More about me.

 "A day without sunshine is like, you know, night." Steve Martin

We had a very long week beginning Monday the 7th of April. 

Over the weekend leading up to that day I had an unusal amount of chest pain (angina) that was occasionally relieved by the use of nitroglycerin (sub-lingual) and a longer acting version that I take twice daily. The Aortic valve replacement I mentioned in my last post was scheduled for the morning of the 8th. Monday afternoon and evening I was not obtaining any relief from using the nitro tablets. By 8:00 p.m. it had become so intense that I called 911 and the paramedics were dispatched.

They came and did their assessment determining that it did not appear that I was having a heart attack. We explained that I was scheduled for an aortic valve replacement the next morning and asked if they would transport me to Utah Valley Hospital so they could examine me and monitor the difficulty through the night. Since they determined that there was not an emergency situation they would transport me to that facility. On the way they administered 2 doses of pain relief that helped somewhat and they also communicated with the emergency department that they were transporting me to their facility.

We arrived at about 9:00 p.m. and the emergency personelle took over. Long story short, I ended up in the Cath-lab that night with the on call doctor who had just worked on my heart a few weeks earlier. He found no other blockages and was in and out of my heart arteries pretty quickly. 

My family members who had followed the ambulance to the ER went to their various homes after I had been settled into the ICU for the night.

The TAVR (TransAortic Valve Replacement) occurred Tuesday morning and all was well. Back to the ICU for that day and night. The overnight RN who cared for me mentioned that there was a brief rhythm issue about a half hour prior to her coming check vitals and surgical sites. 

She mentioned the skipped beats to me and indicated that she would be closely monitoring my heart beat for the remaining hours of the early morning. It seemed to have settled into normal rhythm through the remaining overnight.

That did change during the daylight hours and we met with the cardiac electrician that afternoon. He gave me a couple options to be monitored - one in the hospital and one at home. We chose home but the plan changed as the condition worsened over the next hours. and we went back to the Cath-lab with the same physician who placed the new valve to place a temporary (Transvenous) pacemaker through my jugular vein. 

Something happened when the first one was placed and it somehow bent and cracked. The second one I apparently tore at while coming out of sedation. Finally the third was successful.

The next morning the cardiac electrician ( Dr. Wang) placed a permanent pacemaker and removed the temporary. All was well once again. A few more hours in the ICU and then we were moved from ICU to a more general care floor. 

4 times sedated and entry made into this old body nearly wore me out. My sweetheart and daughters didn't fare any better than I, but they did get to sleep in their own beds each night (Cindy stayed with me the night of the temporary pacemaker placement). 

We returned home on Friday afternoon and settled in for a restful weekend. No complications since (so far) and I feel great. My hope is that I can return to work in a few weeks. 

I'm not sure I have words to express the gratitude I feel toward the nurses who cared for me. Their professionalism, knowledge, and kindness blow me away whenever I think of the care I received. The truly amazing thing to me is that they each have their own life concerns (family, relationships, personal health), yet they put those troubles aside and care for their charges above and beyond expectations.

More to come soon. Thanks for checking in. See you soon.