William's Journal

My heart is sad for the loss, of Fran. She was my heart valve buddy. Fran was a gracious, strong lovely lady that I had the honor to meet at Cleveland Clinic in 2010. We had the same surgeon and her room was a few doors down from mine. We had a special bond. Seeing her strength during recovery, gave me strength to make the dreaded walk around the ward. I would top off the stroll with a short visit at her room; aka rest stop. Our prayers are with Pete and all her family. Rest assured she is pain free and smiling down on everyone.

One year ago today I missed St. Patricks Day, Just a quick note to say, Captain Bill is doing great in every way Last year, I was out like a light, so I could play on another Green Beer Day without a fight. Because of Dr. Gillinov\', his team, Doc McWilliams and my great wife. I now have a full and healthy life. Cheers and Happy Boating Captain Bill PS to those having you valves replaced or repaired..the weeks fly by and you will rowing your boats in no time.

Well well … lets sea what’s happening in the world of Captain Bill almost six months after he has had his valve job. My first thoughts are that you may be asking; will I ever be normal again? Will I be able to walk to my mail box or to the nurses’ station without a shot of Tequila at the rest area? The good news is YES! The Bad news is it takes work, guts and determination. I finish my Cardiac Rehab this Friday and will move on to elbow bending and pole dancing lessons next week at a real gym. I have been so focused on my recovery that I have not taken the time to check on my fellow heart surgery friends. Duane, Fran and Cheryl you all will always be in my heart (the repaired version, with a 60-70% re fraction rate and a average blood pressure of 112/70) we have a common bond, yet some us are in a tropical paradise while other of us are land locked in a muddy old lake or where it snows in September. The encouragement and information this journal has brought me is priceless, everyone’s journey is different but we all share common water. I’ll drink a toast to everyone from aboard the See Whippet II, with my first mate Lori and deck hands Rhino and James Bond at my side. Just a note, I have new puppy I named Gillinov; he’s a very smart dog. What have I been doing this summer while in recovery mode? My week days are filled with morning work outs 3 days a week, building my business back from when I was off for a few weeks really months,, and relaxing on our boat. It’s kind of hot in Oklahoma, today 107 with a heat index of 120, and I can tell you it’s not good for anyone, especially if you had your impeller replaced a few months ago. If I shift my eyes real fast sometimes I do get a bit dizzy (not while drinking) I think its “Pump Head” and is getting less and less as time goes on, it does save me on drinking. I get the effects without the calories. So I can say even with the economy in shambles, health care reform and business up and down. I am doing great or even better than great. Just like my shorts say “Life is Good’. God is great (that is not on my shorts). I’ll check in from time, now I have a dentists appointment to go to…………………………………………………….. Happy boating Captain Bill

Pump Head. You might want to Google that because, I have it. I’m feeling better, breathing better with exercise and my chore requests around the house are increasing. My wife asks me to take out the trash or pick up some tree limbs from the last tornado that blew through and I just forget she even asked me. I had hundreds of phone numbers memorized, that I now have to look up. I had thousands of specifications memorized, now can only recall about half of them. My anniversary is in 10 days and I am already forgetting to buy her that diamond necklace she wants. I have pump head. Pump Head is something the doctors talk about around the water cooler, but won’t confirm is real. Cognitive impairment or Pump Head is what happens while they hook you up to the heart lung machine, I have lost 20 percent of my brain capacity and it is all centered on yard work, house work and office work. I do still remember all the baseball players’ names, golfer’s names, statics, time the next game starts, scores for the past decade and my favorite drink recipes. Its just the stuff that requires work or being attentive that I seem to forget about. Maybe it’s not pump head, but selective hearing. Either way, if it was in the fine print about recovery I missed it along with “recovery may take longer than expected” “weight gain can occur due to lack of exercise and excess fluids” I did read the part about heart valve surgery may “increase your life”, “your happiness” and “you might have to re-think your retirement funds due to a longer healthy life” I m not 100 per cent yet but I am about 89 percent and going up each day.

