Friends/family,
Today was an entertaining day at the very least! Brent woke me up at 3:45 am and said "Hey! Do you want to go for a walk? I'm wide awake!" to which I asked him if he really wanted me to go (of course I knew he did) and he said yes, he wanted me to come walk with him but he could call the nurse if I was too tired. He told me he'd been watching me sleep for awhile and hoping I would wake up, but he was so restless that he had to go for a walk. I asked him to call the nurse because I was just too tired. I felt bad, but I needed some rest last night. The nurse walked in, laughed, and said she'd walk with him. I probably should've just gone because Brent was SO wired, I could hear him talking and talking and talking almost the entire walk. When they got back, I told the nurse he never talks that much and I was sorry. :) It was somewhat amusing, but also unfortunate because Brent was so uncomfortable he couldn't sleep! He laid back down but then lab came to draw his blood! We did rest for about another hour afterwards...until...
For the past 4 nights, we've been laughing about the view from our room - we were in a room at the back corner of the hall - the window was painted and there was scaffolding on the other side, so we basically couldn't see anything. This morning, when we were actually sleeping, we awoke all of a sudden at 8:00 to the sounds of loud construction. We both just looked at each other like "You've got to be kidding me!" and started slowly becoming delirious. It was so loud when I was on the phone with a friend, he actually couldn't hear me. We could hear jackhammers, drilling, and hammering. We decided to go for a walk and thought maybe the whole floor could hear it - nope, just our room. We also figure it would have to stop! We could actually see out a little crack of paint in the window and the guys were literally working and drilling right outside our room. We were laughing about it but wondering what we were going to do. Luckily the nurse came in and tried to listen to Brent's heart and said "Um, we've got to get you in a different room right now, I can't hear anything!" So now we're in a different, quieter room. :)
After we moved into the new room, we were both pretty hyper and giggly - likely from lack of sleep. Brent was particular talkative and I kept telling him he had to rest. Megan (Nurse Practitioner) came in a little bit after we moved and found us giggling and Brent chatting away. I told her we both thought he needed an Ativan (similar to Valium) to help calm him down and get some sleep to which she responded that delirium was perfectly normal at this stage of the recovery because of his lack of sleep and being cooped up in the hospital. We got a big kick out of that! I always knew Brent was crazy, but she diagnosed him! ;) She wouldn't give him any meds because she knew he was just exhausted, which was probably for the best. We talked with Megan for quite some time and then she even came back later and explained more about Brent's condition (Tetralogy of Fallot) to us, which was very nice and helpful. We both love Megan!
We also spoke with the surgeon and the cardiologist this morning. Brent's hemoglobin is slowly going up, so that's a good sign - he's not bleeding internally anywhere. Also his pleural effusion has been steadily decreasing in size, which is good news. Unfortunately his INR (how thin his blood is) has remained the same, ~1.3, and we can't leave the hospital until it's closer to 2. His INR could increase to 2 by tomorrow morning and then maybe we could leave then, but we'll have to wait and see. We're very much hoping to leave tomorrow, but you never know. We've been here for 7 nights now and are both very anxious to leave and rest at home. Brent hasn't had any fresh air or been outside in a week! It's weird to be inside so much! Brent seems ok: we took 4 walks today, he's only taking Tylenol for pain, his incisions are healing well, most of his labs are ok, and his x-rays are improving. It's just his INR! We'll see what the morning labs show.
Brent also had 4 friends from his office come visit today, which was so nice. We had a good time talking with them and I think he was very glad for some contact with the real world. He was a little tired afterwards, but then again, he's always tired - he did just have heart surgery.
Brent's doctor has also switched him to a regular diet. For dinner he ordered a mini-pizza, french fries, potato chowder soup, and cheesecake. I can't believe they let anyone in the hospital eat such meals - but at least he ate! He was very excited to have more options besides the bland cardiac diet foods - although he has taken a strange liking to jello...
