Week 5 Update - late :(

My friend Kathy reminded me that I haven't posted anything recently, sorry Kathy.

Let's see, what's happened recently. I did see Dr. Willekes, and he decided that my infection was bad enough that I needed to go on an antibiotic (Augmentin). So while the horse pills did reduce the lump in my chest, it also caused me to get diarrhea. So between that and the jalapeño peppers I've been eating from my garden, I guess I could say those pills are a real pain in the butt. Those pills are gone, but the lump is not completely gone, so I'll stop and see Dr. Willekes on Tuesday to see if he thinks it is cleared up enough or if more treatment is needed. Speaking of Dr. Willekes, Chuck being the nice guy that he is, said I really didn't need to come and see him anymore unless I just wanted to stop by and visit, so I asked him if we could do lunch sometime, and he said only if I was buying.

He did agree that I could go off the blood thinner (Coumadin), so I dropped that drug, so I'm no longer a bleeder :) I'm down to Baby Aspirinn three times a week, he did double my beta blocker (Toprol) to 50 mg a day and I'm taking my cholesterol reducer (Simvastatin). So not bad I guess, a lot of the others I run into are taking more drugs than I am.

I've been to my Cardiac Rehab three times already, it does feel good to work out and sweat once again, and they've been pushing me pretty hard. With all the old timers in the gym, I look like a real stud compared to them, I don't even need a cane when walking over to the treadmill. Along with my Rehab, they had me attend "Risky Business Seminar / Heart Healthy Living". While the largest chunk of time was spent on nutrition, they also covered stress management, exercise, risk factors and pharmacy / medication. Needless to say, I do need to change some of my eating habits, I'm not sure I'll like that. But on a positive note, a small glass of red wine a day is good for you.

So hopefully that updates you a bit, in less than two weeks I'll be wandering the halls of the Meijer office buildings once again. I've a lot to get done these next couple of weeks, people that want to join me for breakfast or lunch, a couple of things on Dawn's list still are not done, my Mom and Dad always have a small project they want done. I'd better get busy instead of surfing the internet and looking for deals on craigslist.

Enjoy life, and take care of yourselves.
John

Four Week Update

I should have posted this on Thursday, but I wanted to wait until I had a little more information,
It has been a busy week, Monday I went to a lab to give some blood to be tested, Wednesday I went down to Blodgett to get the information I needed for my cardiac rehab, Thursday I went to Dr. Foster's office to have a an echocardiography done, and then on Friday I met with Dr. Foster to discuss the results of my blood tests and the echocardiography. So it was a busy week with medical stuff.

While it would be nice if they told me that things are perfect, truth is that they are much better, but not perfect. I still have some regurgitation, but it is no longer classified as severe, but mild to moderate. Instead of leaking at multiple points, I now have one jet (one point) that is leaking. I meet with Dr. Willekes next week, I'll have to see what he says about the severity of the regurgitation. Speaking of things not being perfect, the blood work showed that my cholesterol is a little high, where it is ideal to have it under 200, mine was 208, and according to American Heart Association, 200 - 239 is Borderline - High Risk. My HDL (good) cholesterol isn't too bad, it was 47, and the average for men is 40 to 50, with the higher the number the better. My LDL (bad) cholesterol is 139, under 100 is Optimal, then it goes to 100 - 129 Near Optimal/ Above Optimal, 130 - 159 is Borderline High, 160 - 189 is High and over 190 is Very High. My Triglyceride Level is 111, and under 150 is Normal. On Monday I go back to Blodgett as part of my cardiac rehab to learn what I should be eating in order to benefit my heart. This is an all day class, from 9 until 3. So between being educated on my eating habits, and the prescription from Dr. Foster, my cholesterol levels should return to the levels they need to be at.

After I meet with Dr. Willekes on Tuesday, if I get his okay, they want me to start my rehab on Wednesday, with the goal of me being able to return to running races if I so desire to do so. They took me down to the facility so I could see the equipment I will be using, and while I did notice the treadmills, stationary bikes and a few other things, the one thing that I really noticed, is that no one in the room was near my age. I think I'll need to dye my hair grey so I fit in with the cardiac rehab crowd.

