Yumiko's Journal

My mother was recently diagnosed with stage D heart failure. Her bovine aortic valve is about 12 years old and doing just fine, apparently, just some mild calcification. Her mitral valve, on the other hand, now has severe regurgitation and mild to moderate stenosis. She is 90 and surgical intervention is likely not an option. (I don’t think she will survive general anesthesia or even sedation.)

A couple of weeks ago she had pulmonary edema, went to ER, and during her stay at the hospital she was on a lot of meds that were hard on her kidneys. She already has chronic kidney desease, so my sister and I are worried. The hospitalist cut back on the lasix before my mother left the hospital and told her not to drink too much water, but she’s still on eliquis, aspirin, atorvastatin, digoxin, and metoprolol. Does anyone here have a kidney desease and take a lot of meds for your heart? How do you decide which to prioritize?

My sister and I are in somewhat of a dilemma, as our mother seems to be doing fine most of the time (she even takes a class at the community center and does chair yoga), but her organs (brain, kidney, heart) are clearly failing, and we’re not sure if the meds are helping or hurting her.

I feel blessed to have been able to experience the total solar eclipse of 2024! This family trip to Fredericksburg, TX was planned long before my heart valve replacement. Even though rain was predicted, we stayed put at our vacation rental and got lucky!

Does anyone have advice for sensitive scars? The last bit of scab just fell off from my sternal incision site last week. The only directive I got from the surgeon was “don’t put anything on it,” but I think I’m past that point? It feels very taught and I have to keep my shirt front open or wear a t-shirt with a high neckline. I read about silicone tape a couple of times here. Do they help? My scar is indented, pulling inward. Literature on silicone gel talks about raised scars and I don’t see much about sunken surgical scars.

Have any of your doctors talked about anemia post surgery? My RBC and related numbers were low the entire time I was in the hospital post surgery, but no one said anything about it, so I figured it was something that was expected. I increased my dietary iron intake on my own and lab numbers have improved but 7.5 weeks out I am still anemic. Is that normal?

High heart rate after surgery is normal, apparently, but how long is it supposed to take before it normalizes? My pre-surgery heart rate was controlled by meds due to a history of persistent afib, so I have no idea what my ‘normal’ normal is or was… Controlled resting heart rate was around 65, reached 90 or higher during exercise, but post surgery resting rate has been over 100. Is that typical?

I was discharged on recovery day 5 and am actually feeling a little stressed out trying to settle into a manageable routine… Tracking my meds was a complicated process before the surgery, and there are extra moving parts post surgery. Going through the data on each new prescription, I noticed they only gave me 5 days worth of oxycodone. Am I supposed to not need it anymore after that, or is there a limit on how much opioids they could prescribe? Everything else they gave me 30 days worth.

For a sternotomy, how long is a typical stay in ICU? I am told total stay in the hospital can be anywhere from 5 to 10 days, but I’m not clear on how much time I should expect to be in ICU.

I have questions about what I should get before surgery. I already have a recliner chair, ordered a wedge pillow for when I am ready for the real bed, and asked for warm button front or full zip shirts for Christmas (most of what I have need to be pulled over my head). I will be ordering pre/post surgery drinks soon. On this site I read about getting a spirometer to practice on - is that something I should ask the doctor or surgeon to prescribe? Also I read about chest support belt, which I won’t need until after the surgery - is that something the hospital will provide upon discharge and charged to insurance? (I was wondering if it’s like the walker I got after my knee surgery.) Anything I didn’t mention that I should consider?

I am scheduled for a mitral valve replacement on 1/16/2024. I probably will have lots of questions as the surgery approaches, but the first is about STAIRS. I know I need to start walking pretty much immediately (based on what I learned when my mother had her aortic valve replaced years ago), but I can’t seem to get any definitive information on stairs. My bedroom at home is on the third floor, so if I cannot clime or am advised to avoid stairs for a certain period of time, I need to figure out where to sleep when I leave the hospital. What has been your experience?