Tag Archives: cardiologist

Monday – Five Weeks Post-op

Posted on by MaryO

day-mon

Today went pretty well.  DH did some computer work with an employee.  After about 2 hours, DH rested his eyes for a bit while the other guy finished up.

I took the opportunity to go out to do some grocery shopping.  Exciting stuff!

A few phone calls, then DH napped some more – a bit of computer and you know the rest!

Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies

Girl Scout Thin Mint cookies (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Sometime before this adventure started, DH had ordered 2 boxes of Girl Scout cookies.

Those arrived this evening and DH said he’d have “just one”.

I didn’t check how many he had but I saw that 4 (the typical serving size for Thin Mints) is 125 mg of sodium.  Possible trouble looming.

Maybe I’ll have to sacrifice myself and eat them all first 🙂

day-tues

Today was a pretty good day.  DH actually did some more work got a testimony ready to file, then some napping.  He went out with a friend to meet some others and actually had half a cup of coffee for the first time since surgery.

While he was out, I went to bell rehearsal to sub for someone else.  A very odd feeling to be subbing in my own group but they’re getting ready for a festival and someone has to ring my position – and it can’t be me.  I won’t be able to be away overnight for a while.

It was nice to be back, even briefly 🙂

day-wed

Up early in the morning for the stress test on the treadmill at the cardiologist.  I dropped DH off at the front door.  By the time I’d parked and gotten upstairs, he was already hooked up to the monitors but they wouldn’t let me go in.

Apparently, he passed with flying colors, all the way up to a 7% grade so he can start cardiac rehab as soon as we can get it set up!

On the way home, we saw my mom out walking so pulled over to say hello.  She was on her way to the library.  She had an appointment with her oncologist next Wednesday and she had been dithering about changing that in case DH’s rehab was on Wednesday mornings.  I told her not to change it – she might change TO the rehab date.  As it turned out, the oncologist had cancelled her.  Problem solved.

We decided to be brave and went to Bob Evans for breakfast.  DH did fairly ok with veggie omelet, egg beaters, fruit plate and dry whole wheat toast.  Another step in getting out into the real world again…

day-thurs

Last night didn’t go well.  I tossed and turned all night.  DH started trying to sleep in our room and went to the recliner about 1:00am, then back to the room about 4:00am.  About 8:00am he was in the recliner again so I guess he didn’t sleep well, either.

The day was like most days – a lot of napping and working.

DH called rehab and he can’t start for 2 weeks.  A bit disappointing 😦

I cleaned out our pantry and got rid of all the canned foods with sodium in them.  I took some to my mom, then took the rest to church to send to Western Fairfax Christian Ministries.

I went to church choir.  They’re getting ready for Holy Week and Easter so there’s lots of new music to learn.  I’m starting to feel less mole-like.

day-fri

Another lazy day.  We were going to go to the mall to walk but work and naps got in the way.

DH is sitting in his recliner listening to some app that will teach him Spanish.

Our son came home and DH actually went with me to Union Station to pick him up from the train.  I parked as close as I could so it was a short walk to the escalator, then another walk, another escalator and a longer walk.

DH was hungry so we went to get some Jamba Juice.  Even though the store was open, they said that they were cleaning up and closed.  DH went into Starbucks against my better judgement and got some kind of strawberry muffin thing.

On the way home, he wanted to go to McDonalds so I went through the drive-through and got 3 shamrock shakes, a grilled chicken sandwich for DH and a quarter pounder, no cheese for me.

Going out into the world is going to wreck all my careful food planning over the last 4 weeks!

day-sat
I woke up at 4:00am with a raging headache, possibly from that shamrock shake.  I’m not used to all that sugar any more 😦  It’s too bad – that’s about the only thing I really like(d) at Mickey D’s.  Oh, well.

At 11 we had our first Mended Hearts meeting.  That went pretty well.  I actually talked some – DH, of course, talked more.  I found it ironic that the snacks included no coffee but the raffle gift was a coffee cup.  HMMM…

It was good listening to other patients and caregivers talking about some of the issues we’ve gone through.

day-sun

 

Today was a take-it-easy day, a bit of TV, napping and playing piano duets with our son.  At night, we took him back to the train station.  Later, DH said that his chest was hurting a bit, probably from so much walking in the train today and Friday and the walking through the parking garage and hospital on Saturday.

Hopefully, a little Tylenol will help.

Next report next Monday…

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Monday – Four Weeks Post-Op

Posted on by MaryO

This is the first of the timeline posts that I’m actually writing more or less as they happen!

day-mon

Last Monday, Feb 18 was the first visit with the cardiologist.  Getting there was a bit of a problem but the appointment itself went smoothly.

We got into the inner sanctum and a very nice nurse named Lisa took down DH’s info.  It worked out well that we hadn’t finished all the paperwork since she had lots of info fron the hospital, anyway.

She took DH’s blood pressure and oxygen levels (both good), then took the bags of meds and vitamins away for cataloging.

The doctor came in and asked some of the same questions as everyone else about how he was eating, sleeping, exercise, swelling, pain.  He listened to DH’s heart and lungs and everything sounded good.  He checked the legs for swelling…none.

