Cardiac Catheterization - good news
My cardiac catheterization went really well today. We found out that my arteries are clear and functioning great, and my heart's in good shape. I have high blood pressure, which I will now be taking medication for. And we were already planning a heart-healthy nutrition and exercise program, so we're already doing the right thing. My bouts with pleurisy are...
Heart Surgery
I found out in early 2005 that my congenital heart valve defects were worse, and that I would probably require surgery to repair them. So I started to write about my experience. I'm not a medical doctor, and am not qualified to give medical opinions. I've only recounted here my personal experiences with open-heart valve repair surgery. Please don't take anything I say as a real medical opinion. [61 entries.]
Cardiac Catheterization
The other day, I wrote about my recent stress test, commenting at the conclusion: "It was all very interesting. I should know my results in a few days, but I'm optimistic." Well, I spoke a bit too soon on that one. The results of the stress test were rather perplexing to my cardiologist. It seems as though some areas of...
Stress Tests
Ooo - I haven't done a real blog post (as opposed to link posts) in quite some time. Well let me remedy that. As part of the "ruling things out" process when it comes to my reoccurring bouts with pleurisy, my pulmonologist asked me to go back to my cardiologist and rule out my heart as a cause. I went...
I feel like shit
In the myriad of doctors appointments I have, I managed to forget the most important one - my Monday appointment with my new primary care physician. It was scheduled so far from when I actually made the appointment that I completely lost track of it- I thought it was on April 28th, which it turns out is actually supposed to...
Meredith Grey's Heart Surgery
I know it's just a television show, but, really. There's no way they could have her on heart bypass for over an hour, and then have her snuggling in bed with McDreamy not long after. That would fracking hurt - it was weeks/months before Stephanie and I could spoon in bed. I adore the show, but just a tad more...
Emergency Room Visit
I'm having another flare-up of pleurisy (this would be the fifth since my surgery, if we're counting) and last night I was having a lot of trouble breathing. I also had a different symptom than previously -- I had a sharp pain on the left side of my chest on Sunday evening. It went away after several hours, but the...
No Change!
The message on the answering machine from my cardiologist says that there's no change in my heart and everything is fine. Yay! I'm apparently a paranoid lunatic for worrying about it. But I'm a healthy paranoid lunatic, and that's what matters. That's quite a relief....
Cardio Appointment
Okay, I have to write about this, because it's been worrying me for a day, and I have get it out of my head. I went to my cardiologist yesterday for my "routine once a year post-surgery" visit. I had a vague expectation that I would be getting and EKG and seeing the doctor, and that's pretty much what they...
LA Times article on annual physical exams
The L.A. Times has an article on annual physical exams, discussing what doctors look for and suggesting that there should be a different balance between the physical portion of the exam, and the discussion of personal history and health questions and concerns. The problem is the headline and introductory paragraphs, which suggest that going to an annual exam at all...
Home from New York
Stephanie and I are home from New York. It was quite a trip; we had a wonderful time and her cousin Kerry's wedding was beautiful and fun and amazing. I met most of Stephanie's mom's side of the family and they are such nice, fun people. I have a lot to write about because we did a lot of stuff,...
Aptronym
a Wikipedia entry via Kotte.org: Aptronym, a word allegedly coined by United States newspaper columnist Franklin P. Adams, refers to a name that is aptly suited to its owner. Fictional examples of aptronyms include Mr. Talkative and Mr. Worldly Wiseman in John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. One of my new cardiologists (who is taking over for Dr. Yee) is named...
speaking of hating stuff: antiseptic hand sanitizer
I think that Methodist Hospital has gone back to using the hand sanitizer I loathe the smell of. When I was in the hospital for the heart surgery, I know for certain the brand (and scent) was different than the foul stuff that they used back when I had my appendix emergency two years ago. When I was in the...
Don't lift anything heavier than a shoe or a telephone
... is what my surgeon, Dr. Beckman told me this morning when I went to see him. I didn't ask what sort of telephone he meant. Cell phone, or the large old-fashioned Ma Bell special? I do have some swelling in my chest, but that is apparently strained muscle tissue from lifting too much stuff last week. The x-rays show...
I came home around noon
The conclusion the doctors reached was that I lifted too much and put strain on my sternum. Funny, I could have told them that when I went in. I did, actually. So I have painkillers, which didn't do much. I still think there's something more wrong than that, but they didn't, so I'm home....