Today we also asked Megan (Nurse Practitioner) what her opinion was about the wedding/honeymoon. I think we are all starting to agree that it would be best to postpone it, even if it is just 3-4 weeks later. For all of you that are married that are reading this, I think you can agree your wedding day (and the whole weekend!) is exhausting. We both want to be able to enjoy that time with our family/friends - you only get one wedding and I have my whole life to finish grad school. So we sent an email to the wedding director at Flint Hill to inquire which other days are available later in August and in September. We'll see what she says and decide from there. It's all still up in the air, but I don't want to rush Brent's recovery and we both want to enjoy our wedding day. It's very devastating to think about postponing our wedding because we're more in love now than we were a week ago - but in a few years, we'll probably be grateful that we were able to enjoy our beautiful wedding day. It's also very difficult to have to take a semester off of grad school because I just want to be done - but clearly God has another plan for our future. We'll continue to pray about it and look at options and keep everyone posted. We'll likely decide within the next 10 days so we hopefully can give everyone plenty of time to adjust plans if needed.
I know I sound like a broken record, but please continue to pray for Brent and his recovery. I know it's been 5 days since his surgery and he is doing well - so people tend to forget about how serious his situation is - but he is still uncomfortable and in pain and has 7 weeks of sitting at home, which is not easy for anyone. He's having a horrible time sleeping and getting comfortable, so while we may have laughed some today, he's definitely uncomfortable. Please pray that God will really use this time in his life and that he will make a full recovery. Thanks again; we sincerely appreciate the support!
God bless,
Rachel
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
A few more days in the hospital
Friends/family,
Another early morning today, but we were somewhat excited because Brent is feeling better and we thought today would be our last full day in the hospital! Brent had his labs drawn this morning and his red blood cell (RBC) count and Hemoglobin & Hematocrit (H&H) were still low, but the cardiologist on call said at least his body didn't eat up all the RBCs from the transfusion yesterday, which was a good sign and also his chest xray this morning showed his pleural effusion was shrinking in size. Praise God for healing! So they decided to go ahead and start him back on Coumadin (the blood thinner he takes daily for his mechanical aortic valve.) The surgeon came in a little while later and informed us we would be staying in the hospital until at least Wednesday because his H&H were too low and so was his INR (INR is basically how thin his blood is - Brent's blood has to be thinner than most people's because he has a mechanical valve and you don't want any clots.) We both were upset about having to stay longer. As I said in my previous post, we want to get out of here! Brent's hospital bed is so uncomfortable - it's so hard for him to sleep - and I can tell he's getting upset. He even told me tonight he was upset and wanted to go home. I tried to comfort him as best I could, but I want to go home too. We want to start putting this behind us and start looking forward! On the positive side, Brent is feeling better every day and recovering fairly well, despite the minor setback yesterday.
Brent's close friend from Ernst & Young came to visit us today and entertained us for about 2 hours. Remember how in my first post I talked about the wedding Brent was a groomsman in just a few weeks back and how the boutonniere was very visibly pulsating along with his heart? It was the same friend - he just returned from his honeymoon in Tahiti so he came to tell us all about it since we are hoping to still go to Tahiti for our honeymoon. It was a very nice distraction and Brent went for 2 walks while his friend was here. We are excited for our honeymoon and really hoping it will be sooner rather than later!
Most of the afternoon was spent sleeping for both of us! While visits from friends are so awesome, they wear Brent out. I have adopted his sleep schedule as well - I usually try to sleep when he sleeps. Unfortunately right now he is tossing and turning a lot in the bed because of pain/discomfort. We've tried to ask for a different type of bed, but the hospital is pretty full. Maybe tomorrow one will become available...but please pray regardless for rest for Brent. The post-surgery nightmares have begun and it doesn't seem very fun. :(
Monday and Tuesday will just be spent waiting for his lab values to return to normal. Please pray that by Wednesday his labs DO return to normal because I don't think Brent and I can handle much longer than Wednesday in the hospital. As always, we appreciate the continued thoughts and prayers. Please please continue to pray for the following:
*Strength for both of us as our spirits are starting to fall - we've been in the hospital for a week - poor Brent hasn't been outside in a whole week and we are VERY outdoorsy people!
