let him know Steph, Bella, Mason and I all send our love and are ecstatic to hear the positive update.
Hey Everyone,
It’s Katie, I’ll be posting the updates on here as the days go by. Today Dave Had his Angiogram and his arteries are clear! Yay! This ...Read more
Hey Everyone,
It’s Katie, I’ll be posting the updates on here as the days go by. Today Dave Had his Angiogram and his arteries are clear! Yay! This is great news, meaning he didn’t need to have any stents put in and he’ll be able to leave the hospital this afternoon and won’t have to return until tomorrow morning for his surgery.
His surgery is scheduled for 9am tomorrow 2/13 and we will be getting to the hospital at 6am. Fingers crossed tomorrow goes just as smoothly as today did.
Lisa Marx Well if Dave had the choice between the best glass of Chardonnay in the world, or the best shot of Te ... Read more
Lisa Marx Well if Dave had the choice between the best glass of Chardonnay in the world, or the best shot of Tequila in the world, which one would he pick the night before his surgery? I know Dave would pick the Tequila and I would pick the Chardonnay. So since Dave can't have either, I will have both. Cheers Dave. \_/. I will be following Katie's posts. Thanks Katie!!!!!!!! God Bless
Hope everything went well with David. He is in my prayers. God bless you both
Yikes, I've been diagnosed with a severe leaky mitral heart valve or severe regurgitation of the blood. Basically, the fresh oxygenated blood coming from my ...Read more
Yikes, I've been diagnosed with a severe leaky mitral heart valve or severe regurgitation of the blood. Basically, the fresh oxygenated blood coming from my lungs arrives in the heart and then when the heart pumps a little tiny valve needs to close and seal, so all of that fresh blood gets pumped out to my body. Well, that little tiny valve is fucked up and about half of that fresh blood goes back into my lungs. It's like shoveling fresh light snow and throwing it into the wind, half of it comes back onto the driveway. It's not super urgent. It's not like I'm going to fall over an die anytime soon, but it needs to be dealt with. So, I'm going to have open heart surgery to fix the valve next Thursday the 13th at Sequioa Hospital in the Bay Area. My Doc, has done over 3000 valve surgeries and over 1500 mitral valve repairs, has a 0% mortality rate and about 99% of what he goes into fix, he actually fixes. So, I'm feeling that I’m in good hands. If for some reason he can't fix the valve, then I get a pig valve or something like that. The downside to that is it only will last 10-15 years, and I'll need a new one. If everything goes good with the surgery, then in 9 months or so I should be back to normal or even better. If you could call me normal??? During the surgery my heart will be stopped for about an hour and machines will pump my blood and breath for me (hope the power doesn’t go out). Surgery will take about two hours and I’ll be in the hospital for about 5 days or so. Katie will provide updates etc. on this page for everyone to see. Love you all, wish me luck.