Sunday ; post-operative day 23
Sunny and mild, a nice fall day.
This morning I did the credit card accounting for Joanne's day of errands in Penticton yesterday. Gee, that girl surely can spend money, can't she ? ! ? HA HA HA ! Just before having lunch I went for a log walk, adding some distance to my previous longest route. I have found that my ability to walk / my stamina is greater before a meal rather than after.
This afternoon I did some regular weekly investment analysis, and posted my weekly journal to my blog. While Joanne had a phone chat with her sister I tried to nap.
I wasn't successful. HMPH ! Who would have ever thought that I might be a failure at napping ? HA HA HA ! We went for another walk late in the afternoon. While I walk my "circuit" for exercise, Joanne walks Ozzie nearby and sort of keeps an eye on me. After our walk I sat at our picnic table and repaired a crack in our five gallon water jug, with a lot of "fetch" assistance by Joanne.
Monday ; Sunny and mild.
After lunch we headed to Penticton. First stop, and primary reason for the trip, was Integra Tire where we had studded winter tires installed on the minivan. While the minivan was being worked on we borrowed Integra Tire's courtesy car and drove to "downtown" Penticton, to a jeweller, to drop off my Canada Post gold watch to have the crystal replaced. < sigh > Closed on Mondays ! After the new studded winter tires were finished being installed we went to a water purification place and bought a new five gallon water jug. Final errand stop was Rona to buy a new light switch. After our errands were done and we were ready to return home we drove to Skaha Lake Beach Park so that I could do my second long walk of the day. It was a nice change of scenery from walking around Riverside RV Park Resort, but ... BRRRRR ... what a cold wind blowing in off Skaha Lake !
Tuesday ; Sunny and mild, another nice fall day.
This morning I felt strong so ... my late morning walk was longer and more challenging than previous walks. By a long shot !
This afternoon we put away some outdoor furniture. And working as a team, we replaced the light switch in the bedroom. That's the third light switch in our home that has needed to be replaced within the last couple of months. Designed obsolescence,
I suppose. My late afternoon walk included some play time for Ozzie in the dog park.
In the evening I paid some bills online, and did monthly computer backup procedures.
Wednesday ; Raining and chilly. An entire day lost to negativity and resultant bickering.
Thursday ; Sunny and cool.
Today was a long, difficult, very tiring, but productive day in Penticton. We left home at 11 AM and drove to Penticton. First stop was a downtown jeweller where I dropped off my Canada Post gold watch, inherited from my father, to have the broken crystal replaced. Next stop was Integra Tire to have all the wheel's lug nuts tightened /
re-torqued. On the way to my cardiologist's office we refilled the minivan with fuel.
At 1 PM I had my ( almost ) one month post-operative appointment with my cardiologist. It was enlightening, and helped explain some of the problems / frustrations I have been experiencing. The doctor pointed out to me that not only am I experiencing pain from the chest incision ( obviously ) and sternum "opening" and "closing" ( even more obvious ), but ... there is a great deal of internal trauma in my chest caused by the harvesting of both mammary arteries. Oh, yeah ... kind of forgot about that ! The mammary arteries are extremely useful as bypass grafts, but ... harvesting them results in a lot of short term pain ... for long term gain.
In response to my complaints abut fluid build up around the lungs, and after listening to my lungs with his stethoscope, he suggested that the problem is probably a build up of fluid around the left lung, which is deflated during surgery to facilitate access to the heart. He sent me to Penticton Hospital next door to get a chest x-ray done. While in the x-ray waiting room I had an encouraging chat with an old man who had quintuple bypass surgery twenty-four years ago ... and has been doing well ever since. Until
now ! Now he is battling prostate cancer.
I got my chest x-ray done, and by the time I walked back to my cardiologist’s office, about five minutes away, my chest x-ray was displayed on the computer on his desk. It confirmed his diagnosis of fluid build up around the left lung. After a brief discussion about thoracentesis, he arranged for me to have a thoracentesis procedure performed tomorrow morning at Penticton Hospital. It involves insertion of a long, thick, hollow needle and thin tube into the chest cavity, between the ribs, underneath the lung, and draining the fluid out. The x-ray also allowed us to view the cut ends of the wires holding my sternum together. The uppermost wire ends are left in a "V" shape after being twisted around themselves, and that is what is causing the problematic lump at the top of my chest incision. I will discuss that with my cardiothoracic surgeon when
I meet with him in about a month.
We went to Cherry Lane Mall for a late ( 3 PM ) lunch before driving home. By the time we arrived back home around 5 PM I was feeling totally drained, and ill. I felt better after napping for an hour.
For my American friends who are critical and sceptical of Canada’s universal health care system ( “free” health care for everyone ) please note ; my triple bypass surgery took place 2½ days after an angiogram indicated the need for it, and this thoracentesis procedure will take place about nineteen hours after the doctor determined it was needed.
Friday ; Sunny and cool.
We left home relatively early this morning ( at 8:30 AM ... about 15 minutes late ! ) heading for Penticton Hospital where I had a 9:30 AM appointment for thoracentesis, the draining of fluid from around my lung. A large hollow needle was inserted into my lower back, threaded through my ribs, and into the fluid filled space beneath my left lung. Gravity did the rest, and 600 cc. of bloody fluid drained out through the thin tube attached to the needle. When the procedure was finished I was sent for another chest x-ray which confirmed that all the fluid was gone. AHHHHH ... finally ... relief ! Maybe now I will be able to breathe when I lie down !
We were leaving the hospital around 11 AM. We arrived back in Keremeos around noon. First stop was the Post Office to pick up a parcel and buy a stamp. Next was the pharmacy to pick up some prescription refills and ... get a flu shot. I waited in the car while Joanne went to the credit union to buy some rolls of quarters. We were back home by 1 PM.
After lunch I went to nap for awhile. An hour later I woke up and ... UNGH ... the "freezing" / local anaesthetic in my lower back had worn off. What tremendous pain ! ! ! I was a bit scared, and worried that I might have to return to the hospital. But ... after getting out of bed and sitting in the living room to visit with our friend Jeanine the pain began to slowly subside. By supper time it had diminished quite a bit, and then after supper it became worse again. HMPH ! Must be time for another pain killer !
Late this afternoon the certified gas fitter that I hired arrived to connect our new large propane tank to our park model home. HMPH ! Too bad I have to pay that much money to have someone "certified" do work that is that simple ! It was work that I am quite capable of doing myself !
We cleaned and treated Ozzie's ears today. One ear was perfectly fine, one ear was slightly infected, but no worse than the last time we cleaned and treated his ears.
I know from previous experience that we will eventually eliminate the infection, and keep it under control. We discovered when we returned home today that ...
< SPUTTER > ... Ozzie has been raiding the cat litter box for "munchies" / "snacks" while we are away. OZZIE ! ! ! ! ! BAD DOG ! ! ! ! !
Saturday ; post-operative day 29
Sunny and mild.
Because of the pain of the thoracentesis I was unable to sleep lying down last night, so spent the night trying to sleep in a chair in the living room. I was able to sleep for about an hour at a time. The pain today was a lot less than yesterday. I'm hopeful it will be gone by tomorrow.
We moved some furniture around to uncover floor registers, in anticipation of using the furnace in our home. And we cleaned some of the registers. HMPH ... lots of cat hair. Not Emma's, must be Sully's. We went for a long walk around the RV park, on a new route, with more hills. WHEW ... tough ! But ... as a result of yesterday's thoracentesis / removal of fluid from around my left lung, I have much less urge / need to cough. We drained and stored our garden hose, easier said than done.
While Joanne went into town to buy some groceries and fresh produce, I unwrapped the package from my sister that we picked up at the Post Office yesterday. It was my old "artificial sunlight" therapy light that I gave to my brother-in-law thirteen years ago when we began travelling full time. Now ... he has returned it to me for my use this winter, to combat S.A.D. ... seasonal affective disorder / winter depression caused by short days / lack of sunlight. Two of the three bulbs inside did not survive the journey. Darn !
I did some medications records keeping. I wrote a letter to our travel medical insurer regarding the cancellation of our travel medical insurance. I am awaiting a letter from my cardiologist to enclose with this letter.
DSK
Sunday, October 29, 2017
Sunday, October 22, 2017
October 15 to 21, 2017
Sunday ; post-operative day 16
Sunny and cool.
The main problem I have had, ever since surgery, has been an inability to effectively get rid of the fluid build up around my lungs. My deep breathing exercises are not accomplishing that. My coughing exercises are not accomplishing that. Every day since surgery my breathing becomes more difficult, more shallow, more rapid. It is especially a problem at night. As soon as I lie down, it becomes more difficult to breathe. I experience a drowning / suffocating sensation, and become unable to breathe unless I sit up and / or get out of bed.
Last night I tried sleeping in an upholstered chair in the living room. That helped a small amount, but not enough. Eventually, and out of utter desperation with discomfort, I discovered that extremely gentle fingertip "massage" on my chest moves fluid away. HALLELEUJAH ! I caressed / massaged my chest with my fingertips, and as I did so, my breathing difficulty diminished. Eventually I fell asleep, and slept comfortably.
To monitor fluid retention, the hospital doctors instructed me to weigh myself daily, and present those findings at each subsequent doctor's appointment I have. Okay !
WELL ! This morning I weigh 3.5 pounds less than yesterday, and 5 pounds less than three days ago ! ! ! I certainly hope that indicates I have "turned a corner" on fluid retention.
This afternoon our neighbour Bob came over to help me winterize Elsie the truck camper. Following my instructions, and with some assistance from Joanne, Bob got the job done quickly and efficiently. And a big load has been lifted from me. Thank you, Bob. Joanne worked on removing our vegetable garden. We went over to our friend / neighbour Jeanine's where we completed the threshold installation project. I coached, Joanne did the little bit of work remaining, filling and staining an errant nail hole on the quarter round trim.
I posted this week's journal entry to my blog. I did some investment analysis. I set up on my desk the S.A.D. ( seasonal affective disorder ) therapy light Joanne bought for me on Thursday in Penticton. < BLINK BLINK > OUCH ! Take that back and get a refund ... please.
Monday ; Mix of sun and clouds, cool.
I think that my physical "improvement" both yesterday and today was noticeable. Both days I walked further than the day before. And both days my "fluids around the lungs" problem has diminished a bit. I think. I hope.
Joanne worked very hard today on yard work. The biggest job was cutting down the plants and shrubs on our rock slope front yard, then hauling all the debris to the "burn pile". Most years I help, but ... not this year ! She was on her own.
I made vehicle service appointments. I made medical appointments. I walked twice, both times further than before. Walking outdoors still is a very painful process, but must be done. Our neighbour / friend Jeanine visited. Joanne did laundry. She was a very busy girl today ! I installed a new identity tag on Ozzie's collar, displaying his name and our phone number. I guess that means he's ours now ! I installed a new battery in my
( father's ) Canada Post gold watch. And because I don't have the physical strength right now to snap the back case back into place after replacing the battery, I used pliers to help. And ... shattered the crystal ! < sigh > With a lot of help from Joanne I stored my bicycle in the shed for the winter. I paid utility bills. I reconciled our Bank of America monthly statement.
Tuesday ; The morning was cold, with steady rain. BRRRRR ... winter ! In the early afternoon, the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and it became extremely windy for awhile. Later in the afternoon, the wind stopped, the temperature rose, and the day became pleasant.
I slept better last night. Not well, but better. I slept for four hours, was up for half an hour early in the morning, then slept for another three and a half hours.
I went outside to walk twice today. The first attempt was thwarted when the wind picked up and it hurt my chest / sternum to walk facing into the wind.
Joanne barbecued steak, potatoes, and our own garden grown beets for supper tonight. Very good !
Wednesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, a few drops of rain, cool temperature.
I spent much of the morning on the phone, making medical appointments, trying to get answers to medical questions, checking on the delivery of our large propane tank, shopping for a gas fitter to connect the propane tank. I took some photos of Ozzie, then downloaded them from my camera to my computer, and "processed" them.
I walked a new route for exercise today. It included down hill and up hill. I was very proud of my achievement. However, when I went around 5:30 PM to do it for the second time, I was unable, and had to ask Joanne to go home, get the car, and pick me up. < sigh > I felt like such a failure. Since surgery, my emotions have been raw and fragile.
We packaged some stuff that we will have taken to our Yuma home for us by friends.
I did an annual review and purge of our kitchen's "junk" drawer, and my desk's "junk" drawer. I sent photos of Ozzie to our sisters, then posted a photo of Ozzie to my blog template.
OUCH ! Gee, my sternum hurts tonight !
Thursday ; Cloudy and cool.
My days are becoming routine. Morning clean up routines, showering, etc. Takes me a couple of hours to plod through that ! Phone calls to medical people, delivery people, trades people. Two walks. That's two slow / long walks. That's two slow / long excruciating walks. A nap in between the walks. Usually unsatisfactory because of breathing difficulties. A series of exercises done while sitting.
Tonight's second walk was very ambitious. And I accomplished it ! Well done, Daniel.
And Joanne "officially" declared that my beard is fully re-grown, twenty-one days after
I had to shave it off.
Friday ; Sunny and cool.
This morning we had a large propane tank installed beside our home. When that was done I went for my first long walk of the day. This afternoon we went into Keremeos.
I ordered some prescription refills at the pharmacy, then went for a compression sleeve fitting. The woman who supplies and fits Joanne's breast prostheses suggested a compression sleeve to help my left arm incision heal better. Today she fit me with an appropriate compression sleeve, and taught Joanne and me how to put it on, take it off, and care for it.
Over dinner and afterwards we watched the Tragically Hip / Gord Downie tribute documentary.
