John's Posts

Hello fellow heart patients. On January 20, 2025 I will have 2 years from my second open heart surgery. What I want to share is what I am doing since my AVR in 2014 and prior to and since my CABG in 2023. I am a volunteer at my local hospital, Texoma Medical Center in Denison, Texas. We have a group of volunteers called Heart Menders who have all had Open Heart Surgery…a AVRs and CABGs. We come in on the day of a person's surgery and assist in allaying their fears, answering any questions about their upcoming procedure and basically showing that they work. We also sit with their families during their surgery. We receive updates throughout the process and tell them where the procedure is at. We sit with them and are reassuring them throughout the process. When the procedure is finished we then take two family members to a consult room and they meet with the surgeon and get an update directly from them. After the patient is in the room and the CVICU staff has had the opportunity to get the patient secured and settled, we then take them to the room so they can at least their family member. We then continue to come by and visit them and be sure that all is progressing well. For me, it is very rewarding and I find that I am paying it forward by doing what we deem as a fulfilling task. Out hospital is ranked in the top 5 heart hospitals in Texas. We have three very outstanding thoracic surgeons: Dr. Robert Wilcott (founder of this valuable program, Dr. Vicky Chappell and Dr. Gregory Matter. Together these three surgeons have performed thousands of Valve Replacements (AVRs, and now TAVRs) as well as TCARS and CABGs. I, personally cannot say enough about how these three have saved lives. I am proud to be a member of this group and wish that other hospitals within our state and others would consider starting a program like this. It gives all parties a piece of mind knowing that someone who has experienced this type of procedure is there throughout the process to help them. I just felt the need to share this today as Christmas and a New Year are approaching. We need many to know that there is hope and a sense of joy in the life changing process that they have experience. God bless you all, wishing all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Onward and upward…😉 John

It's been 4 3/4 years since I posted on this site and is quite a long post. Quite a bit has happened to me since then so I thought I'd share a new part to my story. After our move to Denison, TX we were in an apartment and thought we were going to live the apartment life for a few years. But God had other plans for us, we purchased a beautiful 4 bedroom-3 bath home and have been enjoying it. Four years ago I began a new trek in life by volunteering at our local hospital, Texoma Medical Center, which is approximately 2 miles from our home. There are three wonderful thoracic surgeons who practice here with a fourth coming on over the next few. months. It is a great program that was started 25 years ago by one of the thoracic surgeons. The criteria for becoming a Heart ❤️ Mender is you have had to undergo open heart surgery. We volunteers visit patients prior to their surgery whether it is bypass or valve surgery. When we visit them we give them the opportunity to ask any questions of us. Our answers are to offer them the opportunity to see that the surgery works and we are living proof that. We also speak with any family members that are with them. We then have a desk in the surgery waiting area where we receive hourly updates on the surgery and inform the family of the progression. Once their loved one is brought to their room in the CVICU, we get permission from the nursing staff to bring them in for a short visit. The next day they have the pleasure of coming in and talking to the patient. It is a great program and I feel blessed to be able to participate in it. The families are also very appreciative because they are kept apprised of the surgery and it eases their minds. At the time of writing this I have 500+ hours of service. Now I get to the latest part of my journey. In June 2022 I had and ECHOcardiogram done and everything was diagnosed that my heart valve was functioning as it should be and my heart as a whole was looking great. Then in December 2022 I caught the dreaded COVID-19 after 2 years of my family members having had it 2-3 times. Even my PCP said I must be a superman to have avoided it for so long. After diagnosis I was prescribed Paxlovid which knocked it out in 5 days. I stayed quarantined for the recommended length of time. Then, lo and behold, I got it again. This time I couldn't get the medicine again because I have weak kidneys. So I quarantined again for 10 more days. After that bout I kept having pains in my chest. I was told it is probably an after effect of COVID, or muscular, or skeletal pain. But I knew it had to be something else. It's one of those feelings when you know your own body is saying something and you'd better check it out. My daughter works for my cardiologist so she spoke to him and they squeezed me in for an exam. I then had a CT scan and they found two blocked arteries that they didn't see in the previous ECHO. I was scheduled to have stents put in on January 27, 2023. One (the widow maker) was 75% blocked, the other 50%. Prior to the procedure the 2 cardiologists conferred and noticed that the blockage was too big for a stent and that they would tear 2 other arteries had they performed it. I then became a candidate for a CABG (Cardiovascular Arterial Bypass Grafting). On January 18 I was at a volunteer meeting at the hospital when suddenly I felt very strange. I lost the room, the person who was speaking, got nauseous, dizzy and very hot. Then it disappeared as fast as it occurred. I texted my daughter and told her something strange just happened to me and to ask at the office what should be done. My cardiologist was on duty at the ER - so the NP told her to get me to the ER STAT! she came to our conference room with a wheelchair and took me straight to the ER. Since my doctor was on duty, they took me right to a room. The nursing staff started working on me and my doctor came in with the ER doctor and they admitted me immediately. I was on the verge of a major heart attack and needed that bypass ASAP. I asked for one of the thoracic surgeons to be the one who performed the surgery. His schedule had an opening so he booked it. I then laid in the ER for what seemed like hours because there were no beds yet available. Then the charge nurse in CVICU (whom I know) heard I was in the ER. She told them that as a volunteer I was family. They had open beds and I was quickly transferred to the CVICU. Being a Heart Mender volunteer has its privileges. I was treated as a VIP. I just never thought I'd be on the other side. The next morning the thoracic surgeon came in and said my labs showed my heart needed some help. So, off I went into the cath lab and had a balloon pump placed in my femoral artery to give my heart some rest. Then on January 20 I was scheduled for my bypass. When they finally opened me up (mind you, second time in 8 years), they found 3 blockages. Since I had had vein ablations in my legs and ulnar nerve repair on my right arm, they had to get an artery and vein from my left radial. The third blockage was having an artery rerouted from my heart to function properly. So here I am just over 3 months from a surgery I never anticipated writing this. I am happy to report that I lost 40 pounds since surgery. I am doing well and enjoying my life. I've even been back on my Harley and completed my cardiac rehab. Now, I have a new story to add when I am volunteering. It really gives the patients more to see and understand that bypass surgery works well. This Heart ❤️ Mender program is great for us as volunteers - it is paying it forward, gives the patients some ease of their nervousness and keeps the families calm. I think other hospitals should institute programs like this. My wife absolutely loved being kept informed throughout the surgery by the Heart Mender on duty and the anesthesiologist whom I personally know because of my volunteering. She was especially pleased because she didn't hear anything for 6 hours during my valve replacement 8 years ago. If you've read to this point, thanks for putting up with such a long post. I'm just glad to still be here and to enjoy the next 25 years of my life. God bless - Onward & Upward!