Dad and his support team met with Dr Musselman (the cardiologist) this morning to discuss the results of last week's TEE diagnostic test. The reader might recall that it was the impression of Doctor Huang (who administered the test) that the outcome was positive.
And today, Dr. Musselman confirmed that finding. In spades!
The new pacemaker and the third lead to the ventricle have improved the pumping performance of the heart and reduced the mitral valve regurgitation to moderate from severe. He does not recommend surgery at this time. Dad is to go back for a checkup in four months. And of course, call if the symptoms worsen.
Big smiles all around!
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Monday, May 18, 2015
And Now for Some GOOD NEWS!!!
As has been noted, Dad has been feeling improved since receiving new pacemaker with the defibrillator and third lead to the left ventricle. He saw Dr. Musselman, his cardiologist last week who thought it was time to do another Transesophageal Echocardiogram and take a look at how the heart is performing.
Remember that the TEE is a test where a sensor is inserted down the esophagus where it can get super close to the bottom of the heart and get a much better image of how the heart is functioning. It was the TEE exam in early February that showed the severe leakage in the mitral valve that was to be surgically repaired.
It was a foggy early morning in Dallas today as we drove through the grey darkness to the hospital. Walnut Hill Medical is a brand new, tiny, private hospital adjacent to the Texas Healthcare Presbyterian Hospital (yeah, the one famous for Ebola.) Dad barely had time to complain about the wait before they came to take him away and the test was over quickly.
The results were much improved today. The leakage was less severe, mitigated by the stronger impulses generated by the new lead from the pacemaker. One of the acute symptoms Dad was feeling when all this started was waking up at night in a panic caused by the poor blood flow and resulting loss of oxygen. He has been sleeping through the night since coming home from the hospital.
Dr. Huang, who is the TEE specialist and who performed the earlier test said the improvement was significant. and in her judgment put the need for mitral valve surgery in question. If Dad is feeling better, is the major surgery worth the risk and hardship at his age?
Dad will meet with Dr. Musselman in the coming weeks and they will make the final decision. But for now Dad just intends to party on!
Remember that the TEE is a test where a sensor is inserted down the esophagus where it can get super close to the bottom of the heart and get a much better image of how the heart is functioning. It was the TEE exam in early February that showed the severe leakage in the mitral valve that was to be surgically repaired.
It was a foggy early morning in Dallas today as we drove through the grey darkness to the hospital. Walnut Hill Medical is a brand new, tiny, private hospital adjacent to the Texas Healthcare Presbyterian Hospital (yeah, the one famous for Ebola.) Dad barely had time to complain about the wait before they came to take him away and the test was over quickly.
The results were much improved today. The leakage was less severe, mitigated by the stronger impulses generated by the new lead from the pacemaker. One of the acute symptoms Dad was feeling when all this started was waking up at night in a panic caused by the poor blood flow and resulting loss of oxygen. He has been sleeping through the night since coming home from the hospital.
Dr. Huang, who is the TEE specialist and who performed the earlier test said the improvement was significant. and in her judgment put the need for mitral valve surgery in question. If Dad is feeling better, is the major surgery worth the risk and hardship at his age?
Dad will meet with Dr. Musselman in the coming weeks and they will make the final decision. But for now Dad just intends to party on!
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Hearsay
Just got a message from Helen: She went with Dad to the cardiologist (Dr. Musselman) today. He wants another TEE, so Dad's scheduled for Monday. They don't mess around when it comes to prompt scheduling.
I talked to Dad this morning: He said Musselman was pleased that Dad has evidently improved since they put the second lead in his Pacemaker; perhaps that has relieved the burden on the iffy valve.
Dad always went to his regular doctor, Dave Wiggins, who said Dad was in amazing health for his age. So Dad was feeling pretty pumped. (No heart pun intended.) As well he should.
I talked to Dad this morning: He said Musselman was pleased that Dad has evidently improved since they put the second lead in his Pacemaker; perhaps that has relieved the burden on the iffy valve.
