Aftermath: Thank God for Insurance....

Thank God for healing, and for insurance! I got a totalled bill from Mayo Clinic today - not just the $60,000-some surgery/6 day stay, but also additional charges that were tallied in the hospital and from my 12/28/07 'second opinion' exam. Cost: $86,000.00-some-odd dollars. Only $1,600 something pending with the insurance company, "my bill due" thus far: $30. We all need that kind of insurance, man.
I went to an all-art staff meeting today; my colleagues were wonderful. One brought a lounge chair so that I could "rest" during the meeting! I have gone from a beginning attitude of "I just want to crawl off somewhere and do this without having a lot of attention called to myself" to "wow these people take such great care of me and it's OK!". Blessings, all....
Pondering a Valentine's Day card to serve as my usual Christmas greeting, which was missed in the rush of all of this....watch for it soon!

The End and the Beginning

It's February 1 - Wear Red for Heart Day, and one month since my aortic valve replacement surgery! One month ago today I ate orange jello, had a glass of New Year's Champagne (the one I couldn't have when I work up from surgery on New Year's Eve), and walked down the hall from the ICU to the cardiac step-down room that was my home for the next 5 days.
Today, I'm showered, dressed, and ready to go outside and DRIVE (my first driving day!) and run a few errands. My incision is healed well on the top, with just about an inch and a half of scab left on the lower portion. The "X"s from the tubes have healed over. My chest is still sore, also my right arm (especially if I try to get my arms up over my head), but time and more inner healing will take care of that. I can hear my valve ticking from time to time, sharply if I take in a very deep breath and hold it; that heart is strong. Xena is still fascinated with the ticking and perches on my chest to purr each night.
I go to sleep sitting up, but end up sliding down to reclining by morning. On my side is still uncomfortable
I've been working at my curriculum job; hours on the computer and phone (probably not great for the arm!), but can officially go back to my CLASSROOM on February 11.
Alpha and Omega. Beginning and End. No more do I have to go to every-three-month echocardiograms, and have the cardiologist ask me, worriedly, "Are you SURE you're feeling OK?" No more do I have to wonder if I'll be able to make an upcoming event, because I might have to go have the surgery. No more do I listen to my heart thud and swoosh at night, and wonder "when"? End of the old valve; beginning of the new. Now my heart ticks crisply. It actually works better, I am told, than many hearts my age with their original parts! When I can hear it I am amazed and thankful at being here, being alive. What a gift, to be aware of one's life! It's the beginning of a whole new era for me; one of not having to worry about an always-impending surgery, of feeling always like a miracle. It's a new era of gratefulness, appreciation and hope.
I'll end my heart surgery blog here - at the beginning of my new life. Thank you for your support, your prayers, your interest and for following along with me. I'll post a few photos yet, and then move on. My heart (!) goes out to you all, and God bless you!

Dancing and Dining / Having Hope and Having Heart

I found myself on the dance floor Saturday night, boogying away to the Stones and having a great time, thinking "I am dancing!! I'm dancing with my new heart valve! This is awesome!" I was tempted to grab the microphone and tell the world: "This is my first time dancing with my new valve!!" but I refrained....nonetheless, it was splendid. The experience fit in well with the hope and excitement generated from the hundreds of progressive citizens at the Blue State Ball, as we celebrated our political representatives and candidates and reveled in the optimism of the upcoming election ("January, 2009: The End of an Error!") Not to mention seeing Lola Perpich on her birthday, hearing Amy Klobuchar, our freshman senator, and other Minnesota DFL congressional workers. All that and DANCING WITH MY NEW VALVE! and HAVING A GLASS OF WINE! Wow!
On the ride home (still in the backseat until Feb 1, when I can drive), an incredible large orange moon rose up in the sky. I quite literally cried in gratitude. What a night! How great to be alive!
This afternoon, Pat and I went up to the New Scenic Cafe. I really wanted to get out on a sunny day that was actually WARM and have a fabulous dinner...Scott Graden's food just can't be beat. We sat in the sunny, art-filled room, overlooking a very non-frozen Lake Superior, enjoying amazing artichoke dip, I with fresh greens with balsamic and grilled, pistachio-crusted goat cheese, and Pat with a chocolate-mole' draped pork tenderloin...wow. Somehow, neither one of us calculated that it was the beginning of the annual John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon, which we figured out as we tried to get home -- every conceivable route was blocked! We finally cut up the Lester River Road, out in the country, through throngs of people waiting to cheer on the mushers in temperate January air at the first checkpoint. We avoided most of the crowds, but did get stopped as one group of mushers crossed over the highway...it was great to see them! Huffing, happy dogs, harnesses jangling in the sunlight, loping along - all I could think was "these dogs have heart" -- to run a 400 mile marathon in January! "Having heart" - phrases like that now get pulled away from my usual speech and refiled and analyzed in my brain...what does it mean, really, to "have heart"?
Sisu, the Finns would say - stick-to-it-tivity, the ability to overcome all odds to succeed - isn't that having heart? Chutzpah, maybe.
Having heart.
What a blessing.
Wow.

