I walked to the post office and back today! It's about two miles, some up hill but nothing really strenuous. It felt good to be out in the cool fall air. It felt good not to have any shortness of breath, tightness in the chest or muscle fatigue. I am much more capable 20 days after surgery than I was before surgery. I am so pleased with the outcome thus far.
The doctor has limited my workouts while in the recovery mode. I can't lift anything over 10 pounds; I am to keep my pulse rate under 115 bpm. He doesn't want me driving. I have had a home health nurse checking on me for the past two weeks. Every day at first to just one final day this week. I have also had a physical therapist come a few times with his last visit scheduled for day after tomorrow. Then I "get" to go to the Cardiac Rehab Center where they will increase my workouts in a controlled setting while monitoring everything. That should be interesting.
Notes on my surgery and hospital stay while I can still remember some of the details. I checked into the hospital on Tuesday, October 3rd around noon. They ran a bunch of tests and hooked up a bunch of tubes, otherwise it was fairly quiet. John Spevak brought John Black to see his doctor in the same complex so they stopped by for a visit in the afternoon. Jillyn and Kenny, Joel & family, Darin and Clay came around 7:00 pm and my sons and son-in-law gave me a blessing. It was a really great experience to have them all there, worthy and willing to participate. Darin anointed me with consecrated oil and then Clay sealed the anointing and gave the accompanying blessing. It was very special. Elma Lynne also asked for a blessing and Kenny and Joel were voice for her.
Wednesday morning they got going around seven. I don't remember much of what happened for the next six or so hours. I have some vague recollections of coming out of the anesthesia but they are sketchy. They told me that when they pulled the breathing tube out my heart stopped. I guess that got them excited. Fortunately they had some wires inserted and attached to an external pacemaker so they just turned it on and my heart responded.
I don't remember much pain, though coughing was (and is) excruciating! They gave me Noxall (Loritab) when I asked for it which was mostly when I wanted to sleep. Food wasn't very appealing particularly when I got constipated, which was most of the time. Medication for that eventually created the opposite effect and I still didn't feel much like eating.
The staff had me up walking the day after surgery and within a couple of days I was doing laps around the halls. They had me take stairs on Sunday.
We watched Utah State thrash BYU in football Saturday night, then watched as much of General Conference as possible. I think I slept through more than I watched.
Elma Lynne stayed in the hospital room with me for a few nights, then went to Jillyn's for a few. Jillyn visited often. Clay stayed through Thursday, Darin came after work when he could. Joel brought his family a couple of times. Joyce and Dorian came Saturday, Steve and Angela came on Sunday.
They released me on Monday and we made the trip home, arriving around 6:00 pm. It is good to have that experience behind me. Now to get on with the healing.
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Wednesday, October 17, 2018
Time to Blog Again?
This has been a strangely different year for me thus far. Some life changing experiences. It seems like sometimes we need to take a look at our own mortality to keep things in perspective. Or maybe to motivate us to blog again!
I was diagnosed with a heart murmur several years ago. It didn't seem too serious at the time. A few tests were run to see if I ran the risk of making it worse by getting infections... outcome negative. So I went about life as usual, thinking I was pretty healthy, almost to the point of being invincible. My main physical pursuit was hiking. I set a goal to hike the highest peak in every county in Utah... and almost made it. I hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim four times as I passed 59 and eased into my 60's. I was also enjoying horseback riding in the mountains near home, "shed hunting", golfing, fishing, gardening and about anything else that could be done outside.
My annual wellness check in 2014 revealed the heart murmur getting worse. My doctor sent me to a cardiologist who ran test after test. I was also starting to feel some symptoms; shortness of breath, muscle fatigue, that kind of thing. Tests revealed I have a condition called HOCM or Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy. The wall between the ventricles of my heart is growing thicker to the point that it is obstructing the blood outflow to the aorta. Mitral valve function is also impaired.
Tests and more tests over the next few years along with more medications and the problem continues to get worse. In 2017 hiking with friends or golfing finds me lagging behind. It is not uncommon for the group to have to wait for me, something I am not used to. As 2018 begins I am realizing I need to get something done. My cardiologist tells me that he has done all he can for me. Next step is surgery.
