John's Posts

BAD,BAD DAY! Well we all have some ups and downs. I hit the down part of recovery on Wednesday the 27th. The day started with a lower than normal blood pressure. I went for my morning walk and the cold air started to cause pain in my right lung. It was about 32 degrees f outside. My lungs are always fine at that temp. So, that was strange. About 6p.m. my vision went blurry for about ten seconds and then corrected itself. No big deal, right?? Well,about 10 pm I was hit with what I thought was the sudden onset of the flu. Strong nausea, very dizzy, followed by weakness and blurry vision. The worst thing? I suddenly couldn't hear my mechanical valve. Th ticking had stopped!!! My wife called the ambulance and off we went to the ER. We spent the night going through multiple blood tests, two CT scans, 1 xray, and last but not least 3 new IVs. They found a large amount of fluid around my heart (effusion) and a little around my lungs. Yesterday, the 29th was my two week anniversary for my BAV replacement and aneurysm graft. I spent the day by going back to the OR being put under and having the fluid drained. I was given the arterial line and and chest tube (drain). The only good news is that they didn't put in a central line in my neck nor did I get the dreaded catheter. They removed just under a liter of fluid from around my heart and will use lasix to take care of the lungs. So, here I sit back in ICU with all of my friends (staff). It'll be another 2 to 3 days before I can go home. I want to encourage all of you...if you suddenly aren't feeling well GET IT CHECKED OUT FAST. I ended up struggling to breath about 1 hour before they drained the fluid. It could've been fatal. So, PLEASE do not blow off any symptoms. Don't downplay anything. Get everything checked out. Things can go downhill fast. I'm doing well now and even walked a little bit. Talk to all of you later!