Pericarditis & Pericardiectomy Part VIII

Welcome to Part VIII of the Pericarditis and Pericardiectomy Thread!!  Wow!  This thread has been through a lot.  It continues to grow with both new and old members and has become a place where sharing is at it's best!

Here's a place to share your experiences, learn from others who have 'been there before' and offer your support to members who have questions or concerns re Pericarditis and it's effects on the body.

Thanks to all of you! 

Best Wishes & Hugs, Teri

PS  As you can see this is a very popular thread, so if you'd like to read the previous threads, they are found on other pages of the Cardiovascular Forum here, starting with Part I.

Hey, Teri!  Thanks for helping to hold this whole thing together.

I'm interested to hear from Cathy, too....

As for me, I'm doing fine.  Have been working out again.  Occasional SOB, such as when going up stairs.  (It also seems like I get hot really easily.)  Went to see the pulmonary guy today, who ordered up a CT scan.  He suspects that there may be some pleural scarring, which would come as no surprise to me.  No one---including me---seems to think that it is anything worth losing sleep over.

Basically, I'm great! 

---Mister S.

Hi Nan, Mister S., Teri, Cathy, John99 and everybody.

My appointments went well today . . . I saw my surgeon, Dr. Kass and my cardiologist, Dr. Swerdlow.   Both felt I looked great and thought my recovery time was better than expected.  ANd, Cathy, you were right: Dr. Kass completely removed the front of the pericardium and left a portion of the back in tact.  He has not heard back from pathology yet, but still doubts my pericardium will reveal anything about the origin of whatever attacked it.  Dr. Swerdlow was amazed at how much my ascites had gone down and we both feel that I probably have very little fluid left in my abdomen.  He also commented on my skin color and how much it had improved (I used to be grayish, now it looks like my normal skintone).  I told him about my SOB worries and he told me that a small portion of my lower left lung was still collapsed as an after effect of the ascites and effusions. He feels that diligent use of the tri-flow will eventually seperate the area that's stuck together.  I also have a rather weird night sweat problem.  In the past, when I got night sweats, it involved pretty much 100% of my body.  I never had a fever, I would just wake up soaked in the middle of the night.  about two months before my surgery, this sypmtom went away one night and never returned.  Now, ever since the operation, a very small area around my left shoulder running up the back of my neck and head are experiencing night sweats.  It's the oddest thing how localized and precise the area is. Dr. Swerdlow told me not to worry about it, that it's probably a side effect from the water pills and will eventually go away.  I should only become concerned if I develop a fever. 

He scheduled me to return in a month for an echo and office visit, and thinks I can return to work by the end of this month.  The only problem with that is he doesn't want me driving until mid-November.  I'm hoping I can convince him otherwise in a couple of weeks, but he seems pretty intent on keeping me from behind the wheel.  My argument is that I only need to drive 18 miles, all travel will be during rush hour, and my freeway speed will never exceed 12 miles per hour!  His argument isn't that he's afraid I will get into an accident (although he said that would be very dangerous if I did), he says the turning of the head and upper torso to check behind me before changing lanes is brutal on the sternum.

Out of curiosity: Has anyone out there been cleared to drive before six weeks after their surgery? 

Well, that's about it for me!  I hope all of you are doing well . . .Chat with you soon!

Scott

Happy Wednesday, Everyone!

I'm happy to hear from everyone! - cept where's Cathy?!  I'm getting worried?

John where are you?-hoping all is well?!

John, you said you didn't realize getting a tube out was that difficult - I don't suppose it would be, but I guess for such a small short little thing?  I don't know - I know it sort of scared me at first. lol

Scott, I've never heard of anyone being cleared to drive before 6 weeks.  There are usually reasons they make these limitations and no one generally heals that fast.  Listen to your Dr.'s.  If you were to get into an accident and it's against Dr.'s advice for you to drive - watch your insurance drop you or raise your cost!  And of course they'll say it's your fault cuz you shouldn't have been driving.  Do not take that chance.-I care. (I got chewed out just for trying to leave a day early from the hospital lol!)

Maya, how is your fiance doing??  Okay with the prednisone dosages?  How are the wedding plans going?

Nan, it is always great to hear from you!! How is your new business coming along?!

Hi Mister!!  You are working out already - you are doing wonderfully!  You and Scott talking about being hot? hmmm Some type of nerve thing?...it's almost like a woman who's going through perimenopause and gets night sweats.  I'll see what I can find out.

You all take care!!  Bunches of Hugs always, Teri

Hi Cathy!
I'm so glad to hear from you! And yes, please put up the newspaper link here for us to read!  I'd really appreciate it and so will the many others who stroll this way wondering what it is like, right after they've been diagnosed with it.

Please take care of You, Cathy!!

Bunches of Hugs, Teri
xoxoxo

Hi Scott!

Your questions re the sweating are probably a little different just due to the difference in how you are saying it's been occuring.

In the beginning, it , too may have been possibly from a pulmonary source, but since that seems to be resolved and now what you have left is such a precise spot where you seem to have this occurring...your Dr. is probably right on the mark.

Sweating comes from spicey foods, thyroid problems, medications, infections, anxiety, pulmonary edema, withdrawal from drugs and many other things.

Hopefully, this is temporary and you will pass through this phase quickly!!

Big Hugs, Teri

http://health.allrefer.com/health/sweating-excessive-causes.html

http://health.allrefer.com/health/pulmonary-edema-symptoms.html

Hey, everybody.

Thanks, Teri, for looking that stuff up for me.  I figure that the feeling hot thing has got to do with the pleural effusion/scarring thing.  Or the fact that I am on lasix.  Or some thing like that.  Who knows!?  In any case, thanks for checking things out.  You rule.     Sidenote:  My wife pitched that breathing thing months ago, after the CT people told me I didn't need it.  (The spirometer, right?  The thing you suck on, in order to get that disc to rise?)