Saturday ; post-operative day 22
Cloudy, cold, windy ... feels like it's about to snow. Joanne has just left ( at noon ) for an afternoon of running errands in Penticton. She has taken Ozzie with her because
I am not able to walk him. I am "prohibited" from walking dogs for at least three months after bypass surgery.
The fluid build up around my lungs has diminished. Finally ! And as a result, I am able to sleep a bit better. Last night I slept for three hours, then three more hours, then two and a half hours. And all three periods of sleep were in our bed, lying flat. Finally ! ! !
The one remaining significant problem is the lump at the top of my sternum. At the top of my chest incision is a lump, surrounded by inflamed tissue. Joanne thinks the lump is getting larger. I can see that the skin inflammation is increasing. The lump is sore and tender. And I think that lump "shifts" ever so slightly when I lie flat, and the result is my airway gets blocked. I have no idea whether the lump is wires at the top of my sternum holding it together, or a clamp of some sort holding my cut sternum together, or maybe misaligned cut bones, or ... ? ? ? I am hoping that it will not require medical attention in the next few days, and that it can wait until Thursday when I see my cardiologist.
< HUGE SNEEZE >
AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! < cough cough > OUCH ! Sneeze number four since surgery. Those sneezes are not becoming any less painful yet ! My eyes are watering from the pain of that sneeze !
DSK
Sunny and cool.
The main problem I have had, ever since surgery, has been an inability to effectively get rid of the fluid build up around my lungs. My deep breathing exercises are not accomplishing that. My coughing exercises are not accomplishing that. Every day since surgery my breathing becomes more difficult, more shallow, more rapid. It is especially a problem at night. As soon as I lie down, it becomes more difficult to breathe. I experience a drowning / suffocating sensation, and become unable to breathe unless I sit up and / or get out of bed.
Last night I tried sleeping in an upholstered chair in the living room. That helped a small amount, but not enough. Eventually, and out of utter desperation with discomfort, I discovered that extremely gentle fingertip "massage" on my chest moves fluid away. HALLELEUJAH ! I caressed / massaged my chest with my fingertips, and as I did so, my breathing difficulty diminished. Eventually I fell asleep, and slept comfortably.
To monitor fluid retention, the hospital doctors instructed me to weigh myself daily, and present those findings at each subsequent doctor's appointment I have. Okay !
WELL ! This morning I weigh 3.5 pounds less than yesterday, and 5 pounds less than three days ago ! ! ! I certainly hope that indicates I have "turned a corner" on fluid retention.
This afternoon our neighbour Bob came over to help me winterize Elsie the truck camper. Following my instructions, and with some assistance from Joanne, Bob got the job done quickly and efficiently. And a big load has been lifted from me. Thank you, Bob. Joanne worked on removing our vegetable garden. We went over to our friend / neighbour Jeanine's where we completed the threshold installation project. I coached, Joanne did the little bit of work remaining, filling and staining an errant nail hole on the quarter round trim.
I posted this week's journal entry to my blog. I did some investment analysis. I set up on my desk the S.A.D. ( seasonal affective disorder ) therapy light Joanne bought for me on Thursday in Penticton. < BLINK BLINK > OUCH ! Take that back and get a refund ... please.
Monday ; Mix of sun and clouds, cool.
I think that my physical "improvement" both yesterday and today was noticeable. Both days I walked further than the day before. And both days my "fluids around the lungs" problem has diminished a bit. I think. I hope.
Joanne worked very hard today on yard work. The biggest job was cutting down the plants and shrubs on our rock slope front yard, then hauling all the debris to the "burn pile". Most years I help, but ... not this year ! She was on her own.
I made vehicle service appointments. I made medical appointments. I walked twice, both times further than before. Walking outdoors still is a very painful process, but must be done. Our neighbour / friend Jeanine visited. Joanne did laundry. She was a very busy girl today ! I installed a new identity tag on Ozzie's collar, displaying his name and our phone number. I guess that means he's ours now ! I installed a new battery in my
( father's ) Canada Post gold watch. And because I don't have the physical strength right now to snap the back case back into place after replacing the battery, I used pliers to help. And ... shattered the crystal ! < sigh > With a lot of help from Joanne I stored my bicycle in the shed for the winter. I paid utility bills. I reconciled our Bank of America monthly statement.
Tuesday ; The morning was cold, with steady rain. BRRRRR ... winter ! In the early afternoon, the rain stopped, the sky cleared, and it became extremely windy for awhile. Later in the afternoon, the wind stopped, the temperature rose, and the day became pleasant.
I slept better last night. Not well, but better. I slept for four hours, was up for half an hour early in the morning, then slept for another three and a half hours.
I went outside to walk twice today. The first attempt was thwarted when the wind picked up and it hurt my chest / sternum to walk facing into the wind.
Joanne barbecued steak, potatoes, and our own garden grown beets for supper tonight. Very good !
Wednesday ; Mix of sun and clouds, a few drops of rain, cool temperature.
I spent much of the morning on the phone, making medical appointments, trying to get answers to medical questions, checking on the delivery of our large propane tank, shopping for a gas fitter to connect the propane tank. I took some photos of Ozzie, then downloaded them from my camera to my computer, and "processed" them.
I walked a new route for exercise today. It included down hill and up hill. I was very proud of my achievement. However, when I went around 5:30 PM to do it for the second time, I was unable, and had to ask Joanne to go home, get the car, and pick me up. < sigh > I felt like such a failure. Since surgery, my emotions have been raw and fragile.
We packaged some stuff that we will have taken to our Yuma home for us by friends.
I did an annual review and purge of our kitchen's "junk" drawer, and my desk's "junk" drawer. I sent photos of Ozzie to our sisters, then posted a photo of Ozzie to my blog template.
OUCH ! Gee, my sternum hurts tonight !
Thursday ; Cloudy and cool.
My days are becoming routine. Morning clean up routines, showering, etc. Takes me a couple of hours to plod through that ! Phone calls to medical people, delivery people, trades people. Two walks. That's two slow / long walks. That's two slow / long excruciating walks. A nap in between the walks. Usually unsatisfactory because of breathing difficulties. A series of exercises done while sitting.
Tonight's second walk was very ambitious. And I accomplished it ! Well done, Daniel.
And Joanne "officially" declared that my beard is fully re-grown, twenty-one days after
I had to shave it off.
Friday ; Sunny and cool.
This morning we had a large propane tank installed beside our home. When that was done I went for my first long walk of the day. This afternoon we went into Keremeos.
I ordered some prescription refills at the pharmacy, then went for a compression sleeve fitting. The woman who supplies and fits Joanne's breast prostheses suggested a compression sleeve to help my left arm incision heal better. Today she fit me with an appropriate compression sleeve, and taught Joanne and me how to put it on, take it off, and care for it.
Over dinner and afterwards we watched the Tragically Hip / Gord Downie tribute documentary.
Saturday ; post-operative day 22
Cloudy, cold, windy ... feels like it's about to snow. Joanne has just left ( at noon ) for an afternoon of running errands in Penticton. She has taken Ozzie with her because
I am not able to walk him. I am "prohibited" from walking dogs for at least three months after bypass surgery.
The fluid build up around my lungs has diminished. Finally ! And as a result, I am able to sleep a bit better. Last night I slept for three hours, then three more hours, then two and a half hours. And all three periods of sleep were in our bed, lying flat. Finally ! ! !
The one remaining significant problem is the lump at the top of my sternum. At the top of my chest incision is a lump, surrounded by inflamed tissue. Joanne thinks the lump is getting larger. I can see that the skin inflammation is increasing. The lump is sore and tender. And I think that lump "shifts" ever so slightly when I lie flat, and the result is my airway gets blocked. I have no idea whether the lump is wires at the top of my sternum holding it together, or a clamp of some sort holding my cut sternum together, or maybe misaligned cut bones, or ... ? ? ? I am hoping that it will not require medical attention in the next few days, and that it can wait until Thursday when I see my cardiologist.
< HUGE SNEEZE >
AAAAARRRRRGGGGGHHHHH ! ! ! ! ! < cough cough > OUCH ! Sneeze number four since surgery. Those sneezes are not becoming any less painful yet ! My eyes are watering from the pain of that sneeze !
DSK
Sunday, October 15, 2017
October 8 to 14, 2017
Sunday ; Post-Operative Day 9
Mostly sunny and mild.
While Joanne did outdoor work today, I tried to do outdoor "exercise". I was not as successful as I would have liked. I have been struggling with extreme shortness of breath when outside in cold air, and when lying down in bed. This afternoon and evening I continued slowly reviewing the large amount of heart surgery information provided to me upon discharge. And I discovered that I may have been using my respirometer incorrectly.
I think the problem has been that there is a build up of fluids around my lungs, and I am not doing my deep breathing exercises correctly, or as frequently as I should. Tonight
I tried to correct that. I hope I didn't "overdo" it. The fluids around my lungs seems to have diminished a bit tonight, easing my breathing ability, but ... my lungs and chest muscles and sternum are all sore from the increased exercising.
This afternoon Joanne changed my dressings. I think things look good. Still some "oozing" from both the chest incision and arm incision. But the "oozing" does not appear to be infected.
Monday ; Thanksgiving ( Canada )
Sunny and cool.
I am exhausted by ongoing insomnia, and disruption to my body's rhythms. And I have decided to discontinue taking pain killer medication as of today. I have always felt that my body functions more poorly the more medications I subject it to. And this coronary bypass surgery has resulted in the addition of an enormous amount of new drugs being put into my body on a daily basis. It seems that most of them will be permanent additions to my medications, and I'm worried about that.
I accomplished more outdoor exercise today. I walked about a thousand feet outdoors, with two brief rest stops. When I was done Jeanine came over to visit for the first time since I have returned home from the hospital. < sigh > The last time I saw Bo alive was two weeks ago when I dropped him off at Jeanine's to be dog sat while we went to Kelowna for my angiogram.
Tuesday ; Daniel's 63rd Birthday
Sunny and cool..
My dysfunctional sleep pattern continues. I sleep for an hour and a half, then I'm up for about an hour. I go through that cycle about three times each night. The problem is fluid build up around my lungs. I have been quite unsuccessful in breaking down and getting rid of the fluids / mucous that collect around the lungs following surgery. I can't remain lying on my back because I experience burning around my lungs and a sensation of drowning, an inability to breathe.
This morning I phoned Medipac, our travel medical insurer to "officially" advise them of a change in my health since I purchased our travel medical insurance from them last summer for this winter's travel. Of course, our travel medical insurance policies were cancelled as a result of my triple bypass surgery, but ... the news was not as bad as
I expected it might be. I am disqualified for travel medical insurance for one year from the date ( October 4 ) that I was discharged from the hospital following my surgery. SO ... I should be eligible to purchase travel medical insurance as of October 5, 2018 !
I made some phone calls to obtain delivery and installation of a large propane tank for our home. We have never been here for the winter, so the furnace has never been used, and we've never needed a large propane tank. Five years ago I purchased and installed a sixty pound propane tank to provide propane for the oven during the summer. A full sixty pound tank lasts almost a full six month summer season.
Around lunch time we headed into Keremeos. I had a meeting with the manager of Similkameen Pharmacy to discuss all the new medications I am taking. Then we went to the Keremeos Diagnostic & Treatment Center to have my incisions examined and dressings changed. We went to the local insurance agency and renewed the registration of Harvey the fifth wheel trailer. Then ... I sent Joanne to the nearby water jug refill machine, and told her I would walk over there and meet her, The roads in town are flat and asphalt, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to do some walking exercise. By the time I reached the water jug refill machine, Joanne was not yet finished refilling our five gallon water jug, so ... I kept walking. She picked me up about fifteen hundred feet down the road.
When we returned to Riverside RV Park Resort, she parked our minivan beside our park's woodworking shop. While I got a bit more walking exercise there, again on flat asphalt, Joanne harvested wild Shaggy Mane Mushrooms, which had sprouted this morning. She had promised to make me my favourite spaghetti and meat sauce recipe for my birthday dinner tonight and now ... WOO-HOO ... it was going to have freshly picked, wild Shaggy Mane Mushrooms in it. MMMMM ... it was great ! Thank you, my love !
My sister phoned to wish me Happy Birthday. And find out how my recovery is progressing. We chatted for a very long time. Then our friends Laszlo and Gail in Kamloops phoned. I had asked them to phone tonight, to discuss their upcoming "migration" trip to Yuma, Arizona. I wanted to ask them to make an overnight stop here, then transport some small items for us to our winter home in Yuma.
Wednesday ; Sunny and cool.
I spent the morning on the phone, making medical appointments and shopping for snow tires for our minivan. I cleaned and treated Ozzie's ears, and decided to brush his teeth for the first time. I failed ! His teeth are in horrible condition. And it was obviously painful for him when I attempted to brush his teeth. Poor Ozzie ! He is about 13½ years old, and it appears to me as if he has never had any dental care ; no brushings, no cleanings.
This afternoon we all piled into the minivan, and Joanne drove us a very short distance ... to park in front of our RV park's woodworking shop. That gave me a nice, long, straight, flat stretch of road to walk on, from the park's front gate to the stop sign at the end of the main entrance road. While I slowly walked for exercise, Joanne took Ozzie for a long walk. I could walk from the front gate to our minivan, or the stop sign to our minivan, then sit on the tailgate and rest for as long as I needed.
This afternoon I supervised Joanne's efforts to prepare a location for a large propane tank we are having delivered. We decided that the best location for the tank will be in a corner of Joanne's herb garden. SO ... the rock border had to be removed, chives and thyme had to be relocated, and a thirty inch square section had to be levelled and gravelled. My inability to do anything physical, and my care giving needs, makes me a full time job ... with heavy lifting ... for Joanne.
For supper Joanne cooked a couple of Rainbow Trout I caught in the Similkameen River a few weeks ago. MMMMM !