*Continued faith in God's plan and that God will reveal to us what His plan now is
*Direction for our future and what we should do about the wedding and my masters program
*An amazing recovery for Brent
*A healthy, healed heart and a 20+ year break from ANY heart surgeries for Brent
Thanks again for the amazing outpouring of thoughts, prayers, and concern - we are truly blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our lives!
God bless,
Rachel
Another early morning today, but we were somewhat excited because Brent is feeling better and we thought today would be our last full day in the hospital! Brent had his labs drawn this morning and his red blood cell (RBC) count and Hemoglobin & Hematocrit (H&H) were still low, but the cardiologist on call said at least his body didn't eat up all the RBCs from the transfusion yesterday, which was a good sign and also his chest xray this morning showed his pleural effusion was shrinking in size. Praise God for healing! So they decided to go ahead and start him back on Coumadin (the blood thinner he takes daily for his mechanical aortic valve.) The surgeon came in a little while later and informed us we would be staying in the hospital until at least Wednesday because his H&H were too low and so was his INR (INR is basically how thin his blood is - Brent's blood has to be thinner than most people's because he has a mechanical valve and you don't want any clots.) We both were upset about having to stay longer. As I said in my previous post, we want to get out of here! Brent's hospital bed is so uncomfortable - it's so hard for him to sleep - and I can tell he's getting upset. He even told me tonight he was upset and wanted to go home. I tried to comfort him as best I could, but I want to go home too. We want to start putting this behind us and start looking forward! On the positive side, Brent is feeling better every day and recovering fairly well, despite the minor setback yesterday.
Brent's close friend from Ernst & Young came to visit us today and entertained us for about 2 hours. Remember how in my first post I talked about the wedding Brent was a groomsman in just a few weeks back and how the boutonniere was very visibly pulsating along with his heart? It was the same friend - he just returned from his honeymoon in Tahiti so he came to tell us all about it since we are hoping to still go to Tahiti for our honeymoon. It was a very nice distraction and Brent went for 2 walks while his friend was here. We are excited for our honeymoon and really hoping it will be sooner rather than later!
Most of the afternoon was spent sleeping for both of us! While visits from friends are so awesome, they wear Brent out. I have adopted his sleep schedule as well - I usually try to sleep when he sleeps. Unfortunately right now he is tossing and turning a lot in the bed because of pain/discomfort. We've tried to ask for a different type of bed, but the hospital is pretty full. Maybe tomorrow one will become available...but please pray regardless for rest for Brent. The post-surgery nightmares have begun and it doesn't seem very fun. :(
Monday and Tuesday will just be spent waiting for his lab values to return to normal. Please pray that by Wednesday his labs DO return to normal because I don't think Brent and I can handle much longer than Wednesday in the hospital. As always, we appreciate the continued thoughts and prayers. Please please continue to pray for the following:
*Strength for both of us as our spirits are starting to fall - we've been in the hospital for a week - poor Brent hasn't been outside in a whole week and we are VERY outdoorsy people!
*Continued faith in God's plan and that God will reveal to us what His plan now is
*Direction for our future and what we should do about the wedding and my masters program
*An amazing recovery for Brent
*A healthy, healed heart and a 20+ year break from ANY heart surgeries for Brent
Thanks again for the amazing outpouring of thoughts, prayers, and concern - we are truly blessed to have such wonderful, caring people in our lives!
God bless,
Rachel
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Blood transfusion day
Friends/family,
Friday night was quite a long night. Unfortunately Brent did not sleep very well and was up about every hour in pain and discomfort. I wake up every time he wakes up as well, so we were a bit exhausted when we woke up on Saturday. He is trying to wean himself off of the stronger pain medications, but it's not working very well, so he still took the stronger meds all day today.
