Stephen's Journal

My first week back at work did not quite goes as planned. I was there Monday morning at 7am only to fine out I was assigned to work with a team in India so I have an 11pm to midnight meeting. Oh and then I have a 7am Tuesday morning meeting. I am not quite ready for nights of only 5 hours sleep. Lets see what happens this next week. I will try working some from home so I can get a few more hours of sleep. I am doing good but my body still want a good night's sleep. Bought some inexpensive weights so I can continue with my arm weight training at home. My son starts college in two weeks so that is the focus around the house right now. Also waiting for cooler days so I can do more running outside to keep getting back into shape.

I started back at work on Monday morning at 7am. I got a new assignment in the afternoon which invoved a conference call THAT NIGHT from 11pm to midnight. It was a long and tiring day. Not a good "back to work" start. But today (Tuesday) was better. We will see how things go at work in the next few weeks.

Haven't posted in two weeks. Mostly working on Cardiac Rehab and getting into a normal routine. First rehab is going well. I have started jogging. They had me jogging 1 minute and fast walking for 2 min over 30 min for the past week. Now I have upped that to half jogging and half walking for 34 min. I even jogged a little while walking the dog on an off day. Next sleeping is going much better. I can sleep on my side now so sleeping through the night most of the time. Vision in the left eye has settled down. After a few more visits with the eye doctor, I have new glasses and contacts coming in next few weeks. Given that I am planning to return to work full time at the end of the month. I just sent in all my return to work paperwork today. Plus now that my vision is better i have finally catching up on movies that I had planned to see while in recovery.

All right, it has been 5 weeks since the surgery and I had both doctor visits this week. First I met with my surgeon, Dr Kerendi, yesterday. Most everything is going really well and he was happy with my progress. I had my long list of questions ready and we mostly went through the list quickly. Highlights: - I can drive now! Yeah. Breast bone has healed enough to ride in front seat of a car. - Medicine wise, I only need to continue on Lopressor beta blocker to keep heart beating normal for another 3 months. - I given the green light to jog/run if desired, - Still need to limit upper body workout and weight on arms to 5-10 per for few more months. So no walking the dog yet since she constantly pulls on the lease. - Next appointment is not until a year from now when he wants to do a CatScan to view how the graft to repair part of the aortic root is doing. Next was a visit to my Cardiologist, Dr Tiblier. - EKG was good. New valve has a slight murmur but that can be expected. Will go back in 3 months to check it again. - Scar looks good. - Less meds going forward. So that was ALL GREAT NEWS, Now the only issue I am still dealing with is vision in my left eye. I talked to both doctors about this. My vision in the left eye changed A LOT after the surgery. A guess is that when I went on the heart machine during the surgery either temp loss of blood flow or microscopic calcification from the valve got into the blood flow to that eye. My many headaches post surgery were all from eye strain. Both doctors expect it to normalize over time. I have already been to the Eye Doctor and full check was clean but yes vision was way different than last time. I got new temp contacts that are OK. I got new glasses but they still cause headaches. Unfortunately with upcoming holiday, it will be another week and half before they can get me back in. So I usually wear my contacts for half a day or so and then just walk around the house with normal 20-50 vision. It does mean I have NOT watched all those movies I had queued up before the surgery. Overall LIFE IS GOOD.

It has been 4 weeks Post Op. I am sleeping better at night but not always through the night. I walk in mornings AND evenings now (which more than minimum rehab wants). Still have to limit what I do with my arms (take it easy on the stitches and healing). So I can't take the dog with me on walks. Plus still a NO for driving.

Happy Father's Day to all that have gone through the surgery and to all supporting those who have! I have noticed my vision changed. Gone to eye doctor and got new trial contacts. Waiting for new glasses to come in. I think the old eye glasses were contributing to the headaches.

It is 3 weeks Post Op and today I started my Cardiac Rehab at facility near Round rock Hospital. It went well. They wired me up to a monitor and I did 20 min fast walk on the treadmill. Now I do Rehab 3 days a week with them and evening walk at home every day. Also went to the Eye Doctor for my annual visit. Busy day. My daughter was my driver all day. Now I am definitely tired.