Thursday ; our 43rd Anniversary
Sunny and chilly.
Around 11 AM we left home heading for Penticton. We arrived at Peach Tree Medical & Urgent Care Centre around noon. I waited almost an hour and a half to see a doctor for my first post discharge check up. While I waited, Joanne went to run errands. She returned shortly before I was seen by a doctor. First the doctor removed my chest and arm dressings to inspect the incisions. He was impressed enough with their healing that he decided they no longer need to be covered by dressings. Then he removed the stitches from the four chest tube holes in my abdomen. No problems there ! He wrote a prescription to extend the diuretic medication, and we were done.
We went for lunch to the food court in the mall where the medical clinic is located. After lunch we drove to a nearby medical laboratory and I had blood drawn, as ordered by today's doctor. From there ... it was time to go home. We stopped in Keremeos and Joanne dropped off my diuretic prescription at the pharmacy, then we returned home, arriving about 4 PM. I was so exhausted I felt ill ! < sigh >
I slept for a couple of hours ! After supper I worked on some month end investment file updating. Not much of an anniversary celebration !
Friday ; Cloudy and cool, raining lightly in the morning.
This morning our neighbour Lyle came over to help me finish a job I had started before going to the hospital for an angiogram / bypass surgery. Under my supervision he did the work to install a new entry door threshold on our neighbour / friend Jeanine's entry door. The job took much longer than I had expected it would. It seemed to me that Lyle's pace of work is slower than mine. Maybe it just seemed to take such a long time because I'm so ill. In any case, by the time we were done I was WAY beyond my endurance limit, and feeling very ill. When I got back home I went to sleep for a long time.
We were expecting delivery of a large propane tank today. Early in the day the propane company's truck drove into the park, carrying four large propane tanks. Much later, it left again, with one tank still on the truck. HUH ? We waited for awhile, thinking that maybe the driver was just leaving for a lunch break, then we phoned them. Yes, yes ... they had indeed screwed up ! < sigh > They will deliver a tank to us later next week !
I sneezed today, the second time since my bypass surgery. YIKES ... that hurts !
Saturday ; Cold, raining lightly all day, a few snowflakes in the morning.
After the time consuming and energy consuming processes of getting cleaned up and having breakfast in the morning ... < sigh > ... Joanne bundled me up like that little Winnipeg kid from the late 1950's, and I went walking outside. She took Ozzie for a walk. When Ozzie and I were finished with our walks ... surprisingly I outlasted Ozzie ... although he certainly did outdistance me ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and Ozzie left to go to Penticton for a day of running errands.
I napped. I heated a bowl of soup for lunch. I napped. I did some annual investment work. I napped.
Today is post-operative day 15. I'm still extremely weak. Tired all the time, but sleeping poorly, especially at night. I am always short of breath, especially when lying down. I am continuing to fail to be able to expel the fluids built up around my lungs, and I'm worried about that. However ... on a more positive note ... my chest and arm incisions are healing well. As are the four, big, ugly, chest tube holes. My mangled, burned, left testicle has almost finished healing. I still don't know how that "surgical injury" happened !
Joanne and Ozzie returned home at 6:30 PM just as it turned dark. Joanne immediately took me ( and Ozzie ) for a walk. She parked the minivan by the woodworking shop, and while she walked Ozzie, I stumbled along the flat section of entrance road from the park gate to the stop sign.
DSK
Mostly sunny and mild.
While Joanne did outdoor work today, I tried to do outdoor "exercise". I was not as successful as I would have liked. I have been struggling with extreme shortness of breath when outside in cold air, and when lying down in bed. This afternoon and evening I continued slowly reviewing the large amount of heart surgery information provided to me upon discharge. And I discovered that I may have been using my respirometer incorrectly.
I think the problem has been that there is a build up of fluids around my lungs, and I am not doing my deep breathing exercises correctly, or as frequently as I should. Tonight
I tried to correct that. I hope I didn't "overdo" it. The fluids around my lungs seems to have diminished a bit tonight, easing my breathing ability, but ... my lungs and chest muscles and sternum are all sore from the increased exercising.
This afternoon Joanne changed my dressings. I think things look good. Still some "oozing" from both the chest incision and arm incision. But the "oozing" does not appear to be infected.
Monday ; Thanksgiving ( Canada )
Sunny and cool.
I am exhausted by ongoing insomnia, and disruption to my body's rhythms. And I have decided to discontinue taking pain killer medication as of today. I have always felt that my body functions more poorly the more medications I subject it to. And this coronary bypass surgery has resulted in the addition of an enormous amount of new drugs being put into my body on a daily basis. It seems that most of them will be permanent additions to my medications, and I'm worried about that.
I accomplished more outdoor exercise today. I walked about a thousand feet outdoors, with two brief rest stops. When I was done Jeanine came over to visit for the first time since I have returned home from the hospital. < sigh > The last time I saw Bo alive was two weeks ago when I dropped him off at Jeanine's to be dog sat while we went to Kelowna for my angiogram.
Tuesday ; Daniel's 63rd Birthday
Sunny and cool..
My dysfunctional sleep pattern continues. I sleep for an hour and a half, then I'm up for about an hour. I go through that cycle about three times each night. The problem is fluid build up around my lungs. I have been quite unsuccessful in breaking down and getting rid of the fluids / mucous that collect around the lungs following surgery. I can't remain lying on my back because I experience burning around my lungs and a sensation of drowning, an inability to breathe.
This morning I phoned Medipac, our travel medical insurer to "officially" advise them of a change in my health since I purchased our travel medical insurance from them last summer for this winter's travel. Of course, our travel medical insurance policies were cancelled as a result of my triple bypass surgery, but ... the news was not as bad as
I expected it might be. I am disqualified for travel medical insurance for one year from the date ( October 4 ) that I was discharged from the hospital following my surgery. SO ... I should be eligible to purchase travel medical insurance as of October 5, 2018 !
I made some phone calls to obtain delivery and installation of a large propane tank for our home. We have never been here for the winter, so the furnace has never been used, and we've never needed a large propane tank. Five years ago I purchased and installed a sixty pound propane tank to provide propane for the oven during the summer. A full sixty pound tank lasts almost a full six month summer season.
Around lunch time we headed into Keremeos. I had a meeting with the manager of Similkameen Pharmacy to discuss all the new medications I am taking. Then we went to the Keremeos Diagnostic & Treatment Center to have my incisions examined and dressings changed. We went to the local insurance agency and renewed the registration of Harvey the fifth wheel trailer. Then ... I sent Joanne to the nearby water jug refill machine, and told her I would walk over there and meet her, The roads in town are flat and asphalt, and I thought it would be a good opportunity to do some walking exercise. By the time I reached the water jug refill machine, Joanne was not yet finished refilling our five gallon water jug, so ... I kept walking. She picked me up about fifteen hundred feet down the road.
When we returned to Riverside RV Park Resort, she parked our minivan beside our park's woodworking shop. While I got a bit more walking exercise there, again on flat asphalt, Joanne harvested wild Shaggy Mane Mushrooms, which had sprouted this morning. She had promised to make me my favourite spaghetti and meat sauce recipe for my birthday dinner tonight and now ... WOO-HOO ... it was going to have freshly picked, wild Shaggy Mane Mushrooms in it. MMMMM ... it was great ! Thank you, my love !
My sister phoned to wish me Happy Birthday. And find out how my recovery is progressing. We chatted for a very long time. Then our friends Laszlo and Gail in Kamloops phoned. I had asked them to phone tonight, to discuss their upcoming "migration" trip to Yuma, Arizona. I wanted to ask them to make an overnight stop here, then transport some small items for us to our winter home in Yuma.
Wednesday ; Sunny and cool.
I spent the morning on the phone, making medical appointments and shopping for snow tires for our minivan. I cleaned and treated Ozzie's ears, and decided to brush his teeth for the first time. I failed ! His teeth are in horrible condition. And it was obviously painful for him when I attempted to brush his teeth. Poor Ozzie ! He is about 13½ years old, and it appears to me as if he has never had any dental care ; no brushings, no cleanings.
This afternoon we all piled into the minivan, and Joanne drove us a very short distance ... to park in front of our RV park's woodworking shop. That gave me a nice, long, straight, flat stretch of road to walk on, from the park's front gate to the stop sign at the end of the main entrance road. While I slowly walked for exercise, Joanne took Ozzie for a long walk. I could walk from the front gate to our minivan, or the stop sign to our minivan, then sit on the tailgate and rest for as long as I needed.
This afternoon I supervised Joanne's efforts to prepare a location for a large propane tank we are having delivered. We decided that the best location for the tank will be in a corner of Joanne's herb garden. SO ... the rock border had to be removed, chives and thyme had to be relocated, and a thirty inch square section had to be levelled and gravelled. My inability to do anything physical, and my care giving needs, makes me a full time job ... with heavy lifting ... for Joanne.
For supper Joanne cooked a couple of Rainbow Trout I caught in the Similkameen River a few weeks ago. MMMMM !
Thursday ; our 43rd Anniversary
Sunny and chilly.
Around 11 AM we left home heading for Penticton. We arrived at Peach Tree Medical & Urgent Care Centre around noon. I waited almost an hour and a half to see a doctor for my first post discharge check up. While I waited, Joanne went to run errands. She returned shortly before I was seen by a doctor. First the doctor removed my chest and arm dressings to inspect the incisions. He was impressed enough with their healing that he decided they no longer need to be covered by dressings. Then he removed the stitches from the four chest tube holes in my abdomen. No problems there ! He wrote a prescription to extend the diuretic medication, and we were done.
We went for lunch to the food court in the mall where the medical clinic is located. After lunch we drove to a nearby medical laboratory and I had blood drawn, as ordered by today's doctor. From there ... it was time to go home. We stopped in Keremeos and Joanne dropped off my diuretic prescription at the pharmacy, then we returned home, arriving about 4 PM. I was so exhausted I felt ill ! < sigh >
I slept for a couple of hours ! After supper I worked on some month end investment file updating. Not much of an anniversary celebration !
Friday ; Cloudy and cool, raining lightly in the morning.
This morning our neighbour Lyle came over to help me finish a job I had started before going to the hospital for an angiogram / bypass surgery. Under my supervision he did the work to install a new entry door threshold on our neighbour / friend Jeanine's entry door. The job took much longer than I had expected it would. It seemed to me that Lyle's pace of work is slower than mine. Maybe it just seemed to take such a long time because I'm so ill. In any case, by the time we were done I was WAY beyond my endurance limit, and feeling very ill. When I got back home I went to sleep for a long time.
We were expecting delivery of a large propane tank today. Early in the day the propane company's truck drove into the park, carrying four large propane tanks. Much later, it left again, with one tank still on the truck. HUH ? We waited for awhile, thinking that maybe the driver was just leaving for a lunch break, then we phoned them. Yes, yes ... they had indeed screwed up ! < sigh > They will deliver a tank to us later next week !
I sneezed today, the second time since my bypass surgery. YIKES ... that hurts !
Saturday ; Cold, raining lightly all day, a few snowflakes in the morning.
After the time consuming and energy consuming processes of getting cleaned up and having breakfast in the morning ... < sigh > ... Joanne bundled me up like that little Winnipeg kid from the late 1950's, and I went walking outside. She took Ozzie for a walk. When Ozzie and I were finished with our walks ... surprisingly I outlasted Ozzie ... although he certainly did outdistance me ... HA HA HA ... Joanne and Ozzie left to go to Penticton for a day of running errands.
I napped. I heated a bowl of soup for lunch. I napped. I did some annual investment work. I napped.
Today is post-operative day 15. I'm still extremely weak. Tired all the time, but sleeping poorly, especially at night. I am always short of breath, especially when lying down. I am continuing to fail to be able to expel the fluids built up around my lungs, and I'm worried about that. However ... on a more positive note ... my chest and arm incisions are healing well. As are the four, big, ugly, chest tube holes. My mangled, burned, left testicle has almost finished healing. I still don't know how that "surgical injury" happened !
Joanne and Ozzie returned home at 6:30 PM just as it turned dark. Joanne immediately took me ( and Ozzie ) for a walk. She parked the minivan by the woodworking shop, and while she walked Ozzie, I stumbled along the flat section of entrance road from the park gate to the stop sign.
DSK
Monday, October 9, 2017
Sunday, October 8, 2017
October 1 to 7, 2017
Sunday ; Kelowna General Hospital ; Cardiac Surgery Unit Room 228
Have no idea what the weather is like outside the hospital. I think it's cloudy and cool.
Post Operative Day 2 ; Have been moved from Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit back to Cardiac Surgery "regular" ward. Have been pushing myself very hard to get started on rehabilitation with physiotherapist. Pushing myself too hard ! Have made myself quite ill twice today.
Appetite extremely low. Haven't eaten any solid foods since Thursday early, light supper. Had a cup of tea yesterday afternoon in Intensive Care. Had a small serving of orange juice for breakfast today. Had a small cup of beef broth for lunch today.
Had Foley catheter removed by nurse about an hour ago, at 2 PM. Had my first pee a few minutes ago. I was urinary catheter virgin. Didn't know penis would fart like that during first pee after catheter removal. HA HA HA ! Nurse also changed dressing on wrist to elbow incision on inside of left arm. YUCK !
Waiting for physiotherapist to come take me on third and last walk today. Can't go without her because I have to tow wheeled oxygen tank along. First walk early this morning was about twenty-five feet out of room and back. Second walk about noon was supposed to be five hundred feet. Lots of rest stops ! Third walk supposed to be a thousand feet. I pushed second walk to a thousand feet. Well done, Daniel ... this isn't a vacation !
Have just finished my third walk at 3:30 PM with Physiotherapist Sarah. Pushed it to fifteen hundred feet. Needed only two rest breaks. Asked for another walk at 6:30 PM.