New Parts and All

Well, life A.V. (After Valve) appears to be normalizing and going well. I am home-checking my INR (the number on a blood test that determins if I have sufficient anti-coagulant in my bloodstream to keep any clots from forming on the valve), and that is going well so far. Still have a little cough. There's a sore spot in my lower back from coughing....the doc says it's just muscle strain from the cough. I am going to sleep sitting up, but waking up slid-down in the bed. Still not really comfortable to sleep laying down or on my side.
People have been wonderfully, amazingly generous with rides, time, checking in, etc. I keep thinking of the "village" concept - the care of so many others who have thought, prayed, helped, checked in through all of this. It makes me feel incredibly loved; after something that I really didn't want to "bother" people with.
It's hard to not think of all of this in the moments that I hear that little ticking sound....
I should be good for another 500,000 miles....

Three Weeks with a New Valve! and ticking!

Well, it's been three weeks (yesterday) since my valve replacement surgery!
The incision is nearly healed. The whole top part is sealed over; there's still some scabby stuff on the lower few inches. It's a bit itchy, which tells me it is healing well. I hope the two 'X's where the drainage tubes were stay - it's kind of cool to have "X's"
I still have a little deep barky cough. The Rehab lady said there's a little bit of liquid in my left lung, and to keep using Voldemort for breathing exercises. It does get better every day. I kind of have two layers of breath; a normal one, and a 'deep' one for yawning and coughing which goes down into a bigger range. I am scared to death to sneeze! and have surpressed a sneeze more than once..one of these days it's going to catch me, though!
Xena really seems to love my 'ticking'. She will lay as close to my chest as she can and just purr. Pat wonders if she thinks I am purring? I can't usually hear the tick, but sometimes I am aware of it. It's not unpleasant at all - I was worried at first that it would drive me crazy, like an Edgar Allen Poe story... But its really just a little pleasant click.
My skin looks oddly good...wondering if the improved blood flow is making an impact?
Trying to get out at least once a day....
Will keep you posted!

Itemized Statement of Charges

OK...did you log in your best guess for the bill? Go down a couple of posts before you look at this:

Now, there may be other bills that I don't have yet, but the 9-pager that arrived this week, a mere three days after I left the hospital, was a grand total of (drumroll please....) $60,998.79!!
(I paid $49,500 for our house in 1993....)

A few of the interesting itemizations:
Night in the ICU - $2,935
Actual valve replacement - $19,450
The valve itself - St. Jude's Regent Flex 21m $6,525
Arterial blood gas - $980
Respiratory service resuscitation bag $35
A whole variety of different types of sutures: silk, vicryl, prolene, "ethibond", etc, from $2 to $25
Intermediate care room - $1975 per night
2 D/M/ Mode Echo Extensive $930
and
tons of drips, drugs...etc....

So who's our winning guesser??

Cardiac Rehab - Not Just for Old Men....

Today was the first day of Cardiac Rehab. A nice 30-something named Jody (former student of Barb Steen's) walked me through heart healing and function, discussing everything from pressure gradients to circulation to exercise physiology to the effect of salt on getting liquids out of the body. Then - we were off! The bike felt stiff, but great. Jody cut me off at 10 minutes. I got to use a sort of 'reclining Stairmaster' for another 10.
He was pretty surprised that I had not had symptoms from the damaged valve; and attributed it to my general cardiac health. My angiogram was "great".
The coughing/choking will continue for a bit, and apparently Voldemort will be my 'best bud' for awhile....
More rehab next week, plus meetings with the exercise physiologist, nutritionist, and relaxation specialist...mmmm, now that sounds pretty good.
I was a little worried about what was behind the big CARDIAC REHAB door, envisioning a bunch of older men (you know, the ones you see in the Viagra commercials) huffing away with monitors attached. I guess I should not have been surprised to see a variety of ages of men and women, even some younger than myself.
Just another reminder that heart patients come in all shapes, sizes and ages...
Jody cautioned me again on lifting/pulling and the healing of my sternum. He said there are probably 4 wires holding it all together...no wonder I'm so creaky!!