Today was also quite a busy and tiring Saturday! After Brent's early morning lab draw, the nurse came in and informed Brent his red blood cell (RBC) count (hemoglobin and hematocrit) was low and that the doctor wanted to do a whole bunch of tests to see where he was bleeding internally. This was a little concerning to us because we really wanted to avoid him having a blood transfusion - and we were really praying for NO complications and a quick recovery. Unfortunately, his RBC count was too low and he did end up needing 2 units of blood. :( So for 6 hours of the day, Brent was hooked up to an IV having a blood transfusion. I was scared and upset this morning when the doctor came in and said there were a few problems because everything had been going so well, but Brent was too drugged up to care. :)
The doctor first ordered an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) which as far as we know was ok - the surgeon never actually came in and spoke with us, he called Brent on the room phone. He also ordered more labs and a chest x-ray. It turns out Brent has what is called a pleural effusion. A pleural effusion is excess fluid that accumulates in the pleural cavity - which is the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Too much fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs. Luckily he is not having any symptoms like shortness of breath or cough from the effusion. The doctor was going to give him a medication called Lasix (which is a diuretic), but Brent's blood pressure has been low, so the doctor held the Lasix because he didn't want his blood pressure to drop more. Even though I'm a nurse, I was slightly confused today about what was going on and how the effusion is being treated because it's a Saturday and the on-call doctors didn't really explain that much to us. I believe the doctor said he could either be bleeding into his pleural cavity or his heart could just be "eating" too many RBCs after surgery. What I do know is that I was sad he had to have a blood transfusion because that means his body is not producing enough red blood cells after the surgery, or his heart is using too many up right now. These are all normal complications after a heart surgery, I was just hoping Brent would have a complication-free recovery. That being said, he did feel better after the blood transfusion. I asked the night nurse what his RBC count was tonight, but she never came back and told me. I'll find out later when Brent wakes up the first time. :)
We pretty much just hung out in the hospital room today and rested - well, of course we were woken up quite a bit with the multiple blood draws, blood transfusion, ECHO, and chest x-ray. I try to sleep when Brent sleeps, which is an interesting sleep schedule for someone who didn't just have heart surgery. :) It was nice that Brent was awake some during the late afternoon and early evening. We were able to hang out for like an hour and talk, which I desperately needed some quality time with him. I get pretty lonely sitting here in the hospital room all day - and today was a particularly hard day because we were supposed to be in Atlanta this weekend and today was supposed to be my bridal shower. I am so glad Brent is ok, but I couldn't help but get discouraged today because before all this happened, I was very much looking forward to having a bridal shower and being with my friends. We do both get sad about how much has changed in the past week and how different the last weeks of our engagement will be. I think I get more upset because I am just sitting here all day watching him sleep, and though I am SO grateful for God's timing and that we caught this huge aneurysm when we did, sometimes I do question "why": why did this have to happen now, why does this have to happen to Brent, why didn't we get a break this summer, why couldn't we have a normal engagement, etc. I realize it's selfish, but sometimes I can't help but be human - I do wonder why we're sitting in a hospital and everyone else is out having fun and a normal life. I try to keep my faith strong, but sometimes I get upset - and I just want to hug Brent and I can't. In the end though, I know God has a plan and has everything under control and we've been so blessed in both of our pasts - I just wish I knew why this happened now. So I guess I should ask for prayer for my strength as well - and that I can somehow finish planning our wedding in addition to taking care of Brent. I am slightly stressed about how I am going to finish planning our wedding in 6 weeks, but I'm sure it will all work out.
We are still hoping to be discharged on Monday, despite some setbacks today. Brent did still take 2 long laps today and ate a little more. I got him a plain hamburger from In-N-Out for dinner because he's anemic and his doctor told him to eat red meat. Brent and I rarely eat fast food (he hates fast food) so it was funny to watch him wolf down a burger when he's barely been eating jello and soup. Plus I was excited to leave the hospital for 30 minutes and eat an In-N-Out burger myself! I hadn't had one since we started dating. :)
We're both looking forward to tomorrow as we are having some friends come visit, so the day should go by quicker! It will be Monday before we know it!