Just finished fourth walk at 8 PM. Just me and the walker holding my oxygen tank. Walked three thousand feet ... post-op day 4 level ! Took a rest at only one thousand feet and again at two thousand feet.
Had half a tuna sandwich and small glass of milk just now. First solid food in three days.
GET OUT OF MY WAY ... I'M COMING BACK ! ! !
Monday ; Post Operative Day 3
Sunny. I can see at least that much out my hospital room window.
I awoke around 6:30 AM and went to the bathroom to urinate, wash my hands and face, use my WaterPik, and brush my teeth. By the time I was finished doing that, and returned to my bed at 7 AM ... I felt like crap ... again ! I had a lot of chest pain, especially on the inhale. My nurse came rushing into my room to check on me, because he could see on the wall display at the nurses' station that I had flipped into atrial fibrillation. Some nurses got me back lying in bed, then worked for two hours administering a variety of medications to control the fast heart rate, and the atrial fibrillation.
I was very disappointed, and worried that I may have taken "two steps back", but ... around 11 AM the heart rate and rhythm returned to normal and the pain disappeared. I had a slice of toast for breakfast, then went for my first walk of the day, a thousand feet with four rest stops. When that was done a physical therapist came to my room to plan with me some physical aids I will require over the next three months. As she left my room another therapist came into my room to invite me to today’s post-operative discharge planning class. WOO-HOO ! I’m still on track to be going home on Wednesday.
I did my second walk of the day immediately preceding the post-operative discharge class. Which might not have been the best of ideas, because ... throughout the class
I was fighting an extremely strong urge to fall asleep. However ... < shrug > ... so were the other three fellows in the class. HA HA HA ! But they at least had their wives present to "take notes" so to speak.
I was expecting Joanne to arrive for a visit today at 1:30 PM. So ... I made sure that my lunch was finished and I was sitting in my room eagerly awaiting her arrival at 1:30 PM. Adding to my rapidly growing list of experiences during the last week where my response has been ... "WELL ! F*** ! DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING ! ! !" ... precisely at 1:30 PM ... < SPUTTER > ... my brother Russell walked into my hospital room.
I knew that my sister was not following my blog, so I did not have to worry that she would find out about what was going on by reading my blog. And I was fairly certain that my brother was not reading my blog, either. BUT ... I had not considered that one of Russell's two children might occasionally read my blog. AND ... my niece Olivia obviously chose today as a day to catch up on what weird old Uncle Dan has been doing by reading my blog. DARN ! I had not advised my family of what was going on. And I thought I would not need to for a few more days, until I was home and recuperating. Oh, well ... the cat's out of the bag now ! Before coming to visit me, Russell phoned my sister, assuming that she already knew, and that he was the only one "out of the loop". So ... an hour or so ago ... ( it's now just after 5 PM ) ... my nurse came into my room to advise me that my sister was on the phone at the nurses' station. < sigh > Joanne took the call, spoke briefly to my sister, and will talk to her again later tonight when she ( Joanne ) is back at home. Don't you just love dysfunctional family dynamics ? ! ?
Oh, well ! At least I'm not surrounded by middle aged adult children, and their offspring, the grandchildren, wringing their hands and moaning ... "Grandpa's dying, Grandpa's dying" ... like the rest of the old fellows here. HA HA HA !
Before Joanne left around 4:30 PM, my nurse today came into my room to remove dressings off my left arm and chest, and remove the temporary pacemaker wires which had been left sticking into my heart, and protruding through my chest wall ... just in case they might be needed in the first few days after surgery. Odd sensation to have thin wires pulled out of heart and through chest wall ! So ... pacemaker wires out, another hurdle crossed on journey to release, still hoping for Wednesday. Surgical wound from artery harvest on left arm from wrist to elbow, and another one from neck to navel, not pretty ! ! ! Before Joanne left, she accompanied me on third walk of the day, three thousand feet, two rest stops. Physical therapist has granted permission for one more thousand foot walk tonight .... without oxygen !
Nurse just came in ( shortly after 6 PM ) with supper time medications and ...
WOO-HOO ... ( hopefully ) permanent removal from oxygen flow. Ate my supper ; chicken breast, peas, mashed potatoes ... I think. Might have been LePage's Glue. Hard to tell ! Went for a thousand foot walk. No rests, no oxygen. Had no chest pain. Plenty short of breath ! Let's not mention that to my nurse, shall we ?
Around 9:15 PM Cardiac Nurse Assistant Candace took me to the patient shower room, I undressed, she removed all remaining dressings and wires and leads and whatever else was stuck onto me, she put on a pair of boots and ... < SPUTTER > ... climbed into the shower stall with me ! "WELL ! F*** ! DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING ! ! !" I'm starting to insert that using "cut and paste" function ! HA HA HA ! Apparently I will be unable to shampoo my own head for the next few months !
After washing my hair Candace left me on my own. I washed until ... WHEW ... I very abruptly "ran out of steam" ! I stopped showering, turned off the faucet, and sat there huffing and puffing heavily until I decided if I was going to die, I would rather not do it naked on a hospital shower stall floor. I pulled on my pair of clean sweat pants, picked up the rest of my possessions, and stumbled slowly back to my room where I sat and tried for a very long time to catch my breath !
WHEW ... didn't know my stamina was going to be THAT low ! ! !
Tuesday ; Post-Operative Day 4
The rapidity of which life changing events are overtaking me in the last two weeks in general, and today specifically, have finally overwhelmed me. I'm sitting here crying softly in the dark. Joanne has just phoned me ( at 9:45 AM ) to advise that Bo has died. She advised me forty-five minutes earlier at 9 AM that his death was imminent.
This morning's procedures started early, around 5:30 AM. A decision was made not too long afterwards that I could be released this afternoon. Then it was revoked and I was to remain until tomorrow afternoon. Then it was reinstated and I was to be released this afternoon. Then I spoke to Joanne at 9:45 AM when she phoned to tell me that Bo has died, with assistance from the third veterinarian she visited this morning. I'm not clear on the details.
I sat in the dark, in my room, crying softly for an hour, until a porter came to take me away in a wheelchair for my final chest x-ray. I have just been returned to my room at 11:30 AM. And I think I have recomposed myself to resume functioning today as necessary.
Not only do I currently feel overwhelmed by grief, but I feel ... I'm not sure what the right words are ... overwhelmed by emotional pain that these circumstances force me to sit here helplessly while Joanne had no choice but to find the strength to do what the last few hours required her to do. I'm so sorry, my love, that you had to endure that misery on your own, and I could not be there to help you shoulder that burden. I'm not going home today simply because she needs to get back home from Penticton, and clean the vomit and diarrhea that Bo spewed all over the house during the night, before she takes me home.
Godspeed, my dear little Bo Bo. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to say goodbye to you. I'm glad that your suffering was relatively brief. I will miss you so much. We had a great thirteen year life together since we rescued you in Alabama shortly after Hurricane Ivan. I'm going to lay down in bed and cry now !
Okay ! Enough of that ! It is not fair for me to indulge myself in the luxury of grief, while my circumstances forced Joanne to shoulder the burden of the last ten hours or so alone, and she must continue to do so alone for at least twenty-four more hours. While she was stuck with the most difficult job that pet owners must ever face ... alone again ... not the first time ... the only job that I can do ... and therefore must do ... is get myself as strong as possible in the next twenty-four hours, to minimize the enormous burden that caring for me for the next three months will entail.
I went for a thousand foot walk with no rest stops. I had the physiotherapist take me for my final pre-discharge physical activity test... climbing stairs. I climbed the cardiac surgery ward's three stair physiotherapy unit seven times up and seven times down, simulating walking up two flights of stairs. I sucked on my little three ball respirometer. I can consistently raise the second little ball to the top, and make it hold there for a second or two. Some of the time I can get the third little ball to rise to the top. I went for another thousand foot walk. I did my coughing exercises and horked up a lot of mucous out of my lungs. Good job, Daniel ! It certainly does hurt my wired together sternum to cough !
Around 4 PM I was walking to the patient fridge to get myself a serving of apple juice.
I had just finished a private conversation with a senior member of the staff of this cardiac surgery unit. We had been discussing some of my unsolicited complaints about this unit. So ... that was a bit "distressing". As I reached the patient fridge an incoming staff member inquired about my day. I began to express my grief over the death of Bo, and he was expressing his sympathy, when suddenly people began to rush towards me from different hallways and out of doorways, etc. Apparently, the monitors all over the walls of the unit were showing that room 228 had flipped into atrial fibrillation. Oh... shit ... that's me !
My nurse got me back into my bed, and a woman rushed in with an ECG machine to make a "hard copy" ECG. By the time she was finished my heart was returning to normal rhythm. My nurse gave me some advice about handling stress in the future. HMPH ! Might have to become a little less Type A.
NAAAAAHHHHH ... who am I kidding ? ! ? HA HA HA !
Have just received a phone call from someone looking for Similkameen Trailer Towing Services. Sorry, pal ... Similkameen Trailer Towing Services is out of commission for at least the next three months. Probably six months. Perhaps forever !
Just went for a thousand foot walk ( around 5 PM ). Took a long rest break halfway around. Well ... I can see from the monitors all over the place that my heart beats just fine ! As long as I'm standing still ! It's only when I move that there is a problem. HA HA HA !
I spent a few more hours snoozing ... crying in bed ... walking slowly around the Cardiac Surgery Ward ... trying to eat more of this horrible food. Not surprisingly, I'm constipated, fairly common after surgery, and even more of a problem for people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Crohn's / Ulcerative Colitis. The hospital does not want to release people who have not yet had a bowel movement after surgery. And that was a part of my many discussions with staff today. Their precautions make sense. I'm not resistant to them.
8:20 PM ; Successful bowel movement. Mark that down ! ! ! Send me home ! ! !
8:55 PM : Sucked on that respirometer so hard that I slammed all three little balls to the tops of their chambers ... and held them there ! In front of staff ! TWICE ! ! !
CLEARED TO GO HOME !
Wednesday ; Post-Operative Day 5 ;
Sunny and cold ! What happened to summer ?
Well ! DID see THAT one coming ! Went to sleep last night knowing that flare up of Ulcerative Colitis was imminent. Slept very poorly and suffered throughout the night. Awoke this morning and suffered illness throughout the day with nausea, cramps, and heavy rectal bleeding. Colon dehydrated, inflamed, bleeding, probably ulcerated.
< taking slow, deep breath > ... Need to get home and get better care ... and meals ... from Joanne than I can get in hospital.
Well ... sometimes ... I guess life isn't quite as complicated as it seems. I haven't slept well for two nights. Around 11 AM I was feeling such fatigue I decided to go back to sleep for awhile, knowing that Joanne wasn't going to be arriving until 1 PM or later to take me home. I lay down in bed, and soon thereafter ... I began to experience deep throbbing pain on the top right side of my sternum. When it reached an intensity level of about "4", I pressed my nurse call button. I was worried about that affecting the discharge order that had already been prepared, but ... the pain was increasing. There was a bit of a delay while my nurse sought and obtained authorization to administer me a narcotic analgesic. In the meantime ... my pain level had increased to about an "8", and I was getting scared. Desperate for relief, I sat up on the side of the bed and began to breathe as deeply as I could.
OH ! The pain began to immediately subside. The nurse brought me a strong pain killer, and I went for a slow walk. Within minutes all the pain had gone ! And while the pain killer and walk probably helped ... I think the problem may have been no more complicated than ... I had pinched a nerve or something in my wired together sternum when I lay down !
On the way to Kelowna to pick me up Joanne stopped at Red Cross in Penticton to pick up some health aids that had been requisitioned for me by the Kelowna Hospital ; a raised toilet seat, a shower chair, a bed side rail to help me get into and out of bed, those sorts of things. She arrived at Kelowna General Hospital around 1 PM. A nurse spent quite awhile giving Joanne and me instructions on care after discharge, including teaching Joanne how to change the large dressings on my chest and left arm. Because ... they are "oozing" The one on my chest, in particular, is still oozing a lot of gunk.
I was finally released, and we were on our way out of the hospital about 2:45 PM. The drive home took over three hours ! Because ... about once per hour I needed a brief rest break from sitting in the car. And there were a few important errands to run, like refill the minivan with fuel. And I am of no help whatsoever ... can't even open and close my own car door ! We talked ... and cried ... about Bo on the way home.
Despite the heavy grief of Bo's death, it was good to see Emma and Ozzie. We'll help Ozzie with his grief, he'll help us with ours. As soon as we were out of the hospital
I began to rehydrate myself ... and my colon ... with Gatorade. Within a few hours, by bedtime my Ulcerative Colitis illness was diminishing. Yes, yes ... I AM aware that I still have an excess of fluids in my body from surgery. BUT IT'S POOLED IN MY LEGS BETWEEN MY KNEES AND ANKLES, AS EDEMA ! REMAINING ON FLUID RESTRICTIONS IS NOT GOING TO HELP MY COLON ! ! ! ! !
Take a deep breath, Daniel, before you make your newly fixed heart explode !
How wonderful it feels to be back at home, in my own bed, lying next to my sweetheart. BUT ... why is the left side of my scrotum all mangled and abraded ? Did my left nut get used as first base in a hospital baseball game while I was having surgery ?
Thursday ; < GRUNT > Did that ever hurt ! Had my first sneeze ( shortly before
7 AM ) since sternum was cut open and rewired closed.
Today was sunny and mild. And thanks to that, the best thing that I did today was spend some time sitting outside in a chair, enjoying warm sun on my face.