When it comes to treating HOCM surgically, two options are available. The least invasive is called septal alcohol ablation. It consists of running a catheter into your heart, targeting some specific veins in the septum and releasing enough alcohol to kill some of the muscle. Basically creating a "controlled" heart attack. Option two is called septal myectomy. More invasive. They open your chest and go inside your heart and surgically trim the excess muscle.
Initially my cardiologist recommended that I go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, premier center for this procedure. Sometime around late 2017 the Intermountain Heart Institute in Salt Lake City was awarded a "Center of Excellence" for this procedure. I decided to check them out, and was very impressed with the doctors and staff there. The decision was made to have septal myectomy in Late September 2018.
It is kind of hard to make the decision t have your chest opened and your heart stopped when you don't really have to. I rationalized that I could get along fairly well for a few more years without treatment. I would be getting old fast, my activity would be limited, but I would be alive. With surgery I could be returned to a nearly normal healthy lifestyle. The deciding factor: inevitably; it would have to be done sooner or later. Do it now while I am still relatively healthy, or wait until I "have" to have it done and risk longer recovery and more complications? The choice was not hard for me. I chose to have more good years.
Surgery was scheduled for October 3rd at the Intermountain Heart Institute in Murray Utah. I survived as confirmed by this blog. Details in my next one.
I was diagnosed with a heart murmur several years ago. It didn't seem too serious at the time. A few tests were run to see if I ran the risk of making it worse by getting infections... outcome negative. So I went about life as usual, thinking I was pretty healthy, almost to the point of being invincible. My main physical pursuit was hiking. I set a goal to hike the highest peak in every county in Utah... and almost made it. I hiked the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim four times as I passed 59 and eased into my 60's. I was also enjoying horseback riding in the mountains near home, "shed hunting", golfing, fishing, gardening and about anything else that could be done outside.
My annual wellness check in 2014 revealed the heart murmur getting worse. My doctor sent me to a cardiologist who ran test after test. I was also starting to feel some symptoms; shortness of breath, muscle fatigue, that kind of thing. Tests revealed I have a condition called HOCM or Hypertrophic Obstructive Cardiomyopathy. The wall between the ventricles of my heart is growing thicker to the point that it is obstructing the blood outflow to the aorta. Mitral valve function is also impaired.
Tests and more tests over the next few years along with more medications and the problem continues to get worse. In 2017 hiking with friends or golfing finds me lagging behind. It is not uncommon for the group to have to wait for me, something I am not used to. As 2018 begins I am realizing I need to get something done. My cardiologist tells me that he has done all he can for me. Next step is surgery.
When it comes to treating HOCM surgically, two options are available. The least invasive is called septal alcohol ablation. It consists of running a catheter into your heart, targeting some specific veins in the septum and releasing enough alcohol to kill some of the muscle. Basically creating a "controlled" heart attack. Option two is called septal myectomy. More invasive. They open your chest and go inside your heart and surgically trim the excess muscle.
Initially my cardiologist recommended that I go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester Minnesota, premier center for this procedure. Sometime around late 2017 the Intermountain Heart Institute in Salt Lake City was awarded a "Center of Excellence" for this procedure. I decided to check them out, and was very impressed with the doctors and staff there. The decision was made to have septal myectomy in Late September 2018.
It is kind of hard to make the decision t have your chest opened and your heart stopped when you don't really have to. I rationalized that I could get along fairly well for a few more years without treatment. I would be getting old fast, my activity would be limited, but I would be alive. With surgery I could be returned to a nearly normal healthy lifestyle. The deciding factor: inevitably; it would have to be done sooner or later. Do it now while I am still relatively healthy, or wait until I "have" to have it done and risk longer recovery and more complications? The choice was not hard for me. I chose to have more good years.
Surgery was scheduled for October 3rd at the Intermountain Heart Institute in Murray Utah. I survived as confirmed by this blog. Details in my next one.
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