JoAnne's Journal

Hi Everyone, It\'s been about a month since my last post. I wasn\'t sure if I was going to write another one but I felt I needed to have closure. I started cardiac rehab Thursday June 24th. It\'s Mon., Wed. & Fri. mornings. On Wed. there\'s an hour long class on how to keep your heart healthy. I know most of the stuff but it\'s good to have it reinforced. On Fri. there\'s a yoga class before the workout and will last six weeks. I\'ll finish on Aug 6th. It made me decide to take the rest of the summer off and not look for a part time job yet. I\'m so glad I have the time to spend on getting healthy. I saw my Cardiologist on June 29th and he\'s impressed with my progress. He was glad to hear I was starting rehab. I told him I still get tired easily and that when I can, I take naps in the afternoon. He said it will take another three months till I start feeling like myself again. I still have a tight feeling through the layers in my chest but it\'s only uncomfortable when I get up in the morning and when I go to bed. I started using my Cpap breathing machine at night and I\'m sleeping much better and feeling more rested. This has been such a hot summer that I\'m glad I don\'t have a lot of patio plants to water. I\'ve always had lots of container plants and different beds in the yard I\'ve tended. The vegetable plants Steve put in have been all I could keep up with this year. He keeps most of it watered and I just do the harvesting. Two days ago I went out in the afternoon and picked a couple of tomatoes I was going to use for dinner and they had cooked on the vine in the 100 degree heat. We\'ve been having some problem with blossom end-rot but they weren\'t discolored, just mushy. Anyway, I want to thank you all again for all your prayers and good thoughts and I\'m grateful to be able to drift through the rest of the summer. My Love to You All!! JoAnne

Hi Everyone, Sorry I haven\'t done any entries in a while. I\'ve been a lot more tired this last week for some reason. I\'ve been out for the walk around the neighborhood I used to do before all this happened. It\'s just over 1&1/2 miles and I\'m doing it in the mornings while it\'s still cool but I don\'t think that\'s what is doing it. I\'m still not sleeping well and I can\'t really lay down when I do sleep because of the pulling feeling I get down the front of my chest. Steve took me to see Dr. Kern on Monday and I had a couple of x-rays before he saw me. He said everything looks great. The sternum is healing well and there was no fluid around the heart or in the lungs. When I asked him how long the discomfort was going to last in the incision area, all he would say was that everyone heals differently and wouldn\'t give me any time estimates. He did say he wanted to see me again in six months because of the repair he had to do on my aortic artery. There was a lot more to the surgery than just the valve replacement and there is a lot of deep healing going on. I asked him when I could drive my car and he said anytime now I could take it out for a test drive. Yesterday I went over to Whole Foods to get something good for lunch. It went pretty well. My car doesn\'t have power steering and I felt strong enough to drive it safely. I\'m doing some light housework now and keeping up with laundry but if I had to stand on my feet all day that would be too much. I\'m watching lots of DVD\'s and doing jigsaw puzzles on my laptop. It\'s become almost an obsession because I love searching for the shapes and colors. That\'s all I can think to write for now. Today is 5 weeks since the surgery and it continues to be a roller coaster ride. I would do it again in a minute to get to where I am now. I\'m just looking forward to really getting my energy back and being able to run through my life again. I was always able to get so much done in a day but I\'m enjoying the quietness. I\'m so grateful for Steve and his patience with me and being such a good provider so I have a wonderful home to live in with lots of peace and quiet. My life is truly a Blessing! Thank you God for all the wonderful family and friends that support me. Love, JoAnne

