Re: I heard from the heart surgeon

[Guest guest]

claudia so glad you have some information now.it sounds like you have avery

good doctor! with all the research he did i'm sure you will be in good

hands! i'll be praying for you too. take care and may God bless you and keep

you in his loving care. if i can do anything please let me know. sue park

I heard from the heart surgeon

> The heart surgeon called me this afternoon. Gee, what a really nice man.

We

> talked for a long time and this is what I found out.

>

> He researched everywhere he could and he only found 30 valve replacements

on

> people with RP. They were all successful and they all had mechanical

valves.

> The ones who used human or pig valves had to have them replaced a lot

sooner

> then the 10 year period. (I don't want to be opened up that much) He

said

> the with the mechnaical valve there is 90% chance that it will last a

> lifetime. Even if I was 20 years old.

>

> I will be on coumadin the rest of my life, but said he researched this too

> and the prednisone and other meds I'm on should not affect the coumadin,

even

> if I upped or lowered the pred.

>

> He will be doind a CVG (composite valve graft) This will be the valve and

> aortic root repacement. The root will be dacron. (I think that is what he

> said)

>

> Surgery will be 4-5 hours with no complications. I will be in ICU for 2

> days. I will be on a respirator for a min of 12-15 hours after the

surgery,

> if there are no problems and I am breathing on my own, they will slowly

wean

> me off.

>

> The hospital stay will be 7-10 days with an 8-12 week recovery. No

driving

> or lifting for a month. I must do breathing exercises and a lot of

walking,

> working up very slowly. He said a treadmill will be fine, so looks like

I'll

> go looking for a treadmill at garage sales. LOL

>

> The day before the surgery, I will be there for a 3-4 hour appt. At that

> time they will do ekg, chest x ray, blood and urine tests. I will meet

with

> him and his team that works with him. They will go over and explain

> everything. I will also meet with the knock out guy, LOL (you know I

still

> can't spell that word). I will tell him about using the pediatric tubing

ect

> and he will tell me about the stress steroids that I will be receiving. I

> will go the next morning at 5:30 and the surgery will be at 7:30 am. So I

> will get a hotel room the day before.

>

> He is having his office call me with the date. He really wants me down to

> 5mg so he is going to schedule it for the end of July. I will go to 6mg

on

> Monday. Yeah... He said if I can't make it , don't worry, the 7mg I'm on

> now is no problem, but the lower I can get the faster my recovery and

safer

> from infections.

>

> So looks like things are moving along. I'm not looking forward to this,

but

> feel it will all be over before I know it. I have a good 3 weeks to get my

> house done, if I can get this family in gear.

>

> I will let you know when I have a date. Thank you all for all your

prayers

> and concern. Don't know what I'd do without each and everyone of you.

>

> Heidi, by the time you get home from Germany, I'll be running circles

around

> you!!!! YES I WILL!!!! LOL You will come home to a brand new me.

>

> I love you all

> hugs

>

>

>

> DISCLAIMER!!

> WE ARE NOT MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS, THEREFORE ANY INFORMATION THAT IS

RECEIVED HERE IS FROM EXPERIENCE ONLY. PLEASE CONSULT WITH YOUR DOCTOR

BEFORE TRYING ANYTHING THAT IS SUGGESTED. WE ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR YOUR

PHYSICIAN AND ARE NOT TRYING TO BE. REMEMBER EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT AND

TREATMENT MAYBE DIFFERENT FOR MANY OF US. THANK YOU

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi :-)

I'm so glad your heart doctor finally called! It sounds like the two

of you covered a lot of issues.....but get your tablet ready and jot

down those questions that will invariably crop up. I had two type-

written pages of questions for my doc, LOL! At my pre-op appointment

I had a copy for the doc, one for my husband, and one for myself...so

we could all stay on the same page, so to speak :-)

I remembered reading something about mixing Coumadin with the

erythromycin type drugs, including Biaxin and Minocin. From what I

read, the effects of the Coumadin are increased when someone takes

those antibiotics, so sometimes it is necessary to reduce the dose of

the Coumadin. Ask your doctor, OK? The same thing goes for many

NSAIDs, which they will undoubedly give you following surgery...in

addition to all kinds of other stuff. Do a search on the web

for " biaxin and coumadin " or " erythromycin and coumadin " and type it

in just like that and you should find something.

The great thing for you is the fact that the time in surgery and

ICU....you will not be aware of the clock :-) I actually ~liked~ the

time I spent in the hospital LOL The people were soooo nice and even

the food was good! This hospital is only one of a few in the whole

state of WA that makes each patients meal, on demand, as the patient

orders it from a real live menu! It's like ordering room-service at

a hotel LOL My day-nurse, a really sweet little Japanese lady named

ko, told me she was going to " treat me like a Prince " and she

did. I didn't even mind being a prince instead of a princess LOL

It sounds like you are getting the best of care, . It's about

time, don't you think? I sure do. Just know that those prayers will

be wrapped around you this time, like a warm fuzzy blankey. Take

care,

Many hugs,

Connie H

> > I will be on coumadin the rest of my life, but said he researched

this too

> and the prednisone and other meds I'm on should not affect the

coumadin, even

> if I upped or lowered the pred.......

>

[Guest guest]

Thank you , Sue, Connie, Heidi and all the rest. Yes, the dr. does

seem so nice. I have never met the man. LOL Seems pretty funny to be

planning on this type of surgery and never meeting face to face. I will see

him the day before. And yes Connie I will have my list of questions. For

our first phone consultation, I faxed him a list of concerns and questions

and I had the same copy. It worked out wonderful. He told me he really

appreciated it, so I plan to do the same thing. I already have a list

started from what I forgot ask him today. LOL We already talked about the

Biaxin and I don't know if I can be on it. Will see if we can work something

out.

, I wish they did the surgery the day after the heart catheter, I

wouldn't have had time to think about it. Sometimes I think ignorance is

bliss. LOL I think the fear is starting to set in. Something about stopping

my heart doesn't make me happy.

Connie, I will be counting days to get home. I don't think I'll enjoy the

hospital. But when I was at Stanford before the care was wonderful and so

was the food. I'm sure I will get wonderful care. Connie, you keep resting

and take your time getting well. Gosh what a time you had. Thank goodness

for pain relievers huh? lOL Just keep me out til I can come home. No

Heidi,I don't want any of YOUR pain reliever. LOL

Anyway, thank you all again for your support. I don't know what I'd ever do

without you.

hugs