Dad always went to his regular doctor, Dave Wiggins, who said Dad was in amazing health for his age. So Dad was feeling pretty pumped. (No heart pun intended.) As well he should.
Monday, May 4, 2015
Heading Into May
Once again it's been a couple of weeks since the last post and that's a good thing. Dad's feeling pretty good and is getting back to his old schedule, working out five days a week several dinners out with friends every week, not to mention his church activities. It's enough to tire a young man out.
He saw the pacemaker doctor last week. Everything looks good and they are starting him back on Coumadin (blood thinner.) At some point I suspect they will talk about mitral valve replacement, but as of now he does not have an appointment with his cardiologist.
The important thing is that he is feeling better. After his last doctor visit I asked him if he was feeling better. He said he was but that he still gets tired very easily.
I asked him if he remembered how exhausted and out of breath he was when he bent over to tie his shoes when we saw the surgeon and scheduled the valve replacement. From that day's blog entry:
In addition to the shortness of breath, the other major symptom of mitral regurgitation is waking up at night unable to breath. Dad described it as waking up panicked. (Because the ventricle can't push the blood all the way through the valve, the valve lies open when in the horizontal position. Blood can't get to the lung and oxygen can't get to the body.) I asked him he was sleeping better. He said yes, he was not waking up panicked.
The sum of these points is that the third lead to the ventricle has improved, if not cured the leaky valve. That will give him the full time necessary to recover from the two surgeries. That should take at least a couple of months.
So now we're making plans for his 90th birthday celebration in June. Should be a glorious affair. If you're reading this, consider yourself invited!
Mary was in town this weekend. Here's a picture of her and Dad standing on the spot in the garden where we buried Mom's ashes, so I guess she's in the picture too.
He saw the pacemaker doctor last week. Everything looks good and they are starting him back on Coumadin (blood thinner.) At some point I suspect they will talk about mitral valve replacement, but as of now he does not have an appointment with his cardiologist.
The important thing is that he is feeling better. After his last doctor visit I asked him if he was feeling better. He said he was but that he still gets tired very easily.
I asked him if he remembered how exhausted and out of breath he was when he bent over to tie his shoes when we saw the surgeon and scheduled the valve replacement. From that day's blog entry:
"The most important factor is that Dad wants to proceed. He was out of breath after bending over and tying one shoe.Dad said he remembered and I asked him if still got that exhausted and frustrated and he said, "No."
"All I know is that I just can't go on like this!"
In addition to the shortness of breath, the other major symptom of mitral regurgitation is waking up at night unable to breath. Dad described it as waking up panicked. (Because the ventricle can't push the blood all the way through the valve, the valve lies open when in the horizontal position. Blood can't get to the lung and oxygen can't get to the body.) I asked him he was sleeping better. He said yes, he was not waking up panicked.
The sum of these points is that the third lead to the ventricle has improved, if not cured the leaky valve. That will give him the full time necessary to recover from the two surgeries. That should take at least a couple of months.
So now we're making plans for his 90th birthday celebration in June. Should be a glorious affair. If you're reading this, consider yourself invited!
Mary was in town this weekend. Here's a picture of her and Dad standing on the spot in the garden where we buried Mom's ashes, so I guess she's in the picture too.
Tuesday, April 21, 2015
On Dad's Being Tired
In my experience it takes at least 4-6 weeks after surgery to regain a sense of normal strength. I've read the true length of time after anesthesia is six months for full recovery. It's gotta be longer for a nonagenarian!
Dad had back-to-back two hour surgeries just three weeks ago. And before that he was flat on his back for week with a major infection of his whole body. Then he was confined to his apartment for two weeks with rehab sessions twice a week which exhausted him.
Yeah, I guess he's tired!!!
I think he's supposed to be tired!
But he's continually surprised. And angered. And determined to go on with his life.
Damn Straight, I say. Full-speed ahead!
Dad had back-to-back two hour surgeries just three weeks ago. And before that he was flat on his back for week with a major infection of his whole body. Then he was confined to his apartment for two weeks with rehab sessions twice a week which exhausted him.