I'll see what Dr. Willekes says about my infection as the one incision continues to ooze a bit. They want me to leave it exposed as much as possible, so if I don't have a nice shirt on, I do so that it dries out. Unfortunately just when I think it is healing, I some how manage to open the wound. Poor Dawn has had to wash our sheets more than she should because I've managed to get gunk on them. I think I'll just cover it up with gauze every night in an attempt to keep the sheets a little cleaner.

Four weeks after my surgery, I am doing much better. I can shower and wash my incisions without Dawn's help, I'm sure she's glad for that. I feel that I'm getting plenty of exercise, but they tell me that I need to set aside some time each day for exercise, and walking Buddy doesn't count. Dawn took me out for a walk this week, and I was able to keep up with her brisk pace and still manage to hold a conversation with her while we were walking, so that was encouraging. I joined my lunch group from Meijer for lunch on Tuesday, and went to the office afterwards to say "Hi" to a few people, and I ended up being there for almost three hours. It was good to see everyone, but i didn't get my afternoon nap because I stayed there too long. It won't be long until I get back there working, and to be honest, I'm actually looking forward to being there.

To those that are wondering, my garden is doing just fine, if anyone wants some tomatoes, let me know, we've got plenty. And no, I have not started watching any soap operas yet, and I don't plan on doing so. If the weather cooperates, I may try riding my unicycle and see if I can't figure that out before I go back to work. Right now, the date that they set for my return to work is October 4 which is a Saturday, go figure. Dawn has Friday and Monday off from work the weekend I'm scheduled to return, so I may take Monday October 6 off and start up on Tuesday instead, we'll have to wait and see.

Quick Update

After Dr. Willekes looked at my incision, he was not concerned with the infection, he termed it as a superficial infection and felt that a suture was the cause if it. All I'll need to do is drain it as needed and keep is clean. Where it is located, the chance of the infection spreading in minimal since the muscles in the chest provide a barrier that will keep it from going any further. Good thing I'm so buff.

He was happy the way the swelling has gone done and feels things are looking good. One thing he did mention that threw me for a little loop was a comment of his saying he felt I was still anemic, and might still be down a couple of pints of blood which may be why my pulse rate is still elevated. I know they only gave me blood components such as plasma and platelets, but I didn't get any whole blood transfusions, but it makes me wonder how much blood I lost during the surgery.

Another thing of interest was my itemized bill from the hospital. Do you realize they charge just as much for a vicadin tablet as they do for a baby aspirin?

Three Weeks After Surgery

We'll it's been three weeks since my surgery, and the day isn't shaping up like I planned. Part of one of my incisions is looking slightly infected, so I called the surgeons office yesterday to report it like I'm suppose to, and they wanted me to come in and have one of Dr. Willekes' associates look at it. No problem I can head there after lunch and have him look at it. Then late afternoon yesterday I got a call from Dr. Willekes' office and they asked if I could come in at 3:30 because Dr. Willekes will be back into the office and he'd like to see me. Dawn is wondering why he wants to see me, I think it is just because I'm his prized patient, I think she just worries too much about me and is looking into it more than she should. But as it turns out, the later appointment is better than the earlier one because Dawn will be home from work and can go with me to the appointment if she wants. Besides, Dawn's car didn't start this morning, so she took the van into work, and I'm waiting for the tow truck to show up. Therefore I wouldn't have a vehicle to go to the earlier appointment, so things are working out after all. But since I don't have a vehicle, that means I can't go out to the garden today, but as luck would have it, it is raining out and I don't need to go out to the garden to water it.

I did have to walk Buddy in the rain this morning, he didn't mind, and with an umbrella I didn't get too wet, just my feet. I was hoping to go out for a brisk walk by myself today to see how I feel pushing it a bit, but I'll have to wait and see if the weather cooperates.

