Teri, so glad you are back...I had a weird feeling and it scared me, plus you always post pretty much after two or three of us have, and I didnt' see you..you scared me..! SO glad you are doing better, and I hope you continue..
Mrozek...you are very close on the nine days...I flew in on the 20th..nothing that day...21st was tests..22nd..more test..23rd tests..24th tests...25th and 26th weekend...morning of 27th surgery...I came home on the third...should have been the 2nd, they were so close to letting me go, but I was running a fever, and they could still hear fluid on my lungs. so altogether..fourteen days...but if you take away the wasted weekend..twelve days, and if you are not running a fever..it will be eleven days. I had Mri's, heart cath, chest xrays..TONS of blood..lung tests, echo's and ekg's, so be prepared to do all of these...altho, they might not do a heart cath...did they mail you your schedule yet? YES, they have an awesome support group. While I was in surgery, they took me family and had a one on one class...a nurse came in and told them what too expect from me when I came out, and what to expect from the doctor...they looked at my son's and told them not too be scared, as he will probably have blood on his shoes and clothes...also, told them that the doctor is a cross between MARK TWAIN and ALBERT EINSTEIN...lol, soo true..he has that wild white hair going on. They have two chapels, and my family went while I was in surgery. THE SECOND I was out of surgery, they beeped their pager again, and told them to go straight to Dr. Lytles office, where he gave a complete detail of the surgery. One thing that is certain, they are very informative, and don't keep the family in the dark. ALSO, before you go in, you will meet with a nurse..and the
anesthesiologist, you and your wife will both be in that meeting, that is the day before surgery. Mine was on Friday, becasue of the weekend. I don't think they will postpone your surgery, he is big on removing it, and not letting it get worse, altho, when I went three years ago, they bought me a year, but my symptoms were not bad then. Let me know if there is anything else I can tell you..YOU are in great hands, this guy is a genious, and you will see how he is worshipped at Cleveland, the GUY lives at the hospital, and has no life. The weather was SO bad when we were there...HOT and HUMID..omg, we couldn't breathe at all, spending all those times in shuttles and waiting for them was the worst. If I thought my shortness of breathe was bad before, when I got to cleveland it was worse! KEEP in touch, when is YOUR exact date? AND do you have your schedule they mail you yet? ALSO, make SURE you tell LYTLE that you want enough pain meds, and ask if a family member can stay with you in the ICU the first night. ALSO, they put a BED in my room, and the boys and NED stayed in my room once I was moved out of the ICU, which was the second day..you might just have her stay with you..my family never left after that..they had a bed as comfy as mine, in a private room, and the nurse's didn't say a word, infact, they asked if we needed an extra bed for family. That will save you a ton of money, just have her stay with YOU! My family never left once I had my room. The ICU is tricky, they might not let her stay that night, they kicked my family out, but, i didnt' make arrangements before, I think if we would have asked Lytle ahead, he could have stayed...too late; and I ended up with the nurse from hell. IF you have a nurse that is older, and has SHORT GREY HAIR...punch her in the nose for me will ya???
MISTER...I had the same, but it was more of a feeling of SUFFOCIATION..like I could not get a good enough breath, I felt like someone was sitting on me, and I hated it. I can't believe what a difference it is now...mostly from the swelling. I always felt like I had too go to the bathroom, but hardly anything...now, I go like a normal person. My face was swollen so much, that now that I look back at the photos, I can't believe I was seen in public like that..all of the swelling is gone. ITS amazing to see all of the symptoms just disappear. ESPECIALLy the arrthymia's...OMG, what a relief to not feel my heart beat! They were not sure if I would still have atrial fib or not. I took my last pill two days ago..so far so good!
have faith....I completely relate to your fears, I probably was the biggest BABY out of everyone here...I know I was! And it didn't help with my boys and altho they are 14, my one son is such a mama's boy, that he was so upset when they took me away, it broke my heart..its a fine line, because you can't promise you will be okay, my one son kept asking for that promise, and I had to tap dance around it saying, I promise you I will do my best to live. He wasn't happy with that answer, but it was the best I could do. ALSO, I did two journals each for the boys...one was a day to day account, and one was the story of their lives..same thing, you are doing, funny things they did and said as little ones....it is so smart to do that, because you will never forget the cute things they did. SO I had a total of four journals, and it was the toughest thing I had ever done, because you couldn't write like you were going to die, altho, I had to give them advice for the future..it was not easy...you will see many excerps from my journals in the upcoming newspaper article on my surgery. Try to ignore the morbid thoughts the doctors are puttin into your brain. Those are uneducated surgeons that do not understand this disease, if you go to Mayo or Cleveland, they will not scare you as bad, altho, they do tell you that the morality rate is high, but, you will feel confident with their knowledge and expertise. Does you stomach blow up with fluid?? ascites?? I would look like a was six months pregnant in literally five minutes...okay, I am getting lengthy as always..talk to ya all later...Cathy Hugs Teri...so glad to see you!!