Please continue to pray for us, we've been in the hospital for a week now and I think we're both ready to get out of here. We're looking forward to being at home on Monday, although it will still be a long recovery. Please continue to pray for a speedy, easy, complication-free recovery for Brent!
God bless,
~Rachel
Friday night was quite a long night. Unfortunately Brent did not sleep very well and was up about every hour in pain and discomfort. I wake up every time he wakes up as well, so we were a bit exhausted when we woke up on Saturday. He is trying to wean himself off of the stronger pain medications, but it's not working very well, so he still took the stronger meds all day today.
Today was also quite a busy and tiring Saturday! After Brent's early morning lab draw, the nurse came in and informed Brent his red blood cell (RBC) count (hemoglobin and hematocrit) was low and that the doctor wanted to do a whole bunch of tests to see where he was bleeding internally. This was a little concerning to us because we really wanted to avoid him having a blood transfusion - and we were really praying for NO complications and a quick recovery. Unfortunately, his RBC count was too low and he did end up needing 2 units of blood. :( So for 6 hours of the day, Brent was hooked up to an IV having a blood transfusion. I was scared and upset this morning when the doctor came in and said there were a few problems because everything had been going so well, but Brent was too drugged up to care. :)
The doctor first ordered an ECHO (ultrasound of the heart) which as far as we know was ok - the surgeon never actually came in and spoke with us, he called Brent on the room phone. He also ordered more labs and a chest x-ray. It turns out Brent has what is called a pleural effusion. A pleural effusion is excess fluid that accumulates in the pleural cavity - which is the fluid-filled space that surrounds the lungs. Too much fluid can impair breathing by limiting the expansion of the lungs. Luckily he is not having any symptoms like shortness of breath or cough from the effusion. The doctor was going to give him a medication called Lasix (which is a diuretic), but Brent's blood pressure has been low, so the doctor held the Lasix because he didn't want his blood pressure to drop more. Even though I'm a nurse, I was slightly confused today about what was going on and how the effusion is being treated because it's a Saturday and the on-call doctors didn't really explain that much to us. I believe the doctor said he could either be bleeding into his pleural cavity or his heart could just be "eating" too many RBCs after surgery. What I do know is that I was sad he had to have a blood transfusion because that means his body is not producing enough red blood cells after the surgery, or his heart is using too many up right now. These are all normal complications after a heart surgery, I was just hoping Brent would have a complication-free recovery. That being said, he did feel better after the blood transfusion. I asked the night nurse what his RBC count was tonight, but she never came back and told me. I'll find out later when Brent wakes up the first time. :)
We pretty much just hung out in the hospital room today and rested - well, of course we were woken up quite a bit with the multiple blood draws, blood transfusion, ECHO, and chest x-ray. I try to sleep when Brent sleeps, which is an interesting sleep schedule for someone who didn't just have heart surgery. :) It was nice that Brent was awake some during the late afternoon and early evening. We were able to hang out for like an hour and talk, which I desperately needed some quality time with him. I get pretty lonely sitting here in the hospital room all day - and today was a particularly hard day because we were supposed to be in Atlanta this weekend and today was supposed to be my bridal shower. I am so glad Brent is ok, but I couldn't help but get discouraged today because before all this happened, I was very much looking forward to having a bridal shower and being with my friends. We do both get sad about how much has changed in the past week and how different the last weeks of our engagement will be. I think I get more upset because I am just sitting here all day watching him sleep, and though I am SO grateful for God's timing and that we caught this huge aneurysm when we did, sometimes I do question "why": why did this have to happen now, why does this have to happen to Brent, why didn't we get a break this summer, why couldn't we have a normal engagement, etc. I realize it's selfish, but sometimes I can't help but be human - I do wonder why we're sitting in a hospital and everyone else is out having fun and a normal life. I try to keep my faith strong, but sometimes I get upset - and I just want to hug Brent and I can't. In the end though, I know God has a plan and has everything under control and we've been so blessed in both of our pasts - I just wish I knew why this happened now. So I guess I should ask for prayer for my strength as well - and that I can somehow finish planning our wedding in addition to taking care of Brent. I am slightly stressed about how I am going to finish planning our wedding in 6 weeks, but I'm sure it will all work out.
