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 door closed so she wouldn’t hear Loud Talker Guy next door. Earlier she considered yelling at him to shut up from bed, but she decided not to. 🙂
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 because some guy down the hall was talking all night.
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 I didn’t want to hurt her. She said it felt good. She got to see her incision for the first time, and it looks good. Then she had some lunch — French toast and cream of wheat.
Even more tubes came out, and they moved her to a regular room in mid-afternoon, far earlier than we expected. She dozed a lot today but didn’t feel like she got much sleep, and she had a pretty bad episode of pain around dinnertime. They put her sleep apnea machine on her for tonight, and that should help her get some rest.
Several people came to visit again today, and we also got a report that Spike is being a good boy. Dan and Doug made Steph a big get-well poster for everyone to sign. Be sure to write something if you stop by.
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 on deep breathing and coughing. The nurse said that she’ll probably get solid food today (yay, Jell-O!) and that she might even move out of intensive care tonight. I’ll get to see her again at 9:30 this morning.
I forgot to mention the weather yesterday. Steph told me that whenever she’s really upset, major weather happens. Those fourth of July storms in 2003 were because of her appendix. Remember the tornadoes in September 2002? Her cat Idgie died that day. So yes, in case you were wondering, the amazing hail that covered the ground around Butler University and up through Castleton with chunks of ice was her doing.
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 12:30, but she wasn’t awake yet. They told
us that she would wake up within the next six hours or maybe even more,
but when we went back in at 1:15, she was awake already! By 4:00, her
breathing tube was out and she was talking a little, though she remains
very groggy because of the pain meds. (She’s having some really
interesting dreams.) At 6:00 they let her have some ice chips, which
made her very happy, and she may yet get to have some liquid tonight.
I’ll try to send another update tomorrow. Thank you all for all the
good thoughts, prayers, and positive energy — it helped a lot. She’s
quite a trooper.
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 folks who’ve had this done. It’s a major surgery, but it’s a pretty common procedure for the doctors, and since it’s not an emergency and I’m not currently in distress, things are really positive. I’m sure it will suck for a while, but I’ll be back and writing in no time.
For family and friends — if you’re in town, one of the main things we might need is for someone to sit with me in the evening so Stephanie can feed her cat and get her mail and tend to her home. So if you want to hang out with an invalid and watch some DVDs or play some Xbox, we’ll probably call you up.
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 to the main information desk to find out details of where I am. The operating room and surgery waiting areas are on the second floor of the A building. Parking garage 1 is the closest parking area.
Surgery starts at 7:30 and should take about 4 hours. After surgery I will be moved to the Cardiovascular Critical Care Unit (CVCC), which is on the second and third floors of the same building, building A. Family members may be in one of two waiting rooms — 317-923-0171 or 317-923-0170. Or you can try to call Stephanie on her cell.
Visiting hours while I’m in the CVCC are: 9:30-11:30 a.m., 12:30-3:00 p.m., 4:30-6:30 p.m., and 8:30-11:00 p.m. While I’m in the CVCC, I can receive cards and mylar balloons. Flowers, planters, or latex balloons aren’t allowed on the unit.
After a couple days, I should be moved out of the critical care unit to a regular room, where I’ll be for a couple more days. I should have more visiting hours there and be able to see people. If you want to come visit me, call the information number to find out where I am and what my visiting hours are. Or you can send me monkeys. 🙂
Stephanie will be sending some e-mail updates letting family and friends know how I am. She’ll also be posting to my Web site, so watch this spot for more information.
I’ve been using the breathing machine for my sleep apnea since Thursday evening, and I think it’s a success. I feel much better rested now and able to concentrate. The mask part of the machine is somewhat annoying; I can’t read before falling asleep because I can’t wear my glasses, and I have to take my earrings out because they’re in the way. But I’m slept much more soundly.
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 head without hesitation.
Research medical life-support technology and specify whether you’d prefer to be hooked up to a Danninger Continuous Passive Motion device, an Emerson suction unit, or a Slushee machine.
Comatose people have been shown to exhibit a brainstem-level response to music, so prepare a decade’s worth of mix tapes in advance.
One thing I’m actually doing is the last one… I’m putting together a post-recovery playlist of soothing music to listen to in the hospital on my iPod, after reading that soothing music can help relieve pain.
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 or had severe shallow breathing, causing me to awaken. I also had a slight drop in oxygen levels. So my sleep apnea is classified as severe. This is causing a severe disruption in my sleep, which helps explain why I’m tired all the time, in addition to my tiredness from the heart valve problem.
Sleep Apnea Information and Resources
The solution is that I have to have a C-PAP breathing machine and mask to use at night, which I go to get set up tomorrow. I also have to lose weight, which might be the cause of the problem, or which might help contribute to other factors that are the actual cause. I’ve always have trouble with snoring and waking up, though, even back when I was thin. My roommates in college used to complain about it. So I suspect that my weight isn’t the only cause.
Interestingly, weight gain is also listed as one of the symptoms sleep apnea — meaning having apnea contributes to weight gain.
Sleep Apnea as a Cause of Obesity
Obesity and sleep apnea are a chicken and egg problem. It is not always clear which condition is responsible for the other. For example, obesity is often a risk factor and possibly a cause of sleep apnea, but it is also likely that sleep apnea increases the risk for weight gain:Some studies indicate that sleep apnea disrupts rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, which, in turn, increases the risk for obesity.
Research indicates that animals deprived of REM sleep tend to eat more.
People with apnea may also become too tired to exercise and so put on weight.
He also said that I have to let the anesthesiologist know about this before surgery, so they don’t take my breathing tube out too early after surgery while I’m still under sedation, because I could get oxygen deprivation and brain damage. Which makes me remember when I was coming out of sedation after my appendectomy, and how I couldn’t breathe and the nurses kept coming over and shaking me and telling me to breathe. No wonder I’m stupid.