Not just no erectile dysfunction, but you’ve got this.
Swelling? Does it gets bigger?
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That’sTheJoke.jpg
Although the fact that it’s “hive-like” kind of spoils the joke a bit.
Say what you will about hospital food, but there aren’t many establishments you can just piss in a bottle at the table without getting nasty looks. YMMV
Good to hear the catheter is out.
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Third times the charm! Glad you could pick up on a very subtle part of my crass joke.
They say you only do two days in open heart surgery: the day you go in and the day you get out. And today is that second day!
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Universities probably look the same.
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This guy kind of famously argued that it’s a feature of most of the economy.
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HMO really changed things.
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I wrote up a little update TR and it ended up being very cathartic:
Surgery went great! From what I’ve been told, it took a little over 7 hours to split me open, replace the aortic valve, repair the ascending aortic aneurysm, repair the aortic root, clean out some excess build up on my mitral valve, and finally to put Humpty Dumpty back together again. Cleaning the mitral valve was a game day decision once they saw the amount of build up that existed and I’m very thankful they took care of it now rather than waiting for another opportunity down the road.
After that I was whisked away to the Cardiac ICU where I stayed for a little over 24 hours. Here I was very heavily medicated while the staff was focused on monitoring me and trying to get me stable. Despite the medication, I remember a few experiences from this period like seeing my partner, son, mom, and a few friends that showed up to support my recovery, my first meal post-op, learning how to get out of bed, taking my first steps post-op, and physical therapy for a pinched nerve in my right shoulder that happened due to positioning of my right arm during the surgery. I received great care from all of the staff who were extremely empathetic to my pain and concerns. These professionals took the reins of my initial steps of recovery and got me on the right track.
The staff noted that I was making great progress and met the required milestones (being able to breathe deeply, the ability to walk short distances, and eating solid foods) to send me to the cardiothoracic surgery recovery unit, which was just a short wheelchair ride away. This was an extremely humbling experience and the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do in my life. This is where the real recovery begins! All of a sudden I’m given much more independence and less direct assistance for completing basic daily tasks. Don’t get me wrong, the staff was just a call button away if I needed help but this was the opportunity to start doing some things on my own again. This also marks the beginning of the shared recovery model as I meet with doctors, specialized nurses, occupational therapists, and physical therapists who lay down the ground rules and education needed so that I know my basic sternal precautions:
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Don’t lift more than 10lbs (5lbs each hand)
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Don’t put any body weight on my arms
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Don’t raise an elbow above my shoulder unless I’m doing it with both
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No reaching behind my body or twisting my torso
Every day I had goals to push myself a little bit further, whether that meant eat three meals of solid food, sit upright in my chair for longer periods of time, take longer and more frequent walks, learn how to put on my clothes, and take a shower. In addition to the education, I was highly monitored and tested. This included things like hanging various IVs, multiple blood tests daily, a chest x-ray every morning, a daily EKG, a few echocardiograms, and much more. At times I felt a little bit like a piece of meat as I was poked and prodded with needles. In fact, my arms are still pretty bruised from this over a week later! Given that I was recovering at a pace faster than average, I was initially told I would likely be discharged on Friday or Saturday assuming everything else continued as expected. I kept focusing on doing the things I needed to do so I could get out and spend time with my family. Unfortunately on Thursday my blood work came back with a high white blood cell count which could be the sign of an infection and I was told I wouldn’t be leaving until that number comes down. So, I ended up staying at the hospital through the weekend as they continued to monitor my WBC and evaluate my progress on other metrics.
I was finally allowed to come home on Monday, April 10th! Since then, I have been focusing on taking care of myself without distractions thanks to the amazing help of my partner and her father. Every day I’m focused on taking my 11 prescriptions at the times and dosages required, showering (this is exhausting btw), going on three five minute walks in the driveway, following up with every appointment since there have already been a few, and life basics like eating and socializing with my friends (still just virtually, but hopefully I’ll get out into the world soon). Every single day I’m getting better and am able to do just a little bit more.
To wrap up this post, I just want to give thanks to a lot people. First and foremost, thank you so much to everyone at the University of Washington Medical Center - Montlake for taking care of me while I was in their care. Everyone along the way was kind and empathic and there are far too many people for me to thank individually. Next I want to thank my partner, mom, and FIL specifically for being here in person and part of my personal care team. Now that I’m home, they do a lot for me and assist with tasks that I’m not quite able to complete myself. Thirdly, I want to thank everyone that has read through either my posts on this topic and liked/commented/etc and/or messaged me directly to see how I’m doing. Like I said, this has been the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life and it was made a lot easier with all the love that was sent my way!
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That’s a good update to hear
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Glad to hear you’re on the mend. Looking forward to you snatching some ridiculous amount of weight by year’s end.
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following you for more life pro tips 
Feels like this could be a separate ongoing thread
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I thought about making a separate thread when I was headed down this path, but eventually decided against it. My original intention for this specific thread was only to keep track of my out of pocket expenses, insurance, etc. and any hoops I had to jump through along the way, since that goes along with the theme. Then I sat down yesterday and typed up that ~1000 word update for my family and friends. In that process I realized how good it felt to reflect and put my thoughts and experiences into written word. So I decided to share it here since I’d say about 2/3rds of my posts are pithy jokes that lack any true depth of thought.
Now that surgery is over and it’s just recovery remaining, probably 90% of the “interesting” content (I realize this is subjective) for a separate thread has already happened. Now I’m just waiting on insurance and the hospital to settle up with each other. BTW, new invoice just dropped over the weekend. I think this might be The Big One and it’s maybe a little less than I thought it would be.
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What do you expect to have to pay out of pocket?
You may have already mentioned that in your prior posts but I can’t recall.
OOP max for my insurance is $3k. So, I think my expectation is a little over $6k (2022 → $3k, 2023 → $3k). However, this is the first time I’ve ever really dealt with insurance and about the only thing I know about insurance is to not trust it. I have no reason to believe any claims would get denied or anything, I’m just not confident in the process since I’ve never walked through it.