Scott---so glad to hear that you're healing up.  You will probably have various & sundry annoying little healing-related issues clear up into the fourth or fifth month.  You may even have some kind of fun thing like I do!  That itching, as far as I know, is definitely a good thing.  RE: your question about driving, I *was* actually cleared to drive after four weeks---provided, of course, that I wasn't taking any of the hydrocodone pills.  I think I drove at the fifth or sixth week, though.  I still was feeling pretty loopy and prob. shouldn't have been driving.  Oh, well.

And Cathy---so good to hear things are on the up-and-up.  I will look forward to the article, too.

Auf wiedersehen!

-Mister S.

Usually there is a small amt. of fluid there, it's when it becomes too much that would cause some concern.  Have you had any tests done so far?  Have they suggested anything as the cause?  I believe this may be something you should ask your physician about, as the cause varies.

I wish you all the best!

Hugs, Teri

You are doing fantastic! I do hope that they can resolve this sore throat stuff...but sounds like you are off and running, oops, biking! (I'm bad with my jokes lol)

Bunches of Hugs, Teri

Mister S. - Good job on getting a hold of a spirometer.  Using it religiously will make a big difference in your recovery.  It's also nice once you feel you're breathing correctly again to use it just to test how things are.  Several times I've thought I was fine and found I had slipped a little on lung capacity.  I wouldn't have known without the device.  Great news as well that you were back driving after four weeks.  I'm not on anything other than lasix, aldactone, potassium and baby aspirin.  So, there wouldn't be an impairment issue if I were cleared to drive again.  

However, I did something really stupid on Friday night.  A friend's dog tried to run out the door and, as a reflex, I lunged and grabbed it's collar.  This is a really small dog, but the quick jump and overextention ripped a little piece of skin around the very top stitch.  It hurt like heck!  It bled just a little bit at the time, but stopped right away.  Today, however, I noticed it had swollen up into a little bump.  When I pressed on it, it drained for a little bit, but it appears to be better now.  If it doesn't look like it's improving by tomorrow morning,  I guess I'll go back and have the pros look at it.  It's just the skin, though, my sternum still feels solid. I could kick myself for not thinking!  But, sometimes we have to do something stupid to increase our awareness level.  Everytime I do anything now it is with that top stitch in mind.

Mrozek - Glad to hear you're on the same path . . It's a great feeling isn't it?  A month ago it would have been difficult to convince me that so many appearingly unrelated symptoms could disappear with one operation.  Everyday I remind myself how lucky we are.

Welcome Gerry - You really need to hear from Storri/Cathy, she is the queen of all things calcified.  I remember reading that she had a similar amount of ascites as a condition or her constriction.  And, most of it has gone away since her pericardiectomy.  I'll let her speak for herself, however, because I also know she has been on water pills for a long time as well.

Speaking from my experience, I was carrying about four liters of ascites when I went in for my operation two and a half weeks ago.  It is all gone now.  Have you ever had a paracenthesis (sp?) performed?   Over the course of the past year and a half, I had my abdomen drained twice.  One time they removed two liters, the next time they got out four liters.  From a morale standpoint, it is great to live a couple of weeks with a "normal" stomach again, it shows you that your body is not in as bad a shape as you think it is.  From another perspective, it lets you know how long it takes for the ascites to come back.  In my case, it would return in two to three weeks, even with the water pills.  But, boy, I sure felt better the week after it was drained off!  And, the amount of time it took to return was helpful to my doctors who could better gauge the effectiveness of my medication dosages.  One time after a procedure he doubled my prescription which really did a much better job controlling the fluid accumulation. 

Please keep in touch with us and let us know how things progress at the Cleveland Clinic.  You can bet we'll all be rooting for you.  If past history is any indication . . .you will come through this in much better shape and with no regrets about having the surgery performed. 

Teri - As always, thank you for moderating.  I don't know how you find the time!

Scott

Post Edited (Scott D.) : 10/23/2005 10:18:11 PM (GMT-6)

Greetings from N.E. England

I'm scheduled for surgery tomorrow & will soon be setting out for the hospital.

I'll let you know how things go

Best Wishes

Cathy!  I am so sorry some idiot decided to write a fictitious account about your long journey back to health.  Misinformation is EXACTLY why people are so misinformed about this condition and are afraid to have the surgery.  This must be very tramatic for you and your family; my heart goes out to you.  I would certainly schedule a meeting to see the editor and let him know what has been done to you at the hands of one of his reporters.  It isn't fair that you would take the time to open your home and heart, then be punished by someone who just doesn't get it.  I hope you can find a way to relax and take care of yourself.  It isn't worth getting yourself upset at this stage of your recovery.

Scott

Hi Scott,

I never heard of paracenthesis, or the draining of fluid from the stomach.  I did look it up on the internet and it explained it fully.  None of my doctor's ever mentioned to me to have it done.  They just increased my Lasix from 20 to eventually 80 mg.  The Dr. I was seeing here specialized in the electrical system of the heart--he was the one who inserted my pacemaker.  He never mentioned anything about the pericardium calcifying, even after all the tests I had done.  I have to find a Dr. in my area who at least knows something about constrictive pericarditis because the cardiologist who diagnosed me is in NYC and that's over 2 hours away.  I'll need someone closer, especially after the surgery--Cleveland is a long way away if problems arise.  I've asked Dr. Klein for a recommendation for a Dr. in my area.

Thanks for your help, Scott, and I'm glad that your recuperation is going so well.  Take care.

Gerry