Emergency room fun
I'm on my way to the emergency room because I think whatever I did this weekend was pretty serious and now I can't really lie down or even sit without pain shooting through my chest and back, when I breathe, it hurts like hell. I think I must have hurt my sternum. Stephanie's coming to pick me up now......
The sternum is an important part of the body
Which you find out when you have your sternum cut up for surgery. It's been five months since my surgery, and my sternum still bothers me regularly, and hurts like hell, especially when I lift heavy stuff, like I did this weekend. Today it's been particularly bad, to the point where when I breathe out and my chest moves, I...
Open-Heart Surgery on TV
Battlestar Galactica: on a recent episode, Captain Adama was shot, and was starting to code blue. Not having a defibulator handy, the medic opted to crack open his chest and massage his heart to restart it. Immediately after the procedure they show him lying on the table, with very few monitors around, with a simple tube in his nose. The...
Weekend Update
Stephanie and I saw King Kong with Dan and Doug, Josh, and David and Garrett on the Terrace at the IMA. It was great fun; the sound was much better than in the past, and I love seeing movies with Dan and Doug; I haven't done that much recently, and I miss it. I spent a few minutes in the...
I guess I *should* have taken pictures
Maybe if I had let my friends take pictures of my heart surgery, I would've gotten Boing Boinged, like this guy who photo-documented his brain surgery....
I have glue in my hair
I had two health appointments last night and this morning: my follow-up sleep study to see how well I'm doing on my CPAP machine, and my follow-up cardiologist appointment to see how I'm doing after my surgery. I didn't manage to get all the glue washed out of my hair from the electrodes that were glued there for my sleep...
Back at Work
I'm back at work today for the first time. Woo hoo! It hasn't bothered me too much, so far. My sternum is still healing, so it still hurts when I move my arms a lot. But I finished up taking the Darvocet last week and I'm just taking Ibuprofen for pain. I can sleep a on my side for a...
I haven't blogged in over a week
That's pretty unusual. I'm feeling a lot better; typing doesn't feel like it's pulling on my incision like it did before, so I'm not as uncomfortable. Stephanie went back to work today, so me and Spike are hanging out at home together, staying out of trouble. I already went for my morning walk, all by myself!! And I showered and...
Wow, I had open-heart surgery!
I can't believe it. I keep walking around the house thinking "wow, I had open-heart surgery. I can't believe it!" Then I move wrong and I believe it, alright. It's funny, the doctors and nurses keep saying "You're not allowed to drive for four weeks! Don't even think about it!" And I'm thinking I'd rather DIE than drive right...
Feeling slightly better
I didn't sleep much last night either (dreams, and just inability to sleep) but I'm feeling alright today. Typing is not easy to do, however, so not much blogging. Mainly I've been watching TV/DVDs and reading magazines....
worst nightmares I've ever had
I'm not sure whether it's the heart surgery or the Vicodin I'm on, or some terrible combination of both, but I just had two of the most horrible nightmares I've ever had. Something is seriously wrong. There is no way I'm going to sleep again tonight....
yep, I'm home
I've been home since this afternoon trying to take it easy. Just for the record, typing with a large chest incision is NOT FUN and I won't be doing a whole lot of it for a while. Owwww! When Stephanie said earlier that my incision looks really good, she of course meant that in the relative sense. Because it's really...
Home again!
Steph's home! And yes, she's already reading her e-mail. :-)...
Psych!
So I get a phone call at lunchtime (I went in to work for a few hours this morning): "Dr. Beckman just came in and he said I can go home!" "WHAT?! Oh, my God!" I hurried to Steph's house to pick out clothes for her to come home in and rushed over to the hospital. Then her heart started...
Up and walking
The brochure they gave Steph before the surgery said that she'd walk 50 feet three times today. She actually walked 250 feet three times. She got more tubes out again, too. Her color is better again, and she's talking a lot more. She's still pretty tired, but I hope she'll sleep better tonight. I asked the nurse to keep her...
Phone call
I talked to Steph just now. They put the phone closer to her bed so she could use it. She walked already this morning (!) and had some breakfast, and the doctor just came to see her and said she's doing well. She sounds better again today, and she said she feels pretty good, although she didn't get much sleep...
A new room
When I got to the hospital this morning, the nurse told me that Steph had already had some Jell-O and broth for breakfast and they were going to put her in the chair soon and take some tubes out. After she got up into the chair, they had me help give her a bath, which was a little scary because...