We are still hoping to be discharged on Monday, despite some setbacks today. Brent did still take 2 long laps today and ate a little more. I got him a plain hamburger from In-N-Out for dinner because he's anemic and his doctor told him to eat red meat. Brent and I rarely eat fast food (he hates fast food) so it was funny to watch him wolf down a burger when he's barely been eating jello and soup. Plus I was excited to leave the hospital for 30 minutes and eat an In-N-Out burger myself! I hadn't had one since we started dating. :)
We're both looking forward to tomorrow as we are having some friends come visit, so the day should go by quicker! It will be Monday before we know it!
Please continue to pray for us, we've been in the hospital for a week now and I think we're both ready to get out of here. We're looking forward to being at home on Monday, although it will still be a long recovery. Please continue to pray for a speedy, easy, complication-free recovery for Brent!
God bless,
~Rachel
Saturday, June 27, 2009
No more tubes!
Friends/family,
Brent is feeling better and better every minute! It's hard to believe he just had open-heart surgery 2 days ago. He woke up early this morning (5:00 am!) and we moved him up to the chair. He sat up for a little bit, ate a little breakfast, and had his foley catheter removed. They also took out his extra IV's and just left one IV in (in case he needs fluids/meds) but there is currently nothing running through his IV. After a chest x-ray, Megan (Nurse Practitioner) took out his chest tubes, which has greatly decreased his pain. I can't even imagine what it's like to have chest tubes in your body - and how painful it is to have them removed but Brent took it like a champ.
Side note - I love Megan! She's such a smart Nurse Practitioner - she spends so much time with us, answers all of my many questions, and really encourages both of us. I never knew Nurse Practitioners did rounds in the hospital and were so involved with surgery. Her role is so advanced for an NP; it's amazing.
So now Brent is not attached to anything! It's been great - he has been getting out of the bed into the chair mostly by himself and walking to the bathroom with little help. I really think taking the chest tubes out helped a lot. We took 3 long laps today around the Telemetry floor, and Brent did so well. His pulse ox stayed right around 95%, even on the longer walks! (Pulse oximetry measures the oxygenation of blood, normal range is 94%-100%) He still has a lot of pain (they did crack open his chest 2 days ago!), but it's well-controlled with meds. He started cutting down on his pain meds starting tonight, which is good. I'm so proud of him for walking 3 laps today - it's encouraging. We also started reviewing our discharge instructions today - he'll be going home most likely on Monday mid-day. I honestly don't know how post-op heart surgery patients recover without a nurse taking care of them! The instructions are detailed; I've certainly got my work cut out for me.
We did speak with both the surgeon and the cardiologist today and both agreed Brent's making wonderful progress. I really like Brent's cardiologist (Dr. Berdjis.) We spoke with him at length this afternoon. We had read more earlier about the trials going on for transcatheter valve replacement. Transcatheter valve replacement is when heart valves are replaced via a catheter inserted into the femoral artery in the groin instead of a sternotomy (sternal division/open-heart surgery.) (Catheters are small tubes that can be inserted into body cavities or vessels to allow drainage, injection of fluids, or surgical access.) Transcatheter valve replacements are already approved in Europe and hopefully within the next year the FDA will approve them in the USA. The surgeon that researched, invented, and performed the original transcatheter valve replacements (Dr. Philipp Bonhoeffer) is a good friend of Dr. Berdjis as they're both German. :) Dr. Berdjis said he still sees Dr. Bonhoeffer at least once/year and I said "Can you please personally tell him thank you from us?" His research and work is amazing. Dr. Berdjis told us that Brent's new pulmonic valve (which is a pig valve) can last anywhere from 10-20 years. I think we can all agree that Brent deserves a 20 year break! As I've said, we're all praying for that 20 year gap and hoping this was his last sternotomy. It was very encouraging talking with Dr. Berdjis and hearing about all the new research. God bless all of the surgeons who are researching adult congenital heart disease!