We made 2 more appointments – one for a low-stress treadmill next week and one with him for three months out.  There’s also bloodwork to be done before the treadmill. After passing the treadmill test, DH can start rehab.  Yea!

When we got home, there was a call from the PCP’s lab.  DH called back but had just missed them.

day-tues
DH slept in the bed and out of the recliner for several hours last night.  Another step forward!

DH finally got through to the PCP’s lab and the cholesterol numbers were excellent.  Hooray!  Other numbers such as liver enzymes were good, too.

day-wed
DH did some work today, with several naps in between. I got the car taken care of. He got the disher unloaded and reloaded – with resting afterwards.

He decided to start off the night sleeping in bed and made it until about 4:00 am. He said that there was no pain but he would be more comfortable in the recliner.
day-thurs
DH spent most of the morning working (at home) on a proposal, then most of the afternoon napping.  Most of the pain seems gone – hooray! Evening there was a short meeting with a nap before and after.  Then, dinner and another nap before bed.

He started out for about an hour in bed, then back to the recliner for the rest of the night.

He doesn’t seem to cough nearly as much. Hooray!

day-fri

Friday through Sunday – lots of napping, trying to sleep or nap in the bed but usually winding up in the recliner.

day-sun

 

It was a nice day so we took the dog outside for a very short walk…followed by more napping.  DH is looking forward to the treadmill test on Wednesday so he can start the rehab soon.

Another Not-So-Stellar Monday

Posted on by MaryO

Monday

This Monday, February 18, started off just fine.  The problems started when DH tried to fill out the online forms for the cardiologist.  He tried 4 times.  The form never saved, the continue button didn’t continue, the information was lost each time.

So, we decided to go at 2PM for the 3:30 appointment to allow plenty of time to fill out the forms in the office.

We gathered up a bag of meds, a bag of vitamins, all the medical records and got into the car.  The car wouldn’t start.  The horn, radio and lights worked so it’s probably not the battery.

We called a friend who was unavailable but she called her husband who came and picked us and all our stuff up. We headed out Route 66 and traffic was slow, especially for heading east on a holiday.  There was an accident at the 495 exit so we got off an exit early and went that way.

We got to the appointment at 2:45 – plenty of time.  Except that it turned out that the appointment was in a different office.  DH had made the appointment for the office 10 minutes away from our house and had forgotten.

So…we gathered up all that stuff and called a cab.  The driver got there in about 10 minutes and we got in.  First thing I noticed – the driver had cologne on.  Instant headache for me.

He went a way I wouldn’t have gone, possibly to raise the rate, or not.  We got to the Fair Oaks office – right next to the ER where this adventure started 3 weeks ago – by 3:20PM, early for the appointment.

DH got the forms filled out in record time.

Tomorrow, I deal with my car, after my headache is completely gone.

Monday – 3 Weeks Post-op

Posted on by MaryO

I’ve decided to do a sort of timeline in case anyone is interested.  This is all from memory so future posts should be more accurate.

Week Zero, January 28, 2013 was the actual CABG surgery.  The hospital experience  can be found here.

DH came home on Thursday of that week and the first visiting nurse arrived on Saturday. Luckily, DS was able to stay until Sunday and he was a big help.

DH wasn’t allowed to lift any more than 5 pounds, so couldn’t raise himself out of bed.  He slept on a recliner in the living room and either DS or I slept on the sofa in case he needed any meds or help during the night.

Week One, February 4, 2013, one week from surgery.

The visiting nurse came twice and is pleased with wound healing.  Blood pressure is sometimes low.  The nurse thought he should have more fluids.  One lobe of the lung isn’t working to capacity and she wants more use of the incentive spirometers.  DH has two types from the hospital – the traditional one and one that our dog thinks looks like a dog toy that she should have.

incentive spirometer

Week Two, February 11, 2013 two weeks from surgery.  DH continues to lose weight.  He’s still sleeping in the recliner and I’m still on the sofa but there is much less getting up at night.

The Oxycodone is down to half pills much less often than prescribed.

The first (and only) visit to the surgeon’s office this week.  We saw her nurse practitioner who was very impressed with how DH is doing as was his PCP.  The nurse practitioner was so pleased, she said we don’t have to go back unless there are any problems.

The PCP ran blood tests, glucose, liver enzymes, cholesterol and others.

We saw the visiting nurse twice.  She thought DH was doing so well that she discharged him on Thursday.

DH made a few phone calls this week, worked a little, had a visitor on Sunday.

Week Three, February 18, 2013, three weeks from surgery

DH slept in the bed for half the night last night and seems to be doing ok.  He still took a half Oxycodone this morning.

We see the cardiologist this afternoon.  That report will be in the Week Four post. I imagine that we’ll be talking about rehab at this appointment.

Weeks Four and Beyond will have their own posts.

From Johns Hopkins

Posted on by MaryO

VIDEO: Heart disease is American’s No. 1 killer. Learn how you can stay protected – and what symptoms you shouldn’t be ignoring.

Featuring cardiologist Dr. Daniel Schwartz of Johns Hopkins Community Physicians and Jeanmarie Gallagher, Manager, Cardiac Rehabilitation of Suburban Hospital.