Today is only three weeks since the surgery. I made a lot of progress this week. My back pain is gone and I can lay on my side for longer periods of time. I\'m sleeping for longer periods of time. I\'m still up half the night and the very worst TV is on then. I have the entire series of Six Feet Under and I\'m starting to go through that again. The acting is outstanding. When I saw Dr. Shelly, Steve and I were concerned about the amount of blood and blood products I had to get when I was in the recovery room after the surgery. I made it through the surgery with no blood loss at all but when it was all finished and I was in recovery before being moved to the ICU I started bleeding out. I have no idea what was going on but I suspect it had something to do with the aspirin tablet I was given before surgery. I was told it was standard procedure. Twice in my life I got uncontrollable nosebleeds from taking aspirin for cold symptoms where I had to go to the emergency room to have my nose packed. Anyway, Steve and I wanted to have my blood tested for possible contaminants in the blood. I have total confidence with the blood department at UVA but because of that slight chance that something slipped through, Dr. Shelly gave me a prescription to take to UVA for the testing. So, this past Monday the 24th, Dad took me to the hospital. Well, Dad has a bad knee and can\'t walk comfortably for any distance. By the time we walked through the parking garage and into the hospital he was limping so bad that we picked up a wheelchair and I pushed him along to Primary Care. I took it slow and the wheelchair was so well balanced that all I really had to do was nudge it to move along. We both thought it was pretty funny that I was the one pushing him instead of the other way around. Dr. Shelly called me Thursday morning with the results. Everything looked fine but we found out I\'m anemic. I\'m so glad I found out because I\'ve been having some shortness of breath. She said that was being caused by the fact that the new red blood cells that my body is making don\'t yet have the capacity to carry enough oxygen for my body\'s needs. She told me what kind of iron supplement to take. I have to take three tablets a day with meals for three months. I am so grateful for all the prayers and well wishes I\'m continuing to receive. I hope you all have a wonderful Memorial DAY weekend! Love and Blessings to You All! JoAnne

This afternoon (5/20) Steve took me to Prompt Care so I could see Dr.Shelly for my one week follow-up to my primary care physician. It was great to see her. I took my hospital discharge papers with me and she was grateful that I did. It turned out that she did her residency at UVA and knew all the doctors involved. Everything looks good. When I told her I was still having some pain in my back she examined the area I pointed out to her and there was nothing visible. She told me she had observed open heart surgery and they have the ribs spread apart pretty far so it can be hard on your back. I\'m also having some numbness and loss of full range of motion of my left shoulder. These things should resolve themselves with time. When she listened to my heart, the expression on her face was so beautiful and she said......your heart sounds normal.

There\'s been enough improvement that I felt it was time for a new entry. My sleep cycles have kind of switched around from my pre-surgery sleep. I used to sleep through the night especially after I got my cpap machine last summer for my sleep apnia. Now that I can\'t sleep for more than 1&1/2 to 2 hours at a time I\'m up half the night. Last night, that was a good thing because I used the quiet of the night to catch up in my journal. The last entry was Thursday night before the surgery. Some of the memories were starting to fade and Steve and I not talking much about it. We\'re really moving forward. Last evening I said something to him like....last week at this time blah, blah, blah. I only brought it up because I was so amazed that it\'s been less than a week since I left the hospital. When I was in the ICU he told me that the body has a way of forgetting how bad the trama really was. He\'s had two surgeries. I guess if it didn\'t, every family would only have one child! Some of what I wanted to remember were the wonderful caregivers. The ones who took care of me in the night were especially wonderful. Then there was the tiny angelic woman who was in the room with me the night before the surgery. I heard her whispering her prayers in the night. It turned out her name is Velma and she is 86. She\'s from the little town over in the Valley, Monteray VA, where they have the maple festival and this was her first surgery ever. She had her appendix removed. I stuck my head around the curtain Friday morning and she told me what beautiful hair I had. When I told her I was a hairdresser she said I should move to where she lives because they need me over there. I told her I was having my heart valve replaced. She said I would be just fine and that she was going to pray for me. I tell you, My Life is just one Blessing after another. I knew Velma would pray a powerful prayer! Today I went out for a 10 minute walk on my own. I just walked back and forth in front of two houses and timed myself with my cell phone. I want to do two more walks like that before the end of the day. I\'m doing my breathing about five times a day and other than that, mostly wandering around the house doing this and that. The incision looks like it\'s not even going to leave a scar. We see my primary care doctor on Thursday. I\'m calling her that because she\'s the one who got me the the referral for the cardiologist at UVA who got the ball rolling. That\'s about it for now. Thank you All for your Love and Support!