7 weeks, there is light at the end of the tunnel and I am hoping it is not a train. Blood work came back with improvements; my tequila level was low so I do need to work on that this weekend. I started Rehab this week. I thought I was doing well until the 90 year old lady next to me turned her treadmill up to 6 and took off running. I really though 2.5 was pretty fast…How I am sleeping you might ask. Better, but not normal, I get in a good 4 or 5 hours and it is starting to feel normal, so I am taking advantage of it and mowing my lawn at 4:00 am… I do have a few relaxation tips and a prescription my doc has given me, my neighbors want me to follow her instructions. Not much pain until I sneeze or cough and I still am not 100 percent back, but I can say I am maybe 80 percent me and going up a percent every few days.. I can only play the “I’m too weak to wash my own boat” card one more weekend before they figure out I now have the energy to wash my own boat (unless my lake friends read this). I feeling better each day. Happy boating Captain Bill

As Willie Nelson sings “On the road again” I have graduated from the back seat to the pilot seat and I am happy to report; “I can drive”. I was excited until last night, I realized that driving actually uses some arm and chest muscles that seem to be connected to the sternum. In the back seat, I was car sick, kind of like riding the Tilt-A-Whirl and the front seat is a pain in my chest (so to speak). Since I am off the big boy pain meds, the Tylenol will have to do for now. I can’t wait to see what happens this weekend when I drive the SEA WHIPPET II out of her berth and into the calm waters of Grand Lake. Over all I’m doing not bad, but I don’t feel like I’m doing great either, so that would be kind of middle of the road. I still have some sleepless nights and uncomfortable days, a headache at the base of my head that comes and goes when he wants. I take the treadmill for a walk, about 40 minutes a day and spend the same amount of time recovering from the walk. I see progress from week to week, but not really from day to day. Some days I feel like I even slide back a bit. But life is good; I’m alive and ready for my Scotch! happy boating captain Bill

One month into recovery and I’m wondering if I will ever be me again? I am doing fair to partly cloudy. It is just like my cardiologists told me. “One day I will feel like I am 16 and then a few hours later I will feel like I am 90”. Right now I’m leaning towards 16, so I think I will sneak out of the house and grab a beer! I discontinued Lasix, yes the same stuff we give to our race horses, but my feet turned into watermelons and my chest turned into a water fountain. I started Lasix again and all is well, keeping my feet up and trying to relax. The dose is smaller than we give the horses; I wonder if I take the same dose I will be able to run like a race horse? I am told that it could be several months until I get a normal night’s sleep. The Ambient works for about 4 hours and has some amusing side effects. Last night, Lori say’s I was sitting on the side of the bed and she asked me if she could get me something. I told her yes and get a pen and paper to make list (I don’t remember this). She got the paper and I told her I wanted a Nintendo game and several other toys; I don’t remember this at all, or know where it came from, since I already have a Wii. Pretty weird, and Lori was amused. I’m wondering what else I have done she is not telling me. In addition to the fluid decreasing my allergies are increasing, I think God has a sense of humor. Not much pain, I do know when the pain comes back because my breathing gets “labored”, Tylenol usually does the trick. My blow hole (where the drain tube was) hurts when I eat too much. I have “Cardiac Rehab” scheduled starting May 5th. Hopefully by then I will be in good enough shape I won’t need it. I guess there is a backlog of heart valve patients waiting to get into rehab. I am still waiting to get aboard the SEA WHIPPET II, this time of year I am pretty lost on dry land spending my time getting well, when I could be cleaning my bilge. One last thought. I am thankful for this journal, the wonderful acquaintances I have made here and have shared our journey together. I am ready to be me Happy boating Captain Bill

