BOB 2 WEEK FOLLOW-UP

Currently in Belton MO (Low 30 Partly Sunny High 55)

Almost immediately after being discharged from the hospital Bob was setup with Home Healthcare visits. There were a lot of different visits for Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, and Nurses. All of that was similar to what Bob experienced in 2012. An additional feature for Home Healthcare was a Telehealth visit where Bob got bluetooth scale, blood pressure and Pulse oximeter devices for daily monitoring automatically reported.

Bob was working on improving his stamina after his departure from the hospital and it's slow going. Two weeks after his departure from the hospital Bob had a follow-up appointment at the Mid-America Heart Institute.

Bob had a really good visit. It was the first time he was outside since he was brought home form the hospital. We were a little worried that since it was a long walk how Bob would handle it. Bob did remarkably well. Once in the office all the vitals  taken were really good. The best advice Bob has gotten throughout was from the Nurse Practitioner who said to try and measure progress weekly, not daily.

Progress is being made and the Home Healthcare visits are coming to an end and Cardiac Rehab is beginning the end of the month. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo

AVR SURGERY RECOVERY WAS ALL ABOUT "ALMOST"

Currently in Belton MO (Low 15 Low Clouds and Sun High 38)

Bob is home now after a second successful aortic valve replacement surgery. His surgery was at St. Luke's Hospital near the Plaza in Kansas City Missouri

 

Bob's recovery started out a little rough. He doesn't tolerate anesthesia well and this was a very long surgery, approaching 6 hours. What started out as the expected grogginess and confusion with dry mouth and sore throat evolved into a what is technically called Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction (POCD): Some patients may experience memory problems or cognitive impairment, which is more common in older individuals [cue jokes here]. Luckily POCD only lasted a couple days but there were a lot of tests to make sure it wasn't anything more serious. After a couple of days normal mental functions returned [cue more jokes here].

Bob then attacked his recovery hard hoping for an early departure. He was "ALMOST" ready to ask when he could leave but when he walked to his first bathroom break on Friday morning his heart monitor started beeping as he went into AFIB (atrial fibrillation). His heart raced to 202 and  blood pressure fluctuated causing fatigue and lightheartedness. Because of the seriousness of AFIB the nursing staff immediately jumped into action with IVs and meds all day.

Friday was then a relaxing day instead of a recovery day. What we learned Friday is that AFIB is a common reaction to the trauma experienced by the heart. Saturday was a much better day and Bob went from relaxing to recovery filled with walking and breathing exercises. Sunday morning Bob asked the Nurse Practitioner (NP) and got the OK to depart. They began the process that one of the last steps is making sure the new prescriptions were sent to right Pharmacy. As the NP and Head Nurse were finalizing departure info Bob's heart monitor went off again.

Bob's heart had an VTach-ish episode (Ventricular tachycardia) and he was told he wasn't leaving today. Luckily Bob had no symptoms so he continued the walking and breathing exercises with approval. Unfortunately Bob's heart monitor went off again Monday morning so it was decided that Bob needed to stay another day.

Finally the day arrived and Bob left the hospital on Tuesday after a stay of 8 nights 9 days. 

Till next time,

Bob and Jo