Good Luck Mobi

[Mobi]

I'm out of icu and back in private room, which is same icu except no respirator which thank god I'm out of.

Had a terrible night - no sleep and much pain but today they took all the tubes out of my chest and neck. - which hurt like hel but I now feel much better. I even got up and managed a few wobbly steps.

Docs seem v pleased with my progress. This is a very good hospital. The staff very professional, equipment state of art and spotlessly clean. I couldn't have been in better hands.

Thank you so much Sheryl.

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[Sheryl]

Chest tubes out already, you are indeed progressing very well.

Key things now are to do the breathing exercises they showed you (you probably have a device to blow into) and cough up as much phlegm as you can, and walk a little several times a (distance according to your tolerance -- push it just a little i.e. go just slightly further than you feel you can but not to an extreme). . These measures help prevent post-operative complications.

[meatboy]

i had a problem breathing at night they gave me a nebulizer which helped a lot,i think it was after about 4days i was eating bacon butties.if you can get out of bed during the day and sit in an easy chair keep that pillow up against your chest that helps to.if you have a telle.to watch the football you might find your vision is not working properly.the next year will be easy to what you have been through,keep us posted.

[Mobi]

Had a much better night and got some sleep. Pain levels more tolerable.

Saw surgeon this morning. She is very pleased with my progress. They are still adjusting my orfarin dosage and this will take a few days. (check INR? ??)

She told me there was a congenital defect on my valve which was badly calcified and in a very bad condition. Probably would have failed soon so it the right decision to replace it. I have a number '21 'valve whatever that means. (Sheryl?)

I will be here until at least Friday - maybe longer - and I couldn't ask for better care. I have to do all kinds of breathing exercises and some walking - as you said sheryl.

I just get the feeling that the whole hospital team is pulling for me - unlike the coordinated confusion you often get in private hospitals.

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[Sheryl]

Afraid I can't help you on what a number 21 valve is, no idea. But I wouldn't worry about it. Sounds like all is well.

[meatboy]

hi mobi glad to hear your on the mend,the no 21 will be the model no of the valve,dont worry about the orfarin it took them 11months before they got my leval right.ask if they have the info booklets,[LIVING WITH YOUR NEW HEART VALVE] by st.jude medical and they should give you one on why you have to take warfarin.

[chiang mai]

Very glad to hear that it's all going according to plan, well done.

[Mobi]

Progress is continuing apace.

Pain is much lower - almost negligible until I cough, but I'm still getting a lot of pain medication so it remains to be seen what the real pain levels are when I am 'on my own'. There is a patch on my chest which releases pain meds over 72 hours, and I am also still taking several kinds of oral pain killers.

I'm gaining strength in spades and can do multiple walking circuits of the floor as well as sitting in a chair and doing a lot of breathing exercises, to strengthen my lungs.

My vertical breast bone scar is healing well and all dressings are now removed except for the bottom end, where the tubes went in and it is still a bit messy....

More x rays and blood tests tomorrow, the results if which will determine when I can be discharged. The docs are continuing to be impressed with my recovery, and fingers crossed I will be going home this weekend.

It is all quite remarkable when you consider that only last Friday, my chest was cut wide open and I was attached to a heart /lung bi-pass machine while a surgeon cooled my heart and replaced an integral part of it with a piece of mechanical engineering.

The wonders of modern medicine.

[Mobi]

Well it was on, and then off, then finally on again and I made it back home at around 9 p.m. last night.

I saw the surgeon yesterday morning and she told me I had made incredible progress and she was happy to let me go home provided that all the paperwork was sorted out in time.

She said I was the only patient she had ever had who had not experienced post-op heart palpitations and I was very ‘robust’. She has reduced my warfarin dosage as my ‘INR’ was a little high and she will check again in 10 days when I go back, for X-rays, blood tests and a general review of my progress.

The holdup to being discharged was the lack of a ‘sign off’ by the diabetes specialist who wasn’t at the hospital yesterday, and I was told it would have to be Friday morning.

My poor GF had been busy packing all my stuff and then had to unpack it all again!!

We asked the hospital if there was any chance they could get hold of the missing doc, but they said, no way.

Then, about 6 pm, another diabetes doctor came breezing in with her team, and after looking at my blood results told me I could go home and informed me on my prescribed daily insulin doses. I will have to see her in 11 days’ time, so I will probably need to stay overnight in Bangkok. My blood sugars have been running on the high side, but better a bit high than too low, till my heart can stand the strain of possible hypos.

It took another hospital doc about an hour to hand over all my meds with precise instructions about what I can and can’t do, what I can eat, drink, what exercises t do etc, and to warn about adverse effects of the Warfarin etc.