If it weren't for some minor discomfort in my right side chest, I'm feeling pretty good. I'm scheduled to go to a cardiac rehab session next week, that should give me an indicator as to how I'm doing and how much I should push it. Seeing Dr. Willekes this afternoon will be a good thing, just so he can see how I'm doing and perhaps he'll give me some things that I should be doing that I may not be doing.

If I get any news worthy information from Dr. Willekes, I'll make sure that I share that, otherwise that's all for now, I hope all is well with everyone out there in cyberspace.

Labor Day Weekend

What a beautiful weekend! Here's a shot of the garden being watered, I didn't dare get a shot too close of the garden because of all the weeds that are growing, hopefully I can get out there and get it cleaned up a bit so I can take some close up pictures of the different plants. Even though I'm starting to get tomatoes and peppers, they came a little late this year, but I was a little late in getting my garden planted. Perhaps God knew I should get it planted late, if I had it planted when I should have, things would have been ripening when I was in the hospital and the Cramer's would have been busier than they already were taking care of my side of the garden.

On Saturday Dawn took me out to Holland to take advantage of the beautiful weather and enjoy at least one more day on the beach before fall arrives. While it was hot out there and the water was somewhat warm, I behaved myself and didn't go into the water further than up to my knees. It felt good to get out of the house, I couldn't help but wonder how many people were staring at my scars and bruising. Hopefully I didn't scare too many little kids, at least I don't look as bad as I did a week earlier.

Here's the main reason we headed out to Holland. Brianna moved in to Hope College while I was in the Meijer Heart Center, so I didn't see her dorm room yet. She was out at the beach on Saturday with her friends, for some reason they made sure they were far enough away from us. After we were at the beach for the afternoon, we went back and saw her room, it wasn't too messy yet, but then again she's only been in there a couple of weeks. We went to Fricano's Too with a couple of her friends for pizza before heading for home.

So I'm getting better each day, the incisions are healing up nicely and I can lift my right arm all the way over my head finally. The right side of my chest still feels a little weird, while it doesn't hurt, it seems to be getting more sensitive than it was before. If I try to jog a few steps while walking Buddy it hurts if I let my chest bounce at all, so hopefully that gets better soon so I can see if I can resume running before winter gets here. People have asked me if I feel better than I did before the surgery, at this point I can't say I do. The test will be how I feel if I can start jogging again, or if I go for a walk with Dawn and let her walk at her pace and see if I get tired.

That's all for now, I look forward to seeing you all in the near future.

Cord Replacement

Someone mentioned to me they really didn't understand about the cord from my valve being replaced, so I'll attempt to explain it a bit. The cords are attached from the mitral valve to the lining of the heart, they work similar to the spring on a screen door, they allow the valve to swing into the lower chamber (Left Ventricle), but stops it from swinging into the upper chamber (Left Atrium). Because my Mitral Valve was prolapsed so severly, my Mitral Valve did swing partially into the upper chamber of my heart, this caused the cords to get stretched out to the point that it was no longer preventing the valve from swinging into the upper chamber. So Dr. Willekes made the decision to cut a cord and replace it with gortex so that the valve would stop at the proper point and hopefully prevent problems down the road.

What day is it?

Not going to work each day causes one day to be similar to the next, I hope I remember to put the trash out on trash day.
I didn't make it to the garden yesterday, Brianna called and her Mac computer died, so she needed to go to the Apple store and they gave her a new one. Since she was coming in, we ate dinner together, BLTs with the tomatoes coming from the garden, so that has to count for something. Given the choice of spending time in the garden or with my kids, the kids are going to win out every time. We are going to make an attempt to go out there again after Dawn gets out of work.
Dawn did allow me to drive to the lab today to get my blood drawn for testing, I drove a whole 2.9 miles round trip all by myself. Things are quiet around the house today, the neighbor kids aren't even chasing each other around, perhaps I'll each lunch and take a nap, doesn't that sound like a good idea?