Morning update
I woke up early this morning because I had a dream that they wouldn't tell me how Steph was doing, so I called to check on her (the nurse told me last night that I could). She's doing really well, and they were already done with all her morning stuff. She had some clear liquids, too, and they were working...
Steph's doing great!
Just a quick update before I run back to the hospital -- Steph's surgery went really well this morning. They were able to repair her mitral valve, which sounds (from the surgeon's description) like it was even more damaged than they previously thought. There is no leak remaining at all, which is wonderful. We got to see Steph at about...
Are you nervous?
Heck yes. It's funny, that's the question that nearly everyone has asked me. I am really nervous. So I'm just in denial about the whole thing, for now. I'm sure I'll lose it once I get to the hospital. :-) Seriously, though, I think I'll be just fine. I'm young and strong and pretty healthy, and I know lots of...
Surgery details and information
I go in for surgery at 5:30 a.m. this Friday at Methodist Hospital in downtown Indianapolis. 1701 N. Senate Blvd. Indianapolis, IN 46206. 1-800-248-1199 is the toll-free number to call for information. If you want to see me in the hospital before surgery, please come at 5:30. If you are visiting while I'm in surgery, you will need to go...
Additional Living Will Pointers
The Onion provides a few Living Will pointers I hadn't thought of, but will now factor into my surgery preparation plans. Among them: Leave at least one reasonably flattering photo for the press. This point cannot be emphasized enough. Explain in no uncertain terms that, should you die and return as a zombie, loved ones must shoot you in the...
Sleep Study Results
Sleep apnea is defined as the absence of airflow at the nose and mouth for longer than 10 seconds during sleep. Sleep apnea syndrome (SAS) is described as the occurrence of more than 30 apnea episodes over a seven-hour period of nocturnal sleep. My doctor says I had 150 - 160 episodes during my study where I either stopped breathing...
Certain kinds of music aid in sleep, post-operative pain relief
This site discusses a Case-Western study that shows listening to soothing music helps people with sleep disorders and people with post-operative pain. That's very interesting....
Cognitive Decline?
In writing about my upcoming heart surgery for IndyScribe, I stumbled across some information during research that is really disturbing, and may change my mind about having open-heart surgery. According to research, being on a heart and lungs machine during the operation can cause "cognitive decline" in 42% of patients -- in other words, brain damage. Given the number of...
Cool Headstones
In the event that I die, which I'm quite certain will be 50 years from now and not any time soon, I really want to have this cool headstone from Lundgren Monuments. Because it's glass and is really cool looking....
Tired
I started to leave for lunch to get some sunshine a little while ago. Unfortunately, although I remembered my wallet and key card, I forgot to take my car keys with me. And on my car keys is the elevator fob to get past the security block on the elevator. So to get back to my floor, I either had...
Living Wills
Stephanie and I met with an attorney last night to arrange to get living wills. She'll draw them up and then send them to us next week. She charges $230 an hour (wow!) and it should take her a couple of hours to get it done. Ouch. But it's better than the alternative. Here in Indiana, living wills don't address...
In honor of me getting my living will this afternoon...
Some bittersweet political humor on the subject of living wills By ROBERT FRIEDMAN, Perspective Editor Published March 27, 2005 Like many of you, I have been compelled by recent events to prepare a more detailed advance directive dealing with end-of-life issues. Here's what mine says: * In the event I lapse into a persistent vegetative state, I want medical authorities...
Frustration
I think the thing that bothers me most right now is that there are so many things I'm not supposed to do. In any given day, I do probably 40 or 50 things that are now on the list of restricted activities that aren't allowed lest they give me congestive heart failure and leave me in a Terry Schiavo-like state....
Take another little piece of my heart now, baby
After he heard about my heart surgery, Brad said he thought about sending me a copy of Melissa Etheridge's cover of Janis Joplin's "Pieces of My Heart." I guess he hesitated because he was worried I'm be offended. But no, I think that's pretty funny....
April 22nd
So my surgery will be April 22nd. From what Dr. Beckman and his staff told me, it won't be nearly as difficult a recovery as I've been expecting from the reading I've been doing. I'll only be in the hospital about 5 days. After that I will be home, but I won't be bedridden. I'll be able to be up...