Yeah, I guess he's tired!!!
I think he's supposed to be tired!
But he's continually surprised. And angered. And determined to go on with his life.
Damn Straight, I say. Full-speed ahead!
Monday, April 20, 2015
Looks Like There's Some Catching Up To Do
I was certainly surprised to see that the last post was entered right after we met with the surgeons after they installed his new pacemaker. Sorry about that!
He did not have a peaceful night as expected. He was extremely uncomfortable and he couldn't move his left arm without a pain. And with good reason. The sight of the incision was extremely swollen and surrounded by dark hematoma. Evidently he had been bleeding around the pacemaker. They wound up taking him back into surgery that afternoon and took a couple of hours cauterizing every tiny blood vessel they could find and packed the incision with a tight compression bandage. They must have done a good job, Dad felt better immediately. Everything was in good order the next morning and eventually Dad was discharged.
That was about three weeks ago and Dad is still doing fine. He is still recovering his strength and is going back to his exercise classes, but is still using a cane for dizziness and wobbly legs. We talked about today. Some of the Parkinson's meds that he is no longer taking were for dizziness and wobbliness and he thinks that is the cause. He will ask his neurologist about it on his next visit. Of course the other theory is that he just needs to regain his strength and endurance after almost a month of inactivity.
Today we saw Dr. D, the pacemaker specialist and the new device is working fine. The ventricle seems stronger. The incision site has swollen again, but there is no pain and no hematoma. He'll see Dr. D in another week and see what's up. The wound itself is just about healed.
No talk of rescheduling the valve surgery yet. They want to give him plenty of time to adjust to the new pacemaker and fully recover from the surgery.
He did get the new bedside pacemaker communicator. They hooked up the wires and checked it out. All Dad has to do is plug it into the telephone and plug into the electrical outlet. He'll take the old unit back to Dr. D on his visit next week.
And that's the latest!
He did not have a peaceful night as expected. He was extremely uncomfortable and he couldn't move his left arm without a pain. And with good reason. The sight of the incision was extremely swollen and surrounded by dark hematoma. Evidently he had been bleeding around the pacemaker. They wound up taking him back into surgery that afternoon and took a couple of hours cauterizing every tiny blood vessel they could find and packed the incision with a tight compression bandage. They must have done a good job, Dad felt better immediately. Everything was in good order the next morning and eventually Dad was discharged.
That was about three weeks ago and Dad is still doing fine. He is still recovering his strength and is going back to his exercise classes, but is still using a cane for dizziness and wobbly legs. We talked about today. Some of the Parkinson's meds that he is no longer taking were for dizziness and wobbliness and he thinks that is the cause. He will ask his neurologist about it on his next visit. Of course the other theory is that he just needs to regain his strength and endurance after almost a month of inactivity.
Today we saw Dr. D, the pacemaker specialist and the new device is working fine. The ventricle seems stronger. The incision site has swollen again, but there is no pain and no hematoma. He'll see Dr. D in another week and see what's up. The wound itself is just about healed.
No talk of rescheduling the valve surgery yet. They want to give him plenty of time to adjust to the new pacemaker and fully recover from the surgery.
He did get the new bedside pacemaker communicator. They hooked up the wires and checked it out. All Dad has to do is plug it into the telephone and plug into the electrical outlet. He'll take the old unit back to Dr. D on his visit next week.
And that's the latest!
Thursday, April 2, 2015
ACTION THURSDAY
We checked into the Walnut Hill Medical Center right at 6am and at 7:35 they wheeled Dad off to the OR. Dr D expects it will take two to three hours to install the new pacemaker/defibrillator.
I'm not sure that another cup of coffee is what I need right now, but...
Now it's 11:44. Helen and I have met with Dr. D and Dad's in recovery. The surgery went well. Evidently it was a little tricky threading the wiring through the blood vessels, but it's securely in place. He now has a defibrillator so if the heart slows down it will zap it back. He x should be discharged Friday morning.
Then we'll see what happens next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)