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Cardiologist Visit And Update: Surgery Is Scheduled

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Update:

I am going in for the final tests on September 1st. The time is still up in the air because the hospital has to finalize the schedule. I was told it could be 6 hours of tests. Blood work, x-rays, medication, etc...

After these tests are complete, I will be given a date for surgery.

On a side note: I have an eye exam on September 8.
 
UPDATE:

I didn't get a chance to speak to the surgeon. He was stuck in the OR. I did get to talk with the anesthesiologist.

They took 5 vials of blood, 2 X-rays, 1 urine sample and an ECG.

They gave me 2 special sponge things that are to be used the night and in the morning before surgery.

Plus a list of do's and don't's. I will also need to pack some things like clothes and toothbrush and razor.

A few days before surgery I will get a covid-19 test.
 
Iron Woode said:
UPDATE:

I didn't get a chance to speak to the surgeon. He was stuck in the OR. I did get to talk with the anesthesiologist.

They took 5 vials of blood, 2 X-rays, 1 urine sample and an ECG.

They gave me 2 special sponge things that are to be used the night and in the morning before surgery.

Plus a list of do's and don't's. I will also need to pack some things like clothes and toothbrush and razor.

A few days before surgery I will get a covid-19 test.
Click to expand...
as Muse said......do everything to the letter that they tell you!
We are all rooting for ya!!
 
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Big Update:

Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00AM. The actual procedure will be 2 hours after I get there, so around 8:00AM.

I will be in for 5 - 7 days. I am very anxious about it all. I will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving this Sunday as Canadian Thanksgiving is this Monday.

I will try to keep everyone updated as best I can on my recovery.

Stay safe my friends.
 
Iron Woode said:
Big Update:

Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00AM. The actual procedure will be 2 hours after I get there, so around 8:00AM.

I will be in for 5 - 7 days. I am very anxious about it all. I will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving this Sunday as Canadian Thanksgiving is this Monday.

I will try to keep everyone updated as best I can on my recovery.

Stay safe my friends.
Click to expand...
Dude we got your back!!! Hang in there and stay tough!!
 
Iron Woode said:
Big Update:

Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, October 13 at 6:00AM. The actual procedure will be 2 hours after I get there, so around 8:00AM.

I will be in for 5 - 7 days. I am very anxious about it all. I will be able to celebrate Thanksgiving this Sunday as Canadian Thanksgiving is this Monday.

I will try to keep everyone updated as best I can on my recovery.

Stay safe my friends.
Click to expand...
Dude we got your back!!! Hang in there and stay tough!!
 
Try not to be too anxious. Just do the things you need to do to be prepared and roll with it. Best of luck and be glad for modern medicine and anesthesia. My dad was an anesthesiologist! Brother was a surgeon. One day my brother took me golfing at a course in his area. A guy comes up to us and thanks my brother profusely for saving his wife's life. My brother just took it completely in stride like it happened every day!
 
I am back home from surgery. I am doing very well. I will be on beta-blockers and aspirin for life.

My experience was a very much a wild ride. The surgery fixed 2 veins because he found another one hiding in there. They took a vein from my left thigh to fix things up. I was then wheeled into ICU and spent 12 hours there learning to breathe and being pretty high.

They removed my chest tubes before sending me to a semi-private room. From there I had excellent care and good food. Rest was hard due to needing blood samples, meds, blood pressure, etc. They had me walk a short distance. All this was on Wednesday.

Thursday was a repeat with more sitting and walking along with breathing exercises. I ended up gaining 12kg due to surgery. They gave me meds to pee that out.

The rest of the time there was pretty much the same except more sleep time.

I stayed longer due to blood thinner levels not being high enough for discharge.

And here we are with me back home and taking it easy.
 
each day is a struggle of sorts. I am getting stronger but many things are hard to do that we normally take for granted.

Learning that truth was harder than I thought. Being cooped up all the time is taking a small toll. I miss going out and about.

I also discovered that TV sucks more than I thought. 😉
 
Iron Woode said:
each day is a struggle of sorts. I am getting stronger but many things are hard to do that we normally take for granted.

Learning that truth was harder than I thought. Being cooped up all the time is taking a small toll. I miss going out and about.

I also discovered that TV sucks more than I thought. 😉
Click to expand...
Maybe you can find other things to do than watch TV. I'm cooped up what with the pandemic and my risk profile, but the only TV I watch is news in the evening and maybe some sports on the weekend. I have so so many great books here beckoning me to read. I have my music. I have projects around the house. No lack of things to do. My moods go up and down but on balance I'm OK. A lot better than OK a lot of the time. I don't miss going out really, well I suppose I do but I don't find myself feeling "cabin fever." After around 4 months of this I started skating the street daily for about 40 minutes. I don't do it to get out, I do it for the exercise. It's really helping.
 
Muse said:
Maybe you can find other things to do than watch TV. I'm cooped up what with the pandemic and my risk profile, but the only TV I watch is news in the evening and maybe some sports on the weekend. I have so so many great books here beckoning me to read. I have my music. I have projects around the house. No lack of things to do. My moods go up and down but on balance I'm OK. A lot better than OK a lot of the time. I don't miss going out really, well I suppose I do but I don't find myself feeling "cabin fever." After around 4 months of this I started skating the street daily for about 40 minutes. I don't do it to get out, I do it for the exercise. It's really helping.
Click to expand...
I am staying isolated due to covid and other illnesses to which I am now very susceptible.

There are things here I want to do but can't because of physical limitations. It's OK because I still have AT and all the good people on here to amuse me.
 
There is another thing I didn't mention and that is my left thigh issue.

When I was opened up and the surgeon was fixing my issue he discovered a second vein involved that didn't show up on the MRI. This required a vein graft which came from my left thigh. Unfortunately, when he took the vein from my leg he damaged the nerve(s) or it could have been done due to the position of my leg during surgery. Either way the nerve is damaged in my left thigh. Most of my thigh is fine but a portion on top and to the left is numb. It occasionally burns or itches for some reason. I was told this should heal itself but could take a long time.
 
My brother, a vascular surgeon, told me nerves can take a long time to heal, so yeah. I sliced my finger open with my pocket knife some 15 years ago or so and I still feel pain from it sometimes. It's 90% better than it was 10 years ago, I'd say.
 
I thought I would post a 2021 update for everyone:

I am doing very well. My heart endurance has improved dramatically. I am far more active now compared to last year. Exercise doesn't exhaust me at all. It feels rather odd after all these years to have so much improvement.

In fact, my muscles get tired before I do. I really wish I had this surgery when I was in my 30's.

I am still on my heart meds - 5 of them for now. I have blood work to get done on Friday with lots of tests, apparently, and an in person appointment with my primary care physician. Next week I will be calling the surgeon's office to see about rescheduling a visit to see how my heart is doing.

If all goes well, I should be able to get my first covid shot in April.
 
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