Joanne spent a long morning making repeated phone calls and repeated trips into town trying to get all my new prescriptions filled, something which was supposed to have been done by us on the way home last night, but did not. The process became arduous only because everything that the Kelowna General Hospital Cardiac Surgical Unit and Pharmacy Department were supposed to have done ... they did not do ! ! ! A few days ago, I had a meeting with two women, one of whom was a Pharmacist at the hospital, about "after discharge". The pleasant young Pharmacist, who seemed quite competent, carefully recorded what pharmacy I wanted my prescription orders sent to, and she was supposed to arrange for those new prescriptions to be waiting for us to pick up on our drive back home after discharge. Seemed like a simple enough task for a smart woman with a university degree !
NOPE ! Didn't get done ! The manager at our local pharmacy had received nothing from the hospital. And we didn't have copies of all the prescriptions. And it was my first morning home after discharge. I was supposed to be taking some of these medications ... NOW ! ! !
UH-OH ! After everything I have been through in the last week, I certainly hope that
I am not going to die because I didn't get the right medication at the right time this morning ! ! ! ! ! The manager of the local pharmacy did not panic. She had Joanne locate a particular discharge document in the thick pile of documents given to us by the hospital. When Joanne drove that form into town for her, she gave Joanne the medication that I REALLY needed immediately, deferred the payment for it until later, and sent Joanne back home with the drug. Two hours later everything else I needed was ready to be picked up !
Well done, Connie ! Good job ! ! ! No thanks to Kelowna Hospital !
As I said, I sat outside for awhile this afternoon, enjoying warm sunshine. A few neighbours noticed me sitting outside, and wandered over to offer best wishes. And condolences !
Joanne and I each spoke very briefly to our sisters this afternoon, and advised each of them of Bo's death on Tuesday. < sigh > Seems so long ago already !
Friday ; Cloudy and cool.
This lengthy recuperation period of mine that has begun, has turned us into old folks very quickly. It took us half a day to get ready to go into town to do an errand. It took us a quarter of the day to get the errand done and return home. And then we rested and recuperated for the remaining quarter of the day ! Not funny !
Half a day to get showered and dressed and fed and filled with medications. We drove into Keremeos where I had an appointment at the South Similkameen Diagnostic & Treatment Centre, at the Home Care Nursing Office, to have my dressings changed and surgical wounds examined. We stopped at Keremeos Home Building Supplies to look for an item, which they did not have. We stopped at Sanderson Farms and
I waited in the car while Joanne went to buy some produce, including a twenty pound bag of freshly picked Ambrosia apples. Unfortunately, this past summer's weather produced an annual crop of apples lacking the usual sweetness found in Ambrosias.
Late this afternoon Joanne took Ozzie for another very long walk. He has been enjoying daily multiple long walks with Joanne. I wish I could go with them. Before Joanne left with Ozzie she got me dressed for the outdoors ... I felt like a child being put into a parka in Winnipeg in the winter in the late 1950's ... and while they walked around for an hour, I shuffled around on the road behind our house for awhile, sitting in a chair much more than I actually walked around.
Joanne thinks that my recovery is going well, today being post-operative day seven.
I suppose she's right. My wounds look clean, no infections. My breathing ability is slowly improving. And most importantly, I discovered that some of the sternum pain issues I have been experiencing have been lessened with a change of dressings. The new dressings do not "fit" quite as tightly, and are not as restrictive to the ever so slight movement and interaction that must take place between the chest skin, the now wired sternum underneath, the expanding and contracting lungs underneath all that, etc. At bedtime, before lying down, I detached the very top of the adhesive dressing cover material at my throat. That makes it much easier to breath while lying down.
Saturday ; Mostly cloudy, chilly, windy.
My mobility was improved today. This afternoon Joanne went into Penticton to run some errands. She took Ozzie along for a "drivey". Ozzie loved going for "driveys" with Gord and Marcie, and has not been getting his fair of share of "drivey" during the last year and a half of Gord's illness. When she was finished errands in Penticton, before returning home Joanne took Ozzie for a long walk around Skaha Lake Park. When they returned home around 6 PM Ozzie was in excellent spirits, and doing a lot of "happy dancing".
I spent about an hour outdoors while Joanne and Ozzie were gone to Penticton. I was trying to "exercise", which right now means walking from one chair on the edge of our property to another chair on the edge of our property, a distance of about thirty feet. My stamina is still very low, and I was disappointed in my "performance". I spent about eighty percent of my hour outdoors resting in either of the two chairs, and perhaps twenty percent of the time I was actually shuffling along from one chair to the other.
After my hour outdoors I spent a couple of hours indoors trying to catch my breath after doing that much "exercising". < sigh > It certainly is going to be a long, hard journey over the next three months, isn't it ?
DSK
Have no idea what the weather is like outside the hospital. I think it's cloudy and cool.
Post Operative Day 2 ; Have been moved from Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit back to Cardiac Surgery "regular" ward. Have been pushing myself very hard to get started on rehabilitation with physiotherapist. Pushing myself too hard ! Have made myself quite ill twice today.
Appetite extremely low. Haven't eaten any solid foods since Thursday early, light supper. Had a cup of tea yesterday afternoon in Intensive Care. Had a small serving of orange juice for breakfast today. Had a small cup of beef broth for lunch today.
Had Foley catheter removed by nurse about an hour ago, at 2 PM. Had my first pee a few minutes ago. I was urinary catheter virgin. Didn't know penis would fart like that during first pee after catheter removal. HA HA HA ! Nurse also changed dressing on wrist to elbow incision on inside of left arm. YUCK !
Waiting for physiotherapist to come take me on third and last walk today. Can't go without her because I have to tow wheeled oxygen tank along. First walk early this morning was about twenty-five feet out of room and back. Second walk about noon was supposed to be five hundred feet. Lots of rest stops ! Third walk supposed to be a thousand feet. I pushed second walk to a thousand feet. Well done, Daniel ... this isn't a vacation !
Have just finished my third walk at 3:30 PM with Physiotherapist Sarah. Pushed it to fifteen hundred feet. Needed only two rest breaks. Asked for another walk at 6:30 PM.
Just finished fourth walk at 8 PM. Just me and the walker holding my oxygen tank. Walked three thousand feet ... post-op day 4 level ! Took a rest at only one thousand feet and again at two thousand feet.
Had half a tuna sandwich and small glass of milk just now. First solid food in three days.
GET OUT OF MY WAY ... I'M COMING BACK ! ! !
Monday ; Post Operative Day 3
Sunny. I can see at least that much out my hospital room window.
I awoke around 6:30 AM and went to the bathroom to urinate, wash my hands and face, use my WaterPik, and brush my teeth. By the time I was finished doing that, and returned to my bed at 7 AM ... I felt like crap ... again ! I had a lot of chest pain, especially on the inhale. My nurse came rushing into my room to check on me, because he could see on the wall display at the nurses' station that I had flipped into atrial fibrillation. Some nurses got me back lying in bed, then worked for two hours administering a variety of medications to control the fast heart rate, and the atrial fibrillation.
I was very disappointed, and worried that I may have taken "two steps back", but ... around 11 AM the heart rate and rhythm returned to normal and the pain disappeared. I had a slice of toast for breakfast, then went for my first walk of the day, a thousand feet with four rest stops. When that was done a physical therapist came to my room to plan with me some physical aids I will require over the next three months. As she left my room another therapist came into my room to invite me to today’s post-operative discharge planning class. WOO-HOO ! I’m still on track to be going home on Wednesday.
I did my second walk of the day immediately preceding the post-operative discharge class. Which might not have been the best of ideas, because ... throughout the class
I was fighting an extremely strong urge to fall asleep. However ... < shrug > ... so were the other three fellows in the class. HA HA HA ! But they at least had their wives present to "take notes" so to speak.
I was expecting Joanne to arrive for a visit today at 1:30 PM. So ... I made sure that my lunch was finished and I was sitting in my room eagerly awaiting her arrival at 1:30 PM. Adding to my rapidly growing list of experiences during the last week where my response has been ... "WELL ! F*** ! DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING ! ! !" ... precisely at 1:30 PM ... < SPUTTER > ... my brother Russell walked into my hospital room.
I knew that my sister was not following my blog, so I did not have to worry that she would find out about what was going on by reading my blog. And I was fairly certain that my brother was not reading my blog, either. BUT ... I had not considered that one of Russell's two children might occasionally read my blog. AND ... my niece Olivia obviously chose today as a day to catch up on what weird old Uncle Dan has been doing by reading my blog. DARN ! I had not advised my family of what was going on. And I thought I would not need to for a few more days, until I was home and recuperating. Oh, well ... the cat's out of the bag now ! Before coming to visit me, Russell phoned my sister, assuming that she already knew, and that he was the only one "out of the loop". So ... an hour or so ago ... ( it's now just after 5 PM ) ... my nurse came into my room to advise me that my sister was on the phone at the nurses' station. < sigh > Joanne took the call, spoke briefly to my sister, and will talk to her again later tonight when she ( Joanne ) is back at home. Don't you just love dysfunctional family dynamics ? ! ?
Oh, well ! At least I'm not surrounded by middle aged adult children, and their offspring, the grandchildren, wringing their hands and moaning ... "Grandpa's dying, Grandpa's dying" ... like the rest of the old fellows here. HA HA HA !
Before Joanne left around 4:30 PM, my nurse today came into my room to remove dressings off my left arm and chest, and remove the temporary pacemaker wires which had been left sticking into my heart, and protruding through my chest wall ... just in case they might be needed in the first few days after surgery. Odd sensation to have thin wires pulled out of heart and through chest wall ! So ... pacemaker wires out, another hurdle crossed on journey to release, still hoping for Wednesday. Surgical wound from artery harvest on left arm from wrist to elbow, and another one from neck to navel, not pretty ! ! ! Before Joanne left, she accompanied me on third walk of the day, three thousand feet, two rest stops. Physical therapist has granted permission for one more thousand foot walk tonight .... without oxygen !
Nurse just came in ( shortly after 6 PM ) with supper time medications and ...
WOO-HOO ... ( hopefully ) permanent removal from oxygen flow. Ate my supper ; chicken breast, peas, mashed potatoes ... I think. Might have been LePage's Glue. Hard to tell ! Went for a thousand foot walk. No rests, no oxygen. Had no chest pain. Plenty short of breath ! Let's not mention that to my nurse, shall we ?
Around 9:15 PM Cardiac Nurse Assistant Candace took me to the patient shower room, I undressed, she removed all remaining dressings and wires and leads and whatever else was stuck onto me, she put on a pair of boots and ... < SPUTTER > ... climbed into the shower stall with me ! "WELL ! F*** ! DIDN'T SEE THAT ONE COMING ! ! !" I'm starting to insert that using "cut and paste" function ! HA HA HA ! Apparently I will be unable to shampoo my own head for the next few months !
After washing my hair Candace left me on my own. I washed until ... WHEW ... I very abruptly "ran out of steam" ! I stopped showering, turned off the faucet, and sat there huffing and puffing heavily until I decided if I was going to die, I would rather not do it naked on a hospital shower stall floor. I pulled on my pair of clean sweat pants, picked up the rest of my possessions, and stumbled slowly back to my room where I sat and tried for a very long time to catch my breath !
WHEW ... didn't know my stamina was going to be THAT low ! ! !
Tuesday ; Post-Operative Day 4
The rapidity of which life changing events are overtaking me in the last two weeks in general, and today specifically, have finally overwhelmed me. I'm sitting here crying softly in the dark. Joanne has just phoned me ( at 9:45 AM ) to advise that Bo has died. She advised me forty-five minutes earlier at 9 AM that his death was imminent.
This morning's procedures started early, around 5:30 AM. A decision was made not too long afterwards that I could be released this afternoon. Then it was revoked and I was to remain until tomorrow afternoon. Then it was reinstated and I was to be released this afternoon. Then I spoke to Joanne at 9:45 AM when she phoned to tell me that Bo has died, with assistance from the third veterinarian she visited this morning. I'm not clear on the details.
I sat in the dark, in my room, crying softly for an hour, until a porter came to take me away in a wheelchair for my final chest x-ray. I have just been returned to my room at 11:30 AM. And I think I have recomposed myself to resume functioning today as necessary.
Not only do I currently feel overwhelmed by grief, but I feel ... I'm not sure what the right words are ... overwhelmed by emotional pain that these circumstances force me to sit here helplessly while Joanne had no choice but to find the strength to do what the last few hours required her to do. I'm so sorry, my love, that you had to endure that misery on your own, and I could not be there to help you shoulder that burden. I'm not going home today simply because she needs to get back home from Penticton, and clean the vomit and diarrhea that Bo spewed all over the house during the night, before she takes me home.
Godspeed, my dear little Bo Bo. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to say goodbye to you. I'm glad that your suffering was relatively brief. I will miss you so much. We had a great thirteen year life together since we rescued you in Alabama shortly after Hurricane Ivan. I'm going to lay down in bed and cry now !
Okay ! Enough of that ! It is not fair for me to indulge myself in the luxury of grief, while my circumstances forced Joanne to shoulder the burden of the last ten hours or so alone, and she must continue to do so alone for at least twenty-four more hours. While she was stuck with the most difficult job that pet owners must ever face ... alone again ... not the first time ... the only job that I can do ... and therefore must do ... is get myself as strong as possible in the next twenty-four hours, to minimize the enormous burden that caring for me for the next three months will entail.
I went for a thousand foot walk with no rest stops. I had the physiotherapist take me for my final pre-discharge physical activity test... climbing stairs. I climbed the cardiac surgery ward's three stair physiotherapy unit seven times up and seven times down, simulating walking up two flights of stairs. I sucked on my little three ball respirometer. I can consistently raise the second little ball to the top, and make it hold there for a second or two. Some of the time I can get the third little ball to rise to the top. I went for another thousand foot walk. I did my coughing exercises and horked up a lot of mucous out of my lungs. Good job, Daniel ! It certainly does hurt my wired together sternum to cough !