So my GF had to absorb all this information, (after all – I am a ga-ga farang), pack everything again and haul it all down to the car and drive me home through the evening rush hour. We could have waited till Friday morning, but we were both desperate to get home.

My dogs went absolutely ballistic when I arrived home, and Cookie, my Golden Retriever actually jumped up onto the sofa –something she never does – and refused to budge. My 45 kilo GF fought a losing battle trying to remove a 38 kilo stubborn lump of hairy mutt from my lap.

Last night I had a pretty good night’s sleep in my own bed, (the 2 Shih Tzu’s nestling next to us up top, and Cookie, lying prostrate on the floor next to my bedside, within stroking distance), and today, my GF drove me to a charming little government run, village hospital/clinic less than 5 minutes’ drive from my home, where a lovely young nurse changed my dressings. The main scar is fine and now bare to the world, but the area where the drain tubes went in are still a bit messy.

So I am now ensconced in my bedroom with my lap top, tablet and TV and feeling pretty good about life in general.

If my life had gone in a slightly different direction over the past couple of years I am quite sure I would never have had the operation, and I would have probably expired within the next year or so.

One thing is for sure: I would never have managed it without my wonderful lady, – in fact I would never have stopped drinking 18 months ago if it wasn’t for her. I just couldn’t bear to see the pain and misery I was causing her by my drunken bouts, and once I decided to quit, she has been beside me every single step of the way; and of course, through all my heart traumas.

It has been quite an adventure.

Well I never was one for settling for the quiet life!

Take care everyone,

Mobi

[transam]

Well it was on, and then off, then finally on again and I made it back home at around 9 p.m. last night.

I saw the surgeon yesterday morning and she told me I had made incredible progress and she was happy to let me go home provided that all the paperwork was sorted out in time.

She said I was the only patient she had ever had who had not experienced post-op heart palpitations and I was very ‘robust’. She has reduced my warfarin dosage as my ‘INR’ was a little high and she will check again in 10 days when I go back, for X-rays, blood tests and a general review of my progress.

The holdup to being discharged was the lack of a ‘sign off’ by the diabetes specialist who wasn’t at the hospital yesterday, and I was told it would have to be Friday morning.

My poor GF had been busy packing all my stuff and then had to unpack it all again!!

We asked the hospital if there was any chance they could get hold of the missing doc, but they said, no way.

Then, about 6 pm, another diabetes doctor came breezing in with her team, and after looking at my blood results told me I could go home and informed me on my prescribed daily insulin doses. I will have to see her in 11 days’ time, so I will probably need to stay overnight in Bangkok. My blood sugars have been running on the high side, but better a bit high than too low, till my heart can stand the strain of possible hypos.

It took another hospital doc about an hour to hand over all my meds with precise instructions about what I can and can’t do, what I can eat, drink, what exercises t do etc, and to warn about adverse effects of the Warfarin etc.

So my GF had to absorb all this information, (after all – I am a ga-ga farang), pack everything again and haul it all down to the car and drive me home through the evening rush hour. We could have waited till Friday morning, but we were both desperate to get home.

My dogs went absolutely ballistic when I arrived home, and Cookie, my Golden Retriever actually jumped up onto the sofa –something she never does – and refused to budge. My 45 kilo GF fought a losing battle trying to remove a 38 kilo stubborn lump of hairy mutt from my lap.

Last night I had a pretty good night’s sleep in my own bed, (the 2 Shih Tzu’s nestling next to us up top, and Cookie, lying prostrate on the floor next to my bedside, within stroking distance), and today, my GF drove me to a charming little government run, village hospital/clinic less than 5 minutes’ drive from my home, where a lovely young nurse changed my dressings. The main scar is fine and now bare to the world, but the area where the drain tubes went in are still a bit messy.

So I am now ensconced in my bedroom with my lap top, tablet and TV and feeling pretty good about life in general.

If my life had gone in a slightly different direction over the past couple of years I am quite sure I would never have had the operation, and I would have probably expired within the next year or so.

One thing is for sure: I would never have managed it without my wonderful lady, – in fact I would never have stopped drinking 18 months ago if it wasn’t for her. I just couldn’t bear to see the pain and misery I was causing her by my drunken bouts, and once I decided to quit, she has been beside me every single step of the way; and of course, through all my heart traumas.

It has been quite an adventure.

Well I never was one for settling for the quiet life!

Take care everyone,

Mobi

, good luck.

Trans

[Rimmer]

Well done Mobi, very pleased everything went well and you are back home.

[craigt3365]

Yes, fantastic news. Glad everything went so well. Look forward to seeing you again soon....

[meatboy]

oh well mobi if you cant have a drink i will have one for you,good luck and if you feel as well as i have been after my op.its a new life.meatboy

[cdnvic]

Wishing you a speedy recovery