Somewhere in all the paper work I did not read the fine print about recovery; that it may or may not be so easy. I was kind of thinking when I got back from Cleveland my life would resume as it was. Wrong!!! Let’s see where do I begin? This would be best in a list in order of importance to me. 1. I had very detailed blood work up done last week, to “fine tune” my recovery and to just plain feel better. I need more Iron; I am excited about this because I love fried chicken livers. The Brothers Hooligan’s has the best! More, lots more vitamin D and more exercise. Or I could opt of that new synthetic blood they are using in robots. My testosterone is low but should come back as soon as my wife takes me to “Night Trips” gentleman’s club. 2.They were serious about the “NO Driving” for 6 weeks. I have my ride pick me for work, yes I work from my office half days, and from my home office the other half the day. I am happy its Spring break time and in Industrial Sales, a lot of purchasing people have been off, so it’s been a bit slow sort of a blessing, but I can’t make any money. Not driving sucks. Riding in the backseat makes me car sick, when the driver weaves in and out of traffic while speeding. 3.Spring equals allergy season and sneezing is not an option. Today I had to upgrade to the big boy pain meds just because of a sneeze that I did not order. 4.I’m still retaining water and I feel like grandma. Also I know everyone who is on the journal will agree sleeping is no cake walk. I take Ambien and it works for about 4 hours, or the same time that my pain meds wear off. There are no comfortable positions except for sitting straight up. 5.Walking around the grade school playground during the day is not a good idea, I had to explain to the police officer I really was just walking and show them my heart valve card. Lesson learned. My wife is amazing as a drill sergeant getting me to walk and pick up the pace. 6.Starting to get my breathing back to almost normal, but it is directly related to the tightness in my chest from the healing. 7.Overall I think I am doing good, it’s just way harder than I signed up for. I got to set foot on The SEA WHIPPET, this week end. My boat neighbor Big Jim washed her down, what a great neighbor. That’s a major thing, the SEA WHIPPET a pretty big boat and that take several hours. Thanks Jim. I de-winterized the AC/heat, checked the CO2 and fire detectors and cleaned the bilge. All was in working order and she is ready for her captain. Free rides for any heart patients all summer long! I’m ready for my Scotch. Happy Boating Captain Bill

Ok ‘I’m back… I have been working an hour, walking 20 minutes, resting twenty minutes. Then, repeating until nap time. It pretty hard to believe that 15 days ago, I was having a Carpentier-Edwards 27 MM aortic valve installed with all the bells and whistles, and lysis of adhesion’s preformed by the best in the world. Recovery is harder than expected, but also easier than expected. Every day I can say I feel about double better than the day before. The main key in recovery is exercise, even when you don’t want to. Here is some information that I found helpful: 1.Shower chair is a must 2.Baby oil will get rid of adhesive “crop circles” 3.Use the tread mill for something other than a cloths hanger 4.Don’t be a big brave guy and not take the pain medication 5.I was hoping this would put me on an instant weight loss program, but I gained weight and hope to lose it slowly. 6.My eye sight got screwed up and hopefully once I get off all the medications it will come back. 7.Sleeping is not easy, but improves with pain meds. 8.I feel like I am 16 and I feel like I am 80. 9.Cracked open chest equals hard to breath at times. oh pain meds 10.I’m in the wrong business, I need to open a hospital 11.Life goes on, and I am not alone in my journey, and there is hope for mankind. 12.I’m ready to captain my boat! Happy Boating Captain Bill

I plan on posting just as soon as I can get the pain meds out of my system. They do the job, but I could not tell if I was sleeping or awakening or in la land. I had a crazy dream while tripping on Vicodan. My crazy dream while in Hospital and 1st night at hotel: My surgeon is on a scooter with a cow in tow, they are looking for me because the cow wants to kick my behind. My surgeon is blue, has a red scooter with dollar sign bling on the wheels, and the cow is classic black and white. They catch me the cow gets ready to kick me in the chest and I am woken up by the nurse ready to take vital signs, really weird. More to follow as soon as the batteries are re- charged. I feel good, Meeting Fran was awesome and Cleveland Clinic has got to be the back drop for the next Star Wars Movie. I swear I saw people moving on floating transporters. Wow.. Happy boating Captain Boating – 11 days post op

While I was in and out of la la land, Cleveland was the party central. I cant say I remember much about the party. I do know that when they say you will fell like you have been hit by a buss... its true.. Well Im recoverying nicley, I have greeted FRAN and her Famaily and now Im going to take a nappppppppp, happy boating Captain Bill

Hello Friends, I have seen Bill a couple of times this morning. He is doing great and enjoying his Seagram’s brand of ginger-ale. He looks great, is very alert. They are in the process of moving him out of ICU and into step down. On a side note: The party here is still not over, there are still a few people dressed head to toe walking the streets. Lori

Hi all, it been an exhausting day. Bill made it through surgery just fine. We are going to grab a bite to eat and then back to the hospital to see him. I need to take pictures of the St Patrick Day crowd, it’s pretty amazing. BIG Holiday in Cleveland.