Around 4 PM I was walking to the patient fridge to get myself a serving of apple juice.
I had just finished a private conversation with a senior member of the staff of this cardiac surgery unit. We had been discussing some of my unsolicited complaints about this unit. So ... that was a bit "distressing". As I reached the patient fridge an incoming staff member inquired about my day. I began to express my grief over the death of Bo, and he was expressing his sympathy, when suddenly people began to rush towards me from different hallways and out of doorways, etc. Apparently, the monitors all over the walls of the unit were showing that room 228 had flipped into atrial fibrillation. Oh... shit ... that's me !
My nurse got me back into my bed, and a woman rushed in with an ECG machine to make a "hard copy" ECG. By the time she was finished my heart was returning to normal rhythm. My nurse gave me some advice about handling stress in the future. HMPH ! Might have to become a little less Type A.
NAAAAAHHHHH ... who am I kidding ? ! ? HA HA HA !
Have just received a phone call from someone looking for Similkameen Trailer Towing Services. Sorry, pal ... Similkameen Trailer Towing Services is out of commission for at least the next three months. Probably six months. Perhaps forever !
Just went for a thousand foot walk ( around 5 PM ). Took a long rest break halfway around. Well ... I can see from the monitors all over the place that my heart beats just fine ! As long as I'm standing still ! It's only when I move that there is a problem. HA HA HA !
I spent a few more hours snoozing ... crying in bed ... walking slowly around the Cardiac Surgery Ward ... trying to eat more of this horrible food. Not surprisingly, I'm constipated, fairly common after surgery, and even more of a problem for people with Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Crohn's / Ulcerative Colitis. The hospital does not want to release people who have not yet had a bowel movement after surgery. And that was a part of my many discussions with staff today. Their precautions make sense. I'm not resistant to them.
8:20 PM ; Successful bowel movement. Mark that down ! ! ! Send me home ! ! !
8:55 PM : Sucked on that respirometer so hard that I slammed all three little balls to the tops of their chambers ... and held them there ! In front of staff ! TWICE ! ! !
CLEARED TO GO HOME !
Wednesday ; Post-Operative Day 5 ;
Sunny and cold ! What happened to summer ?
Well ! DID see THAT one coming ! Went to sleep last night knowing that flare up of Ulcerative Colitis was imminent. Slept very poorly and suffered throughout the night. Awoke this morning and suffered illness throughout the day with nausea, cramps, and heavy rectal bleeding. Colon dehydrated, inflamed, bleeding, probably ulcerated.
< taking slow, deep breath > ... Need to get home and get better care ... and meals ... from Joanne than I can get in hospital.
Well ... sometimes ... I guess life isn't quite as complicated as it seems. I haven't slept well for two nights. Around 11 AM I was feeling such fatigue I decided to go back to sleep for awhile, knowing that Joanne wasn't going to be arriving until 1 PM or later to take me home. I lay down in bed, and soon thereafter ... I began to experience deep throbbing pain on the top right side of my sternum. When it reached an intensity level of about "4", I pressed my nurse call button. I was worried about that affecting the discharge order that had already been prepared, but ... the pain was increasing. There was a bit of a delay while my nurse sought and obtained authorization to administer me a narcotic analgesic. In the meantime ... my pain level had increased to about an "8", and I was getting scared. Desperate for relief, I sat up on the side of the bed and began to breathe as deeply as I could.
OH ! The pain began to immediately subside. The nurse brought me a strong pain killer, and I went for a slow walk. Within minutes all the pain had gone ! And while the pain killer and walk probably helped ... I think the problem may have been no more complicated than ... I had pinched a nerve or something in my wired together sternum when I lay down !
On the way to Kelowna to pick me up Joanne stopped at Red Cross in Penticton to pick up some health aids that had been requisitioned for me by the Kelowna Hospital ; a raised toilet seat, a shower chair, a bed side rail to help me get into and out of bed, those sorts of things. She arrived at Kelowna General Hospital around 1 PM. A nurse spent quite awhile giving Joanne and me instructions on care after discharge, including teaching Joanne how to change the large dressings on my chest and left arm. Because ... they are "oozing" The one on my chest, in particular, is still oozing a lot of gunk.
I was finally released, and we were on our way out of the hospital about 2:45 PM. The drive home took over three hours ! Because ... about once per hour I needed a brief rest break from sitting in the car. And there were a few important errands to run, like refill the minivan with fuel. And I am of no help whatsoever ... can't even open and close my own car door ! We talked ... and cried ... about Bo on the way home.
Despite the heavy grief of Bo's death, it was good to see Emma and Ozzie. We'll help Ozzie with his grief, he'll help us with ours. As soon as we were out of the hospital
I began to rehydrate myself ... and my colon ... with Gatorade. Within a few hours, by bedtime my Ulcerative Colitis illness was diminishing. Yes, yes ... I AM aware that I still have an excess of fluids in my body from surgery. BUT IT'S POOLED IN MY LEGS BETWEEN MY KNEES AND ANKLES, AS EDEMA ! REMAINING ON FLUID RESTRICTIONS IS NOT GOING TO HELP MY COLON ! ! ! ! !
Take a deep breath, Daniel, before you make your newly fixed heart explode !
How wonderful it feels to be back at home, in my own bed, lying next to my sweetheart. BUT ... why is the left side of my scrotum all mangled and abraded ? Did my left nut get used as first base in a hospital baseball game while I was having surgery ?
Thursday ; < GRUNT > Did that ever hurt ! Had my first sneeze ( shortly before
7 AM ) since sternum was cut open and rewired closed.
Today was sunny and mild. And thanks to that, the best thing that I did today was spend some time sitting outside in a chair, enjoying warm sun on my face.
Joanne spent a long morning making repeated phone calls and repeated trips into town trying to get all my new prescriptions filled, something which was supposed to have been done by us on the way home last night, but did not. The process became arduous only because everything that the Kelowna General Hospital Cardiac Surgical Unit and Pharmacy Department were supposed to have done ... they did not do ! ! ! A few days ago, I had a meeting with two women, one of whom was a Pharmacist at the hospital, about "after discharge". The pleasant young Pharmacist, who seemed quite competent, carefully recorded what pharmacy I wanted my prescription orders sent to, and she was supposed to arrange for those new prescriptions to be waiting for us to pick up on our drive back home after discharge. Seemed like a simple enough task for a smart woman with a university degree !
NOPE ! Didn't get done ! The manager at our local pharmacy had received nothing from the hospital. And we didn't have copies of all the prescriptions. And it was my first morning home after discharge. I was supposed to be taking some of these medications ... NOW ! ! !
UH-OH ! After everything I have been through in the last week, I certainly hope that
I am not going to die because I didn't get the right medication at the right time this morning ! ! ! ! ! The manager of the local pharmacy did not panic. She had Joanne locate a particular discharge document in the thick pile of documents given to us by the hospital. When Joanne drove that form into town for her, she gave Joanne the medication that I REALLY needed immediately, deferred the payment for it until later, and sent Joanne back home with the drug. Two hours later everything else I needed was ready to be picked up !
Well done, Connie ! Good job ! ! ! No thanks to Kelowna Hospital !
As I said, I sat outside for awhile this afternoon, enjoying warm sunshine. A few neighbours noticed me sitting outside, and wandered over to offer best wishes. And condolences !
Joanne and I each spoke very briefly to our sisters this afternoon, and advised each of them of Bo's death on Tuesday. < sigh > Seems so long ago already !
Friday ; Cloudy and cool.
This lengthy recuperation period of mine that has begun, has turned us into old folks very quickly. It took us half a day to get ready to go into town to do an errand. It took us a quarter of the day to get the errand done and return home. And then we rested and recuperated for the remaining quarter of the day ! Not funny !
Half a day to get showered and dressed and fed and filled with medications. We drove into Keremeos where I had an appointment at the South Similkameen Diagnostic & Treatment Centre, at the Home Care Nursing Office, to have my dressings changed and surgical wounds examined. We stopped at Keremeos Home Building Supplies to look for an item, which they did not have. We stopped at Sanderson Farms and
I waited in the car while Joanne went to buy some produce, including a twenty pound bag of freshly picked Ambrosia apples. Unfortunately, this past summer's weather produced an annual crop of apples lacking the usual sweetness found in Ambrosias.
Late this afternoon Joanne took Ozzie for another very long walk. He has been enjoying daily multiple long walks with Joanne. I wish I could go with them. Before Joanne left with Ozzie she got me dressed for the outdoors ... I felt like a child being put into a parka in Winnipeg in the winter in the late 1950's ... and while they walked around for an hour, I shuffled around on the road behind our house for awhile, sitting in a chair much more than I actually walked around.
Joanne thinks that my recovery is going well, today being post-operative day seven.
I suppose she's right. My wounds look clean, no infections. My breathing ability is slowly improving. And most importantly, I discovered that some of the sternum pain issues I have been experiencing have been lessened with a change of dressings. The new dressings do not "fit" quite as tightly, and are not as restrictive to the ever so slight movement and interaction that must take place between the chest skin, the now wired sternum underneath, the expanding and contracting lungs underneath all that, etc. At bedtime, before lying down, I detached the very top of the adhesive dressing cover material at my throat. That makes it much easier to breath while lying down.
Saturday ; Mostly cloudy, chilly, windy.
My mobility was improved today. This afternoon Joanne went into Penticton to run some errands. She took Ozzie along for a "drivey". Ozzie loved going for "driveys" with Gord and Marcie, and has not been getting his fair of share of "drivey" during the last year and a half of Gord's illness. When she was finished errands in Penticton, before returning home Joanne took Ozzie for a long walk around Skaha Lake Park. When they returned home around 6 PM Ozzie was in excellent spirits, and doing a lot of "happy dancing".
I spent about an hour outdoors while Joanne and Ozzie were gone to Penticton. I was trying to "exercise", which right now means walking from one chair on the edge of our property to another chair on the edge of our property, a distance of about thirty feet. My stamina is still very low, and I was disappointed in my "performance". I spent about eighty percent of my hour outdoors resting in either of the two chairs, and perhaps twenty percent of the time I was actually shuffling along from one chair to the other.
After my hour outdoors I spent a couple of hours indoors trying to catch my breath after doing that much "exercising". < sigh > It certainly is going to be a long, hard journey over the next three months, isn't it ?
DSK
Sunday, October 1, 2017
September 24 to 30, 2017
Sunday ; Mostly sunny and mild. Quite an eventful day !
Our friend / neighbour Paul died overnight. < heavy sigh > I wasn't quite ready for that. I thought he would live awhile longer. < another heavy sigh > Rest in peace, Paul. We're very sorry for your loss, Kolly.
That's two neighbours / friends dead in four days !
< extremely heavy sigh > AND ... < sputter > ... apparently we have inherited Ozzie, our next door neighbour ( Gord and ) Marcie's old, fat, infected ear Lhasa Apso ! Gord died last Wednesday. Today ... four days after his death ... his widow Marcie moved to the Lower Mainland to live with one of her two sons. AND ... < another extremely heavy sigh > ... Ozzie is now ours.
This morning and early afternoon were routine. We did some routine chores, then after an early lunch prepared to leave for Penticton. We had tickets to attend a play at Many Hats Theatre. As I walked Bo a few minutes before leaving for Penticton, Marcie's son Jeff came over to talk to me. He has been here for a few days "disposing" of Gord's and Marcie's possessions, and preparing to move his mother to his home in the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area ... < sputter > ... TODAY ! Yesterday we had told Gord's daughter Michelle that in an absolutely last hope, worst case scenario, we would accept ownership of Ozzie if no other reasonable option existed. < sigh > Jeff took us up on that offer. And that's okay ! Except ... I told him that because of circumstances, we could not and would not accept ownership of Ozzie until we returned from Kelowna on Wednesday following my angiogram and whatever else comes along with it ( balloon angioplasty and stent implantation probably ).
We drove to Penticton. We enjoyed the play "Real Estate". After the play we shopped for some "home improvement" materials at Rona. I bought the supplies needed to do a repair / refurbish job for neighbour / friend Jeanine. We had planned to have supper in Penticton, but I decided 5 PM was too early for supper, so we returned home. As soon as we returned home ... before we even got into our house we learned ... < sputter > ...
1. We were now the proud owners of an old, fat, Lhasa Apso ! ! ! ! !
2. Paul had died !
Jeff and his mother Marcie were already gone. < deep breath > I was angry and upset. Right now, and for the next few days, I need to focus on my own health issues, not ownership and care of Ozzie. Betty and some other neighbours are going to have to take care of Ozzie to the best of their abilities for a few days. Ozzie will stay in his own home until Wednesday, and Betty and other neighbours will have to ensure that he is being fed and walked.
Hang in there, Ozzie. I know that the last few days have been confusing and upsetting for you. And the next few days will be even more so. We'll be back Wednesday, and will begin to make life better for you then.
Monday ; home to Kelowna
Mix of sun and cloud, cool temperature.
This morning I took Ozzie for a long walk. His spirits lifted. Just 2½ more days, Ozzie, until we bring you to our home and a new phase of your life begins.
Our neighbour / friend Paul's new widow Kolly discovered something this morning that she told me about just before we left for Kelowna shortly after lunch. < sigh > She is the executor of Paul's estate. Their little truck is registered in Paul's name only. The truck's insurance is valid only for use of the truck by the executor, and only if the truck is being used for matters related to the settlement of the estate Ergo ... the truck would be uninsured if I were to use it for a trailer towing job, even though Paul had given me permission to do so before he died. < sigh > I had no choice but to advise my trailer towing client that I was cancelling my commitment to move her trailer next Sunday.
I found it extremely difficult to do that unpleasant task !
