Friday, September 23, 2011

Great Report from Surgeon

Yesterday Rob took off work and drove me to Philly so see my heart surgeon. What a wonderful man who took so long to view and point out things on my xray and answer every question we had. Surgeons like this are rare. He told me that I looked great and my heart sounded strong. The xray showed no fluid in my lungs or pleura at this time and I was so happy. (It is too early to be certain that this problem will not reoccur and it will take several months to know.) My sternum is healing enough for me to drive and lift light things. I have some pain still and it's worse in two areas. One was the top of the sternum under the neck. He told me he had cut it all the way up (this wasn't done the first time.) The other pain appears to be a rib injury. He told me he had to open me up much more than the previous surgeon had. He showed me where he had to go to get the mitral valve in. Not only was it in an awkward place but the valve itself was much larger than the first. He also replaced my right coronary artery with a vein from my leg (leaving me a small scar of about two inches.) He did an excellent job. There are still problems and next week I will be undergoing a stress test and another echo. If they are good, I will then be starting a cardiac rehab program to build up my strength.

My mother wants to have a family dinner on my father's birthday. She is really struggling now. This is the problem when a spouse is so dependent on the other. My father did everything: made every decision, paid the bills etc. She has no confidence about doing these things and asks her five kids who all give her different answers, leaving her even more confused. Case in point: her computer. It isn't working properly and she can no longer read her email. We went there yesterday and tried for hours to fix it and her printer. No go. I had her all set to get a laptop which would be so much easier for her since her old pc is upstairs and she spends most of her time downstairs. She began calling my brothers and one told her it was a mistake. Now she doesn't want to do anything feeling she will be making a mistake. It's frustrating to deal with.

It's raining here and rain is forecast for the next few days. Blah. My spirits are good and overall, the pain has lessened from the surgery. I am oh so hopeful that things will continue to improve.

2 comments:

TARYTERRE said...

This is wonderful news, Nelle. I hope you continue to improve. Thank goodness for this terrific surgeon. He knew his stuff and brought you through it all with flying colors. Now I hope the other test results allow you to enter the cardiac rehab program to build up your strength.I feel sorry for your mom, she is just so lost without your dad. In time hopefully she will be able to move on. The laptop sounded like a good idea, but if she doesn't want it, there's not much you can do. Hang in there.

Cynthia said...

Great news!