Animal Instinct
The other day when I was sitting in the Cardiologist's waiting room, there was a video playing about health issues and medical breakthroughs. One of the stories was about a woman who had devastating epileptic seizures and who couldn't live on her own because of them. They came without warning and rendered her helpless, so she had to live with...
Living Will
Wow, reading this about Terri Schiavo's case makes it clear why it's important for me (and everyone!!) to have a living will. As much as the idea of creating that document frightens me, the idea of something like this happening to me frightens me more. God forbid my life become a political football for the anti-abortion crowd. Courtesy of whitehouse.org...
Dr. Daniel Beckman, M. D.
Here's some information about Dr. Beckman, who will be my heart surgeon, apparently. And here's another bio page on him. Also, here's some info on some rare procedure that Dr. Beckman is pioneering (not what I need done). Here's a video [real player required] of Dr. Beckman talking about some rare procedure he's done on a website about heart surgery....
TEE Test Update
My Transesphogeal Echocardiogram test went really smoothly yesterday. It's a relatively painless procedure and all I have is a slight sore throat now which I'm sure will go away soon. And they drugs they give you to knock you out are fantastic. I felt really good after the procedure. I apparently asked Doctor Trippi the same question ten times, but...
Transesophageal Echocardiogram Today
I go in for my Transesophageal Echocardiogram today at 3 at Methodist Hospital downtown. I had a big breakfast because I can't eat 5 hours before the test, since they stick a tube down my throat to do an ultrasound from inside my body. They also have to sedate me, so Stephanie's coming with me for the test so she...
This is why my sister should have a blog
She never stops cracking me up: Why, that's just not true. In addition to good vibes, I can send you goodies for after surgery. Of course, I can't send anything funny, or you'll laugh and your chest will hurt. And I can't send you anything sad because you'll cry and your chest will hurt. And nothing exciting that will make...
Stuff you read on the internet that scares the crap out of you
From this page: Expectations after surgery: The rate of success of heart valve surgery is high -- and increasing. The operation provides symptom relief and prolongs life. The death rate varies depending on the heart valve and averages 2% to 5%. Approximately 2 of every 3 patients who received an artificial mitral valve are still alive 9 years after the...
Open Heart Surgery
I've waited a bit to write about this, because I need to talk to my family and friends first. It appears that I will need to have open heart surgery to repair my defective heart valves. I'm hoping to get some other opinions and information on less invasive types of surgery, but that appears to be what I know currently....
Transesophageal Echocardiogram
More health related googling and blogging. Transesophageal Echocardiogram TEE or TransEsophageal Echo Basically, I have to have one of these soon to see what's actually going on inside my heart. Today I went to the cardiologist (Dr. Yee, Cardiac Care Center, Methodist Hospital) to talk about the results of my recent echo-cardiogram. While I was there, he was interested in...
Heart Update
I got a call from the nurse... my cholesterol is down from last time I had it checked. It's 181, which is considered normal. All my other bloodwork is good, too, including my potassium and calcium levels, so the doctor is quite happy with that, and I need to keep eating healthy and not let anything get worse. 181 -...
Echocardiogram fun
I had my test yesterday, but I don't find out the results of it for a couple more days. It went really smoothly, though, I think. It was very interesting and I want to write more about it when I get some time. I'm hoping that I can write enough about it to make a decent article for IndyScribe....
Heart Matters
What an echo-cardiogram is. Also, the dangers of Endocarditis, also known as heart valve infection. I'm googling these things because I have to go get an echo-cardiogram for the first time since I was a kid. I have a congenital heart murmur, which has apparently gotten worse in the last two years. More specifically, I have two problems: a pulmonary...
Well, I Never Read the Appendixes Anyway.
I'm back to work today and doing a lot better. I'm still not 100% and I'm pretty tired, but I'll be fine if I can just get home and crash tonight. This past week and a half has been hell. I'm like a human pin cushion. I was in the hospital from Wednesday through Monday morning hooked up to an...
I've Been in the Hospital
I've been in the hospital all week. I went to the emergency room last Monday because I had a massive pain in my right side caused by appendicitis, and they mis-diagnosed it as gall stones. So while they were running me all over town to get tests at the various Methodist facilities, my appendix burst. So I've been stuck in...
Things You Don't Want to Hear During Surgery
Author Unknown Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy. Someone call the janitor - we're going to need a mop. Accept this sacrifice, O Great Lord of Darkness. Bo! Bo! Comeback with that! Bad Dog!...
Commonplacebook.com is the personal website of 