We had lunch, then took Bo over to Jeanine's to be "dog sat" for a few days, until we return from Kelowna Wednesday afternoon. We left home around 2:30 PM and were checking into our Kelowna motel ( near Kelowna Hospital ) shortly before 5 PM. We walked around the neighbourhood shopping mall, then bought some cooked chicken and a tub of potato salad at the nearby grocery store. Before eating supper in our motel room we drove to Kelowna Hospital to verify that we knew the route, and where to park. I don't want to have any surprises tomorrow morning at 7 AM !
We had supper in our motel room while watching episode 7 of the documentary on the Vietnam war.
Tuesday ; Kelowna
WELL ! F*** ! ! ! Didn't see THAT coming ! ! !
Sunny and mild ... I guess ! I wasn't outside long enough to know !
Awoke at 5:30 AM ( middle of the night, from my perspective ) in order to leave the motel at 7 AM for angiogram appointment at Kelowna General Hospital at 7:30 AM. Arrived at Cardiology Department about 7:15 AM. Immediately assigned to bed and prepared for angiogram procedure, then ... waited four ****ing hours for Interventional Cardiologist ( angiogram doctor ) consult at 11:35 AM. Joanne had accompanied me to hospital but left after two hours to run errands. I wasn't thrilled to find out that Interventional Cardiologist who was assigned to do my angiogram did not believe in use of anaesthetic for this procedure ... < SPUTTER > ! I have vivid memories of my father complaining about excruciating pain of angiograms.
Ten minutes after consult with doctor I was in angiogram room a.k.a. cardiac catheterization lab, at 11:45 AM. Procedure finished an hour later at 12:45 PM. Advised by doctor before leaving room that ... < SPUTTER > ... Left Main Artery of my heart was 80% blocked at top, 40% blocked about halfway further down ! Right Anterior Artery also blocked 80% ! Need triple bypass surgery. RIGHT F****ING NOW ! ! ! Problems are WAYYYYY beyond being able to be solved by balloon angioplasty and stent implantations !
Location of blockage at top of Left Main Artery is known in cardiac medical circles as "The Widow Maker". Risk of heart attack with 80% blockage at that location is too high to allow release from hospital ! HEART ATTACK AT THAT LOCATION IS NOT SURVIVABLE ! ! !
Well !
WELL ! ! !
Lay in recovery room from 12:45 PM to 2:45 PM. After two hours "sheath" in Femoral Artery was removed and I was allowed to get up to go to bathroom to urinate. AHHHHH ! Nurses, doctors, and assorted other medical personnel came and went from 2:45 to 5 PM to explain about pending CABG ( Coronary Artery Bypass Graft ) surgery. Joanne returned around 3 PM, just in time to join in the fun ! When bed was ready at 5 PM, admitted to coronary surgical unit. Spent a few hours being poked and prodded. Joanne went back to motel, retrieved my clothes and toiletries, and brought them back to me.
This has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into both short term and long term plans. Cardiologist advised that I / we will NOT be travelling south this winter. All cardiac surgeries for the next week will be scheduled during tomorrow regular Wednesday morning cardiac surgery scheduling meeting. Left Main Artery 80% blockage is high priority. My surgery will likely be scheduled between Thursday and Monday. Young, female Cardiac Surgeon advised that it really pisses her off when 80% blockage LMA patients have heart attacks and die while in the hospital waiting for surgery ! ! ! How reassuring ! ! !
I suppose I feel grateful to have "dodged a bullet" ! Doesn't preclude feeling pissed off about monkey wrench in plans !
Just before Joanne left my room around 7 PM to return to motel, I was musing aloud about "how the hell did I get HERE ? ! ?". Her response was ... "must have been all that clean livin' you did in the 70's". HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
Wednesday ; Sunny. That's all I can ascertain from inside this hospital room.
Well ! What a busy place my room was from 5:30 AM onwards. When I wanted to be sleeping ! The flow of traffic in and out of my room began at 5:30 AM, and continued unabated until 11:30 AM. Nurses, doctors, X-ray technician, ECG technician, cleaning staff, food service staff bringing food, food service staff bringing menu selection form for tomorrow's breakfast, food service staff bringing survey, respiratory technicians, pharmacist, ... and on and on ! I had insomnia last night, so was awake until about 3:30 AM. So I wasn't really thrilled with the traffic flow starting at 5:30 AM.
Cardiac Surgeon visited this morning to discuss pending surgery, tentatively planned for Friday. This morning's nurse seems like a bit of a Nazi ... refuses to allow me to shower because of wireless ECG transmitter attached to me. All of a sudden ... I am being treated like heart attack and death are imminent ! Have wireless transmitter attached to me, in "kangaroo pouch" on front of gown, wires leading to electrodes on chest. Can't wander off small cardiac surgical ward. Can't shower ! One particular nurse does not refer to me by given name, calls me "Bud". I am extremely intolerant of that kind of disrespect. Next time she calls me Bud, I will respond by calling her Sweet Cheeks !
Nurses et al are treating me like fragile China doll, with fatal heart attack imminent, because of high risk associated with 80% blockage of Left Main Artery. HMPH ! I feel fine ! Cardiac Surgeon said it's not often they have patient with 80% blocked Left Main Artery that is otherwise so strong and healthy. SO ... think I ... get out of my way ! I've got places to go, people to see, things to do ! HA HA HA !
Joanne visited between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Had my lunch while she was visiting.
I was slightly eager for her to get going home. I'm concerned about poor Ozzie, who "officially" becomes ours as soon as Joanne gets home. Around 2 PM I went for my shower. NYAH NYAH NYAH ! So there, Nurse J ! Around 3 PM sonographer came to do echocardiogram / heart ultrasound. He finished and left around 3:45 PM.
< whispering > I think I may have fallen asleep while he was doing echocardiogram.
At 4:50 PM I decided to succumb to drowsiness, and take a brief nap. Before my head hit the pillow ... < sputter > ... supper arrived ! Well ... thank you ! Can I let it sit there and grow bacteria until I really want it ? Which would be in three hours ! ? ! I napped for half an hour, then got up and reluctantly ate supper. HMPH ! Letting a hospital hot meal sit and cool down for half an hour does nothing to improve it ! HA HA HA !
The flow of traffic in and out of my room continued until after 10 PM. Including a fellow who seemed to me to be more of a cheerleader than anything else. I must admit ... this cardiac surgery ward is pretty morose. Lots of second and third generation visitors sitting around Grandpa's bed, wringing their hands, watching and waiting for him to die. < shrug > Not too many "younger" fellows ... like me. HA HA HA ! Doesn't seem to be any old women here in this eighteen bed cardiac surgery ward.
Around 10 PM I used Skype on my laptop to call Joanne, on the cell phone, at home. She has Ozzie, and he is doing as well as could be expected. That's a bit of a relief to me. One less thing to worry about.
Late in the evening Sweet Cheeks came into my room to take my bedtime vital signs and bring me my bedtime medications. We chatted for awhile. She's a nice young woman. When I told her that I had slept poorly last night she offered me a choice of a sleeping pill, ear plugs, or being tucked in with warmed blankets. Warmed blankets ? REALLY ? ALRIGHT ! ! ! I accepted the ear plugs and being tucked in with the warmed blankets.
Thursday ; Sunny and ...warm, I think. Who knows ? I'm stuck on this cardiac surgery ward !
Slept like a log last night. Until a nurse came in and woke me up at 5:30 AM to see if
I was still alive ! My telemetry unit ( wireless ECG transmitter ) had suddenly stopped working ! Either me or the batteries were dead. Fortunately ... it was the batteries. HA HA HA !
After the batteries were changed I went back to sleep until 7 AM when an ECG Technician showed up to take another ECG. WHAT ! ? ! AGAIN ? ! ? Why don't you people ever want an ECG at 3 PM or some other more civilized time than 7 AM ? ! ? And why can't you just take the data off my space cadet transmitter thingy ?
But ... I'm adapting. As I must. When I had not yet received my breakfast by 7:40 AM,
I was thinking ... you people should get your asses in gear ! ! ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! The morning was taken up with more people coming into my room to do more tests. Just before lunch I went and had another very quick shower, a privilege that was hard won for me. And ... as I found out at the pre-op class ... none of the other guys have.
As I was finishing my lunch at 12:45 PM, a woman came to get me to take me to the pre-operation class being held today for tomorrow's three cardiac surgical patients. Two guys much older than me, both have been here longer than a week, and ...
< sputter > ... apparently I'm "higher priority" than they are. I can't believe how "sick" I'm being treated, and how healthy I feel compared to my cardiac surgery ward compadres.
After the class ended, around 2 PM, my Nazi nurse brought me my lunch meal medication. You know ... the one that I must have immediately following the last bite of my meal ! The one that enables me to digest food properly ! The one that I took at 12:45 PM as I swallowed my last bite of lunch ! It’s a good thing I have my own supply of my own medications. Which ( some of ) the nurses seem rather displeased about. The hospital wants patients to use only the medications dispensed by the hospital pharmacy. OH ... except for the medication of mine that the hospital pharmacy doesn’t stock. In that case ... go ahead and use my own. < rolling my eyes >
The “cardiac blinders” that exist here are somewhat amusing to me. Everybody here ... nurses to doctors ... neither understands nor cares about such “trivial” matters as gastroenterology issues ... such as inflammatory bowel disease / Ulcerative Colitis. They act as if ... it’s not like the inability to shit like a normal human being is going to kill anyone ... like a bad heart can ! ! ! HA HA HA ! And there is some sort of a “school yard” pecking order between “regular, run of the mill, every day” Cardiologists, Interventional Cardiologists who do only angiograms, balloon angioplasty, and stents, and the Cardiac Surgeons, the “kings of the hill” who do CABG ... pronounced “cabbage” ... Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft surgery.
What an ignoramus ! Please forgive me ! I have just discovered that what I have been referring to as Cardiac Surgeons are actually ... Cardiothoracic Surgeons ! OOOOO ... quelle faux pas !
Around 4 PM a female sonographer showed up to do an ultrasound on the carotid arteries running up each side of my neck, from the heart to the brain. After Tuesday's "big surprise" I was afraid to ask her anything after she was finished. She volunteered the information that everything looked good. Shortly after she left my ... < ahem > ... Cardiothoracic Surgeon showed up to examine me and discuss tomorrow's procedure. As he walked out the door, in came my Anaesthesiologist.
OMIGAWD OMIGAWD OMIGAWD ! ! ! ! !
The anaesthesiologist wants my forty-one year old beard removed. SO ... after I eat tonight's supper, which has just arrived, I will ... shave my beard off ! I don't think I'm going to tell Joanne when I speak to her by phone tonight. She will not see me until the day after the surgery, when I'm in Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care, intubated, four chest tubes sticking out of me, tubes coming out of everywhere, sternum wired shut after being cracked open, stitches from wrist to elbow on the left arm where the doctor will remove an artery to use for a bypass, one of the three arteries he will require.
( He'll remove the other two out of my chest ). Maybe she won't notice the missing beard. HA HA HA HA HA !
Okay ! It's now 6:30 PM. I've eaten my "last supper". If I die tomorrow on the operating table, I'll go to my grave in a pissy mood ... because my last supper was lentil stew. HA HA HA ! I've used my antibiotic mouthwash. I smeared antibiotic ointment up my nostrils, as I've done twice daily for the last two days. And ... < sigh > ... I have shaved off my beard ! First time I've seen my face without either hair or acne ... since I've been twelve years old. Fifty years ! HA HA HA !
I phoned Joanne around 9 PM and we chatted briefly. At 10:15 PM I was taken by a male nurse / cardiac aide to shower with an antiseptic skin cleanser imbedded sponge. I will have to shower again early in the morning, just before surgery, with another antiseptic sponge.
It's now 11 PM. I'm preparing to put my personal stuff away, and go to bed. I don't think I will be in any shape to record anything more in my journal until Sunday. Wish me luck !
How nice ! Sweet Cheeks just brought me a warmed blanket, anticipating I would already be in bed. Since I'm still awake, and working on my computer, she draped it over my shoulders and back. Thank you.
Friday ; Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Saturday ; Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit
DSK
Our friend / neighbour Paul died overnight. < heavy sigh > I wasn't quite ready for that. I thought he would live awhile longer. < another heavy sigh > Rest in peace, Paul. We're very sorry for your loss, Kolly.
That's two neighbours / friends dead in four days !
< extremely heavy sigh > AND ... < sputter > ... apparently we have inherited Ozzie, our next door neighbour ( Gord and ) Marcie's old, fat, infected ear Lhasa Apso ! Gord died last Wednesday. Today ... four days after his death ... his widow Marcie moved to the Lower Mainland to live with one of her two sons. AND ... < another extremely heavy sigh > ... Ozzie is now ours.
This morning and early afternoon were routine. We did some routine chores, then after an early lunch prepared to leave for Penticton. We had tickets to attend a play at Many Hats Theatre. As I walked Bo a few minutes before leaving for Penticton, Marcie's son Jeff came over to talk to me. He has been here for a few days "disposing" of Gord's and Marcie's possessions, and preparing to move his mother to his home in the Lower Mainland / Vancouver area ... < sputter > ... TODAY ! Yesterday we had told Gord's daughter Michelle that in an absolutely last hope, worst case scenario, we would accept ownership of Ozzie if no other reasonable option existed. < sigh > Jeff took us up on that offer. And that's okay ! Except ... I told him that because of circumstances, we could not and would not accept ownership of Ozzie until we returned from Kelowna on Wednesday following my angiogram and whatever else comes along with it ( balloon angioplasty and stent implantation probably ).
We drove to Penticton. We enjoyed the play "Real Estate". After the play we shopped for some "home improvement" materials at Rona. I bought the supplies needed to do a repair / refurbish job for neighbour / friend Jeanine. We had planned to have supper in Penticton, but I decided 5 PM was too early for supper, so we returned home. As soon as we returned home ... before we even got into our house we learned ... < sputter > ...