Yesterday I had a headache most of the day. Rested. Did very little. Today got up rested, no headache, felt good.. Started doing stuff around the house non-stop until about 3pm. ohhhhh. Hit the wall. Way too much. I am beat. Yeah I am going to have a problem with that. Time to rest.

I am still getting better. Most of the headaches are gone. Following my pain management regiment. Take it easy with the walks, I think I was trying to do to much before. Not sleeping through the night yet but recovery is going well.

On Day 9 Post Op, I made it to my son's high school graduation. Thus within 2 weeks I made it through a college graduation, surgery and then a high school graduation. It is time to relax!

With the bloating after surgery, I wasn't drinking enough water. My weight and bloating is down. I drank my required amount of water today so much less headaches. Getting better. However I still get up at 4am each morning, which started in the hospital. Hopefully tomorrow I will sleep later.

Yesterday the Gindin's came by for a nice visit. Then in evening walked with my daughter and dog for half a mile. Oops that was too much. I was exhausted. Had persistent headache through the night and this morning. So took it very easy day. Played Star Wars Risk with the kids. Headache has gone away. My parents are still here to take care of me during the day. They are staying through my son's high school graduation this weekend. Plus the extended Gindin family will be in town for Jane's son's high school graduation. So plan to visit with them again. Busy weekend ahead.

Had a better night last night. Mom stayed with me in the hospital. Got up after 2 with pain on right side. Did EKG and everything was fine. Drew blood and got it on second try -it took 4 tries yesterday. Already walked 3 times. Did inhaling exercises. Now breakfast is here. Plus today is my wife's birthday!

Post surgery day 1. In a bit of pain. Everything hurts. Lots of napping. Lots of pain with the breathing treatments. Not able to move around much since still attached to the drain and IV. Not completely coherent throughout the day, but at least I remembered that my family came to visit. Around 5:00 pm, walked from ICU to my "regular" room. The nurse followed me with a wheelchair just in case I got too tired, but I did not use it.

Checked into the hospital at 11:00. They took me back right away and got me prepped for surgery. They shaved the front of my chest and the tops of my legs. Put me on an IV and I don't remember much after that. My wife and parents were waiting in the waiting room. They received hourly updates from the staff of the hospital. Mostly it was just "they are still working on him". At about 4:30, they came and told them that they were done and that the doctor would meet them in a conference room. Dr. Kerendi told them that the calcification on my aortic valve was one of the worst he had seen and that mine was a "true" bicuspid aortic valve. My family waited until I got the breathing tube out before they went home. It was about 9:30. I do not remember them even being in the room.

Today I had my pre-op at the Hospital. Drew blood. Pulmonary test. Urine sample. Talked to Anesthesiologist. All is good. Ready for surgery tomorrow afternoon. Also I was able to attend my daughter's college graduation last weekend.

Today I had a heart catheterization. I PASSED this test. They used dye to check all vessels going and from the heart. No blockages. I was hoping for green dye so I can have blood like a Vulcan but doesn't work that way. I have low-level chest pain all the time but we know now that I am not at risk for a stroke. I am OK to go to my daughter's graduation as long as I don't let my brother Scott push me in a wheelchair. Surgery in two weeks.

May 9th, Tuesday, Cardiac Catheterization @ Heart Hospital of Austin. Hopefully a few hours and no issues to cause an overnight stay. May 20th, Saturday. Attend my daughter's SMU college graduation. May 22nd, Monday. Pre-op with surgeon and anesthesiologist. May 24th, Wednesday. SURGERY day @ Heart Hospital of Austin. 1 week in hospital. 8 weeks recovery. June 2nd, Friday. Attend my son's Savio high school graduation.

I have uploaded pictures from my echocardiogram. You will need to ask a doctor, nurse, or my niece to explain what you are looking at. It is view of Aortic valve of my heart.