Michael's Journal

We’re waiting for the last few clearances, but it looks like Mike will be coming home with me today. It’s been two weeks in hospital, and each day after the initial scare brought major improvements. When all is said and done, even with the issues we had, the outcome has been very positive, we both can already notice big results! 👍

Andrea again, with wonderful news! One more time, I want to thank everybody here for all the kind words and encouragement over the last few days. It was a nasty, scary surprise after another, but finally today things are looking up. Mike is awake, and able to breathe on his own. It is such an immense relief to be able to hear his voice again, even if he sounds hoarse after days with the breathing tubes down his throat. I have my husband back, and he can answer and squeeze my hand back, and all is well. I am so grateful, I don’t know how to put it into words. Dialysis continues, and will for a few days, so the road ahead is still a bit longer than we packed for, but so what? The first big hurdle is past, the rest will follow. I can now get my PhD in Nagging, as he needs to exercise, talk, cough, breathe, and move around to get better, and I’m up to it, and so he will be as well. Walking is a little further down the line yet, as we have to wait for dialysis to end before attempting to stand since the port is in his groin so they don’t want him bending the leg. We’ll get there too. Today is a wonderful day!

This is Andrea. I see the progress and know it will continue, but we’ve had some hiccups and could use some encouraging stories from those who may have encountered similar issues. Mike’s surgery went wonderfully from the cardiac standpoint. Both the mitral and tricuspid valves were repaired, and everyone is well pleased with that outcome. One doctor described the difference in his before/after heartbeat as “sounding like a new person,” and I, who have been happily dancing to that loudly arrhythmic sound for over a decade, agree. Where things get unexpected is that Mike’s lungs decided to throw a curveball mid-surgery, and start spasming, in something similar to a very severe asthma attack... which he does not suffer from. The first two times they tried to help him wake after surgery, those attacks repeated. The last was at midnight the night after surgery, and it was decided then that a better approach would be to paralyze him, keep him intubated and on the ventilator to allow the lungs more time to recover, and give him Benadryl, treating it as an unexpected anaphylactic reaction to an unknown allergen. It appears to have worked: although no further attempt was done to wake him since, no new spasms have taken place either. They stopped administering the the paralyzing agents yesterday, his blood gasses continue to stabilize, as the CO2 levels were initially concerning, and all numbers slowly are moving in the right direction. But his kidneys were having trouble with processing all the excess fluids and strong meds, and are not keeping up with the workload. He’s quite swollen, and there has been talk of temporary dialysis to help things move along. So, as of now, he has been getting lots of rest, slowly moving towards consciousness (the nurses and I were inordinately proud of him yesterday when he started fluttering his eyelids in response to my voice, if things continue along these levels of enthusiasm, there may be a full-on parade with marching band by the time he actually wakes!) and from a cardiac standpoint, very stable. But that transition to wakefulness is taking longer than hoped for, and it appears his body has decided on the longer route to recovery. But we’ll get there yet!

Somehow, the “Upcoming Surgeries” ribbon appears to have gone away from my newsfeed. Any clues how to get it to display there again? I don’t see that as an option in my profile, and can’t find any other setting I could tweak. Thanks!