Ericka's Posts

My valve is 3 weeks old today, how exciting is that?? It's so weird that I have the surgery three weeks behind me now, I spent so much time ruminating over the whole thing it almost became my identity. Who am I now? The same person really, maybe with a little more gratitude for life. Here are some random thoughts that I hope will be helpful for anyone planning or just having gone through surgery: Random thought #1... Drugs suck I know I have been super quiet since the surgery but the migraines were so unbearable, I couldn't fathom spending more than 5 minutes out of my chair let alone sitting at the computer screen. I was having twice a day migraines with auras, when I wasn't having the auras I had a constant haze of light over my eyes. I was terrified that this would be my new reality, and so sick and nauseous all the time. The good news is that I think I have solved that issue, it was the Metoprolol. I accidentally missed a dose last week and felt SO much better, so I decided to stop taking it until I saw my Dr this Monday, every day I got better and better. Luckily my BP is fine, still below normal actually, and though my pulse is more touchy I stay at about 70-75 BPM unless I just ran up and down the stairs or something. My cardiologist gave me the clear to stop taking that med, YAY! Every day I am getting better and better at such a miraculous rate now, it's so uplifting! I can also contribute the following symptoms to that med as they have all significantly cleared up or disappeared since stopping it: - Vertigo - Nausea - Diarrhea - Auras - Migraines - Light "haze" in vision - Jittery/anxiety feeling - Skin crawling - Sweats, I had to shower twice a day because I was sweating so badly - Insomnia So if you're really feeling horrible don't assume that you have to live with it. There are other drugs you can try, or as in my case, drugs you may be taking that aren't needed. Be your own advocate and push until they help you find a solution! The nurses kept telling me I just had to live with what I was going through, they had no solutions for me, I refused to accept that. Random thought #2... Scary thoughts and their uselessness All the things I was afraid of never came to be, and I was surprised about what my real struggles would be. I was terrified at the prospect of a racing or abnormal pulse, it consumed me, it never came to be. I wasted hours upon hours ruminating over something that never happened. I never expected though that my pain management would be so difficult, I mean how long have pain meds been around?? Yet everything they tried made no real difference for me, except for NSAIDs which of course they didn't want me taking because of the Warfarin. I ended up taking the Aleve and ibuprofen while we carefully monitored my INR just for sheer survival. I was also terrified of the BIG BEATING HEART. You hear a lot of people complain about how their heart beats so heavily and loudly since the pericardium sac around the heart has been cut open, I was convinced this would keep me up at nights while I listened for my new heart valve to break. It almost makes me laugh now because it seems so silly. I have no BIG BEATING HEART at night, it's the same as it's always been, and it's certainly not keeping me up at night. So whatever the little voices in your head are telling you today, I say you tell them to shut up, they are merely robbing you of the peace and joy of this day! Random thought #3... "The Girls" I found spagetti strap tank tops with sewed in cups at Target and have worn them every day, they contain "the girls" nicely while staying away from my incision. I love them. Random thought #4... Warfarin Three weeks in and my INR is only 1.1 on 6 mgs of Warfarin, they just upped me to 8 mgs 3 X's a week until next Monday, apparently I have sludge for blood. Coumadin clinics are hard to find by me, I went to the closest hospital and they actually drew blood out of my arm, I told the nurse that if I had to keep doing that I would look like a junkie in no time. I found a clinic about 30 miles away that I will be going to from now on. Random thought #5... surgery cost I've seen several people ask about the cost of this surgery, so far I have received the "facilities" bill (for 3.5 days) which includes the room, radiology, labs, recovery room and stuff like that, this does not include any doctors. $92,505.27 Random thought #6... Periods I pretty much skipped the one I should have had a week from surgery and haven't had one yet, any women interested should remind me in a few weeks to talk about how that goes on the blood thinners. Random thought #7... "Pump head" My attention span is pretty short, but I attribute that more to the pain and weird sleeping patterns than anything else. No "pump head" as far as I can tell, this doesn't seem to be a thing that hits everyone. Random thought #8.. Exercise I feel and felt from the beginning like I could walk forever, if it hadn't been for the stupid migraines I think I would have progressed much further than I did today. I had short breath for the first week, but that resolved very quickly along with the pain in my lungs. Really, lung function was almost not even a thought for me, so again, everyone is different. This was not at all an issue for me, I graduated from the spirometer VERY quickly. The chest pain however makes my upper body pretty much useless, even walking the weight of my arms is too much sometimes. The pec muscles scream at me all the time. So that's my brain dump, if anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them. So much has happened in such a short amount of time it's hard to decide what people care about or want to hear, and what they don't. Good thoughts to all of you pending or just going through surgery, I really hope yours goes as well as mine did!!! XOXOX