Hi Everyone! I was released a day earlier than expected. I was up and walking pretty good on Tuesday and all the staff that came to care for me said I was a strong woman and they said I was determined to move my recovery right along. Of course I didn\'t get much sleep while I was there and the bed in the ICU was more comfortable than the one on the floor because it had an air cushion system that kept adjusting to your movements. I\'ve never been comfortable sleeping on my back so that added to the discomfort. The last two nights I was there I slept more on the chair than the bed and the night time hours went so slow. Steve came and sat with me for hours everyday and he really (I mean really) dislikes hospitals. This shared experience has confirmed to me how devoted he is to me and we are going through a deeper bonding because of it. He was having so much anxiety that he\'s lost all the weight he gained since we meet four and a half years ago. Now I\'m all bloated from the fluids I gained but by the time my eight week recovery is over, I\'ll be thinner too. We\'re determined to eat healthier foods as we move forward. We\'re looking at having a healthier older age together. Thanks again for all your love and well wishes!!

It\'s Monday and Jo-Anne is out of the Intensive Care Unit. Steve was there when she walked down the hall to her new room and he reports she was steady in her steps. She still doesn\'t have much of an appetite. Can\'t sleep for long periods. She tiers easily. Being in bed, doesn\'t help her back much. She has a pace-maker and a few tubes. Her color looked good though. She said not to \"bombard\" you with too many emails. But, I will let you know when she is released to go home. Which may be on Thursday. Thank You All for your thoughts and prayers-- Ja\'net (sister & guest writer)

The surgery was a success.In addition to the aortic valve replacement, she did have part of the artery replaced because of an aneurysm (weakening or bulge of the artery). Dr. Kern said it is not uncommon for that to be done. Her surgery started a later than expected and lasted longer than expected. I went there at mid-afternoon and when told she was just beginning, I went back to work. When I got there after work, she still wasn\'t out and I found Dad there. He had found his way to the hospital just after I had left. Anyway, we were there when the doctor called the waiting room at 6:30 p.m. Her partner, Steve, talked briefly with her this morning and said she sounds strong but raspy from the breathing tube. We are going to see her this afternoon, even though she said she didn\'t want any visitors for a few days. He says trying to go though the telephone operators to get to talk with a nurse is a pain. Thank You All for your thoughts and prayers-- Ja\'net (sister & guest writer)

This is just to let you know that Jo-Anne\'s surgery is scheduled for 11-11:30 a.m.Friday. Today was pre-op day. She had some blood work, an IV line and a catheter put in. She was in her room by 3:30 and had to lay flat on her back for about four hours. She was in good spirits when our dad and I visited around 6 p.m. The anesthesiologist and Dr.Kern had already visited with her and explained the procedures. Dad brought her a present of a polished gemstone - malachite. It was in a small wooden \"secret\" box by heartwood with a small heart on one corner. Malachite is associated with the heart chakra. When she told him, he said \"Jeanie\" is guiding me. Thank You All for your thoughts and prayers-- Ja\'net ( sister & guest writer)

This has been a wonderful journey to get to this day. I am so grateful for the coincidences that brought me to this time of transformation. A lot of people never get the opportunity for a new beginning like I\'m getting. The miracle of having my heart fixed and finding my way to one of the top heart Surgeons in the world is truly a blessing. I know there will be some painful and difficult days ahead but I am already visioning myself as whole, healthy and full of life. When I told my Dad I was going to need this operation, he told me that God has a plan for me and I believe him. As many of you know, I lost my Mother last August to heart disease and other complications. Even before she passed into Spirit I had a plan to move Dad down here to Virginia from New York State. Mom told me she was so worried about him. They had been married 62 years. For more than three years she suffered to stay alive because she knew she was a comfort to him and I knew he would feel lost without her. Well he is thriving here and his strong Faith that he is being guided through life by the Hand of God has been an Inspiration to me and he has become my best friend. He, more than anyone, brings laughter into my life and that will be the medicine that no doctor can prescribe. In the next week or so my dear sister Ja\'net will make a few blog entries to keep you all informed on my progress. My Partner, Steve, has created a cheerful environment for me to come home to with lots of light and thoughtful details so I can move around the house with comfort and ease. Thank you all for your support and God\'s Blessings to You All!!

I met the wonderful surgeon today who will fix my heart. He answered all my questions and told me what great shape I am in for the surgery. He was happy to tell me that my heart is in good working order except for the valve that needs to be replaced. When he asked me how soon I wanted to get going with this I told him as soon as possible. So I\'ll be checking into UVA Medical on Thursday May 6th. They\'ll do a cardiac catheterization that day along with all the pre-surgical things they have to do. I\'ll spend that night and the surgery will be on Friday.