Just a quickie. Lori and I talked with Dr. Marc Gillinov today and I am totally convinced I am at the right place. Next few posts will be from my lovely first mate Lori on my progress and adventures in OR. Its is St Paddy\'s day tommrrow and I do have some fun plannned A special note to my new fellow aortic valve replacement friend, Greg. I hope we will be room mates in ICU. Lets give um hell!!! Happy Boating Captain Bill

I just posted a picture of a worn out, stuck, kicked, punched and confirmed heart valve replacement of Me.. Captain Bill, Cleveland Clinic is a well oiled machined, run better than a marine boot camp. I did see my fellow heart valve partner Fran, but of course it was on to the next test before i could yell AHOY. I was the crazy man in the yellow slicker. Tommrow some extra tests for good luck, meet with Dr. Gillinov, then I get to take a nice hot shower with that designer soap they gave me in my goody bag. I\'m tried and need a drink. I have been given a written note that it is OK from my doctor to give to the bar tender. I deserve it today. Thank you for your support and remember what RED GREEN says...........because I forgot. Happy boating captain bill

Thank you Gary and Linda for getting up before the cows were milked to send us on our way. Thank you Duane for your thoughtfull words of encorgement and prayers. Thank you Cleveland for the nice limo ride and I noticed you have a really BIG lake. We are kind of worn out after watching the Celtics loose to Cleveland and all that great food. Big day instore tomrrow, they suck out all my blood and make sure I have not had any Scotch in the last 38 million hours (so it seems). oh I forgot.. several Grand Lakers on our flight to Texas was a nice send off. See you soon at Arrowheard Joe! happy boating Captain Bill

My humor will be bottoming out real soon. My wife has order me not to have my computer or cell phone while I\'m in the ICU recovery room. She has also told me that I wont get any green beer. We\'re on the way,meeting up some wild and crazy knife throwing people in white coats in cold, wet and windy Cleveland. This has been an awsome journey, I have learned and grown alot through reading and sharing this about my rocket ride... My next post will be drug induced from lala land, but my first mate and wife will keep keep you all well informed of my fun in OR.Five..Four...Three.. Two ... ONE!!! Happy Boating Captain Bill

Last night my dear wife took me to see \"Tuna Does Vegas\". I sure am happy my life is not has screwed as that couple from Tuna Texas. All I need is a heart valve and those guys need new brains. It was pretty funny. Lori wanted to make sure I had a good dose of humor. Rumor has it that I might be grumpy when I wake up from my surgery, so were putting some laughter in the bank. She also treated me to a Colby beef burger and I got to say I want a Colby cow’s heart valve. It’s the best. My last day at the office was awesome; all those really hot women from the business next door with the 900 number on the door came over and gave me lots of hugs. I got free donuts and sausage rolls from my employees. An awesome lunch that one of my customers arranged. I topped it off with a pedicure, massage and hot stone therapy. I am happy I don’t have to do this very often; the farewells and good wishes would wear me out. I wonder why those ladies from next door ask if I had a lot of one dollar bills? Lori said she would explain that to me later. I’m doing great, in lue of Scotch and a good Kuba Kuba cigar; I’m keeping my attitude going with humor. I heard somewhere laughter is the best medicine. happy boating Captain Bill

The Big inflatable rubber heart was a big inflatable rubber disappointment. I have posted a picture and you all will have to agree. It’s not all that big, it looks fake, had no working parts and when I stabbed; it deflated to half its size. As security was escorting me out of the building they assured me that my heart would not deflate like the one they say I “vandalized” (I was performing critical heart tests). I did luck out; one of the nurses recognized me from the lake and offered to repair the heart for free. That saved me a zillion dollars; you know how expensive heart repair can be. Well is 4:00 am , I have a trip coming up at the beginning of next week to get the real heart fixed, I wonder if someone will recognize me from the lake and offer to fix my heart for free! A special note to Fran. I will have on a “CaptainBill”Tee shirt, and if I don’t behave myself, my guess is; the one in the hand cuffs! Happy Boating Captain Bill T minus 8 days