1. We were now the proud owners of an old, fat, Lhasa Apso ! ! ! ! !
2. Paul had died !
Jeff and his mother Marcie were already gone. < deep breath > I was angry and upset. Right now, and for the next few days, I need to focus on my own health issues, not ownership and care of Ozzie. Betty and some other neighbours are going to have to take care of Ozzie to the best of their abilities for a few days. Ozzie will stay in his own home until Wednesday, and Betty and other neighbours will have to ensure that he is being fed and walked.
Hang in there, Ozzie. I know that the last few days have been confusing and upsetting for you. And the next few days will be even more so. We'll be back Wednesday, and will begin to make life better for you then.
Monday ; home to Kelowna
Mix of sun and cloud, cool temperature.
This morning I took Ozzie for a long walk. His spirits lifted. Just 2½ more days, Ozzie, until we bring you to our home and a new phase of your life begins.
Our neighbour / friend Paul's new widow Kolly discovered something this morning that she told me about just before we left for Kelowna shortly after lunch. < sigh > She is the executor of Paul's estate. Their little truck is registered in Paul's name only. The truck's insurance is valid only for use of the truck by the executor, and only if the truck is being used for matters related to the settlement of the estate Ergo ... the truck would be uninsured if I were to use it for a trailer towing job, even though Paul had given me permission to do so before he died. < sigh > I had no choice but to advise my trailer towing client that I was cancelling my commitment to move her trailer next Sunday.
I found it extremely difficult to do that unpleasant task !
We had lunch, then took Bo over to Jeanine's to be "dog sat" for a few days, until we return from Kelowna Wednesday afternoon. We left home around 2:30 PM and were checking into our Kelowna motel ( near Kelowna Hospital ) shortly before 5 PM. We walked around the neighbourhood shopping mall, then bought some cooked chicken and a tub of potato salad at the nearby grocery store. Before eating supper in our motel room we drove to Kelowna Hospital to verify that we knew the route, and where to park. I don't want to have any surprises tomorrow morning at 7 AM !
We had supper in our motel room while watching episode 7 of the documentary on the Vietnam war.
Tuesday ; Kelowna
WELL ! F*** ! ! ! Didn't see THAT coming ! ! !
Sunny and mild ... I guess ! I wasn't outside long enough to know !
Awoke at 5:30 AM ( middle of the night, from my perspective ) in order to leave the motel at 7 AM for angiogram appointment at Kelowna General Hospital at 7:30 AM. Arrived at Cardiology Department about 7:15 AM. Immediately assigned to bed and prepared for angiogram procedure, then ... waited four ****ing hours for Interventional Cardiologist ( angiogram doctor ) consult at 11:35 AM. Joanne had accompanied me to hospital but left after two hours to run errands. I wasn't thrilled to find out that Interventional Cardiologist who was assigned to do my angiogram did not believe in use of anaesthetic for this procedure ... < SPUTTER > ! I have vivid memories of my father complaining about excruciating pain of angiograms.
Ten minutes after consult with doctor I was in angiogram room a.k.a. cardiac catheterization lab, at 11:45 AM. Procedure finished an hour later at 12:45 PM. Advised by doctor before leaving room that ... < SPUTTER > ... Left Main Artery of my heart was 80% blocked at top, 40% blocked about halfway further down ! Right Anterior Artery also blocked 80% ! Need triple bypass surgery. RIGHT F****ING NOW ! ! ! Problems are WAYYYYY beyond being able to be solved by balloon angioplasty and stent implantations !
Location of blockage at top of Left Main Artery is known in cardiac medical circles as "The Widow Maker". Risk of heart attack with 80% blockage at that location is too high to allow release from hospital ! HEART ATTACK AT THAT LOCATION IS NOT SURVIVABLE ! ! !
Well !
WELL ! ! !
Lay in recovery room from 12:45 PM to 2:45 PM. After two hours "sheath" in Femoral Artery was removed and I was allowed to get up to go to bathroom to urinate. AHHHHH ! Nurses, doctors, and assorted other medical personnel came and went from 2:45 to 5 PM to explain about pending CABG ( Coronary Artery Bypass Graft ) surgery. Joanne returned around 3 PM, just in time to join in the fun ! When bed was ready at 5 PM, admitted to coronary surgical unit. Spent a few hours being poked and prodded. Joanne went back to motel, retrieved my clothes and toiletries, and brought them back to me.
This has certainly thrown a monkey wrench into both short term and long term plans. Cardiologist advised that I / we will NOT be travelling south this winter. All cardiac surgeries for the next week will be scheduled during tomorrow regular Wednesday morning cardiac surgery scheduling meeting. Left Main Artery 80% blockage is high priority. My surgery will likely be scheduled between Thursday and Monday. Young, female Cardiac Surgeon advised that it really pisses her off when 80% blockage LMA patients have heart attacks and die while in the hospital waiting for surgery ! ! ! How reassuring ! ! !
I suppose I feel grateful to have "dodged a bullet" ! Doesn't preclude feeling pissed off about monkey wrench in plans !
Just before Joanne left my room around 7 PM to return to motel, I was musing aloud about "how the hell did I get HERE ? ! ?". Her response was ... "must have been all that clean livin' you did in the 70's". HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA !
Wednesday ; Sunny. That's all I can ascertain from inside this hospital room.
Well ! What a busy place my room was from 5:30 AM onwards. When I wanted to be sleeping ! The flow of traffic in and out of my room began at 5:30 AM, and continued unabated until 11:30 AM. Nurses, doctors, X-ray technician, ECG technician, cleaning staff, food service staff bringing food, food service staff bringing menu selection form for tomorrow's breakfast, food service staff bringing survey, respiratory technicians, pharmacist, ... and on and on ! I had insomnia last night, so was awake until about 3:30 AM. So I wasn't really thrilled with the traffic flow starting at 5:30 AM.
Cardiac Surgeon visited this morning to discuss pending surgery, tentatively planned for Friday. This morning's nurse seems like a bit of a Nazi ... refuses to allow me to shower because of wireless ECG transmitter attached to me. All of a sudden ... I am being treated like heart attack and death are imminent ! Have wireless transmitter attached to me, in "kangaroo pouch" on front of gown, wires leading to electrodes on chest. Can't wander off small cardiac surgical ward. Can't shower ! One particular nurse does not refer to me by given name, calls me "Bud". I am extremely intolerant of that kind of disrespect. Next time she calls me Bud, I will respond by calling her Sweet Cheeks !
Nurses et al are treating me like fragile China doll, with fatal heart attack imminent, because of high risk associated with 80% blockage of Left Main Artery. HMPH ! I feel fine ! Cardiac Surgeon said it's not often they have patient with 80% blocked Left Main Artery that is otherwise so strong and healthy. SO ... think I ... get out of my way ! I've got places to go, people to see, things to do ! HA HA HA !
Joanne visited between 11:30 AM and 1:30 PM. Had my lunch while she was visiting.
I was slightly eager for her to get going home. I'm concerned about poor Ozzie, who "officially" becomes ours as soon as Joanne gets home. Around 2 PM I went for my shower. NYAH NYAH NYAH ! So there, Nurse J ! Around 3 PM sonographer came to do echocardiogram / heart ultrasound. He finished and left around 3:45 PM.
< whispering > I think I may have fallen asleep while he was doing echocardiogram.
At 4:50 PM I decided to succumb to drowsiness, and take a brief nap. Before my head hit the pillow ... < sputter > ... supper arrived ! Well ... thank you ! Can I let it sit there and grow bacteria until I really want it ? Which would be in three hours ! ? ! I napped for half an hour, then got up and reluctantly ate supper. HMPH ! Letting a hospital hot meal sit and cool down for half an hour does nothing to improve it ! HA HA HA !
The flow of traffic in and out of my room continued until after 10 PM. Including a fellow who seemed to me to be more of a cheerleader than anything else. I must admit ... this cardiac surgery ward is pretty morose. Lots of second and third generation visitors sitting around Grandpa's bed, wringing their hands, watching and waiting for him to die. < shrug > Not too many "younger" fellows ... like me. HA HA HA ! Doesn't seem to be any old women here in this eighteen bed cardiac surgery ward.
Around 10 PM I used Skype on my laptop to call Joanne, on the cell phone, at home. She has Ozzie, and he is doing as well as could be expected. That's a bit of a relief to me. One less thing to worry about.
Late in the evening Sweet Cheeks came into my room to take my bedtime vital signs and bring me my bedtime medications. We chatted for awhile. She's a nice young woman. When I told her that I had slept poorly last night she offered me a choice of a sleeping pill, ear plugs, or being tucked in with warmed blankets. Warmed blankets ? REALLY ? ALRIGHT ! ! ! I accepted the ear plugs and being tucked in with the warmed blankets.
Thursday ; Sunny and ...warm, I think. Who knows ? I'm stuck on this cardiac surgery ward !
Slept like a log last night. Until a nurse came in and woke me up at 5:30 AM to see if
I was still alive ! My telemetry unit ( wireless ECG transmitter ) had suddenly stopped working ! Either me or the batteries were dead. Fortunately ... it was the batteries. HA HA HA !
After the batteries were changed I went back to sleep until 7 AM when an ECG Technician showed up to take another ECG. WHAT ! ? ! AGAIN ? ! ? Why don't you people ever want an ECG at 3 PM or some other more civilized time than 7 AM ? ! ? And why can't you just take the data off my space cadet transmitter thingy ?
But ... I'm adapting. As I must. When I had not yet received my breakfast by 7:40 AM,
I was thinking ... you people should get your asses in gear ! ! ! HA HA HA < SNORT > HA HA ! The morning was taken up with more people coming into my room to do more tests. Just before lunch I went and had another very quick shower, a privilege that was hard won for me. And ... as I found out at the pre-op class ... none of the other guys have.
As I was finishing my lunch at 12:45 PM, a woman came to get me to take me to the pre-operation class being held today for tomorrow's three cardiac surgical patients. Two guys much older than me, both have been here longer than a week, and ...
< sputter > ... apparently I'm "higher priority" than they are. I can't believe how "sick" I'm being treated, and how healthy I feel compared to my cardiac surgery ward compadres.
After the class ended, around 2 PM, my Nazi nurse brought me my lunch meal medication. You know ... the one that I must have immediately following the last bite of my meal ! The one that enables me to digest food properly ! The one that I took at 12:45 PM as I swallowed my last bite of lunch ! It’s a good thing I have my own supply of my own medications. Which ( some of ) the nurses seem rather displeased about. The hospital wants patients to use only the medications dispensed by the hospital pharmacy. OH ... except for the medication of mine that the hospital pharmacy doesn’t stock. In that case ... go ahead and use my own. < rolling my eyes >
The “cardiac blinders” that exist here are somewhat amusing to me. Everybody here ... nurses to doctors ... neither understands nor cares about such “trivial” matters as gastroenterology issues ... such as inflammatory bowel disease / Ulcerative Colitis. They act as if ... it’s not like the inability to shit like a normal human being is going to kill anyone ... like a bad heart can ! ! ! HA HA HA ! And there is some sort of a “school yard” pecking order between “regular, run of the mill, every day” Cardiologists, Interventional Cardiologists who do only angiograms, balloon angioplasty, and stents, and the Cardiac Surgeons, the “kings of the hill” who do CABG ... pronounced “cabbage” ... Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft surgery.
What an ignoramus ! Please forgive me ! I have just discovered that what I have been referring to as Cardiac Surgeons are actually ... Cardiothoracic Surgeons ! OOOOO ... quelle faux pas !
Around 4 PM a female sonographer showed up to do an ultrasound on the carotid arteries running up each side of my neck, from the heart to the brain. After Tuesday's "big surprise" I was afraid to ask her anything after she was finished. She volunteered the information that everything looked good. Shortly after she left my ... < ahem > ... Cardiothoracic Surgeon showed up to examine me and discuss tomorrow's procedure. As he walked out the door, in came my Anaesthesiologist.
OMIGAWD OMIGAWD OMIGAWD ! ! ! ! !
The anaesthesiologist wants my forty-one year old beard removed. SO ... after I eat tonight's supper, which has just arrived, I will ... shave my beard off ! I don't think I'm going to tell Joanne when I speak to her by phone tonight. She will not see me until the day after the surgery, when I'm in Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care, intubated, four chest tubes sticking out of me, tubes coming out of everywhere, sternum wired shut after being cracked open, stitches from wrist to elbow on the left arm where the doctor will remove an artery to use for a bypass, one of the three arteries he will require.
( He'll remove the other two out of my chest ). Maybe she won't notice the missing beard. HA HA HA HA HA !
Okay ! It's now 6:30 PM. I've eaten my "last supper". If I die tomorrow on the operating table, I'll go to my grave in a pissy mood ... because my last supper was lentil stew. HA HA HA ! I've used my antibiotic mouthwash. I smeared antibiotic ointment up my nostrils, as I've done twice daily for the last two days. And ... < sigh > ... I have shaved off my beard ! First time I've seen my face without either hair or acne ... since I've been twelve years old. Fifty years ! HA HA HA !
I phoned Joanne around 9 PM and we chatted briefly. At 10:15 PM I was taken by a male nurse / cardiac aide to shower with an antiseptic skin cleanser imbedded sponge. I will have to shower again early in the morning, just before surgery, with another antiseptic sponge.
It's now 11 PM. I'm preparing to put my personal stuff away, and go to bed. I don't think I will be in any shape to record anything more in my journal until Sunday. Wish me luck !
How nice ! Sweet Cheeks just brought me a warmed blanket, anticipating I would already be in bed. Since I'm still awake, and working on my computer, she draped it over my shoulders and back. Thank you.
Friday ; Cardiac Artery Bypass Graft Surgery
Saturday ; Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit
DSK
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