Brent has been sleeping most of the day/night - he's probably awake for about 5 hours total of every day. He has been eating - not much, but enough. Hopefully tomorrow he will be more awake yet still feel rested and be able to take less pain medication. I am so excited that he can walk to the bathroom by himself - that's huge! We had date night tonight in the hospital - we turned Jeopardy on the TV, I ate yucky cafeteria food, and Brent ate a little chicken noodle soup. We've been here a week - I needed a date night, especially after my day on Wednesday. ;) Brent stayed awake for at least 4 minutes of our date night, so that was good. We'll try again Saturday night for 6 minutes of awake time. ;)
Things really are progessing well and I am very excited to go back to San Diego on Monday. It will be nice to be at home and I can get back to wedding planning while Brent recovers. Again, we are so grateful for the continued support, prayers, thoughts, phone calls, texts, etc. We have such a great network of friends and family in our lives and there's no way we could do this without you. Brent pulled through his 8th heart surgery because of the prayers of literally thousands of people! THANK YOU so much for praying for my amazing fiance!
Please continue to pray for the following:
*quick and easy recovery
*no pain/discomfort
*healing for Brent's sternum
*no nightmares/peaceful sleep for Brent
*a healthy heart in Brent's future
*no more heart surgeries for 20 years
*a beautiful wedding on August 9th with a fully recovered Brent
*God to use the next 8 weeks in Brent's life for His purpose
Brent is feeling better and better every minute! It's hard to believe he just had open-heart surgery 2 days ago. He woke up early this morning (5:00 am!) and we moved him up to the chair. He sat up for a little bit, ate a little breakfast, and had his foley catheter removed. They also took out his extra IV's and just left one IV in (in case he needs fluids/meds) but there is currently nothing running through his IV. After a chest x-ray, Megan (Nurse Practitioner) took out his chest tubes, which has greatly decreased his pain. I can't even imagine what it's like to have chest tubes in your body - and how painful it is to have them removed but Brent took it like a champ.
Side note - I love Megan! She's such a smart Nurse Practitioner - she spends so much time with us, answers all of my many questions, and really encourages both of us. I never knew Nurse Practitioners did rounds in the hospital and were so involved with surgery. Her role is so advanced for an NP; it's amazing.
So now Brent is not attached to anything! It's been great - he has been getting out of the bed into the chair mostly by himself and walking to the bathroom with little help. I really think taking the chest tubes out helped a lot. We took 3 long laps today around the Telemetry floor, and Brent did so well. His pulse ox stayed right around 95%, even on the longer walks! (Pulse oximetry measures the oxygenation of blood, normal range is 94%-100%) He still has a lot of pain (they did crack open his chest 2 days ago!), but it's well-controlled with meds. He started cutting down on his pain meds starting tonight, which is good. I'm so proud of him for walking 3 laps today - it's encouraging. We also started reviewing our discharge instructions today - he'll be going home most likely on Monday mid-day. I honestly don't know how post-op heart surgery patients recover without a nurse taking care of them! The instructions are detailed; I've certainly got my work cut out for me.
We did speak with both the surgeon and the cardiologist today and both agreed Brent's making wonderful progress. I really like Brent's cardiologist (Dr. Berdjis.) We spoke with him at length this afternoon. We had read more earlier about the trials going on for transcatheter valve replacement. Transcatheter valve replacement is when heart valves are replaced via a catheter inserted into the femoral artery in the groin instead of a sternotomy (sternal division/open-heart surgery.) (Catheters are small tubes that can be inserted into body cavities or vessels to allow drainage, injection of fluids, or surgical access.) Transcatheter valve replacements are already approved in Europe and hopefully within the next year the FDA will approve them in the USA. The surgeon that researched, invented, and performed the original transcatheter valve replacements (Dr. Philipp Bonhoeffer) is a good friend of Dr. Berdjis as they're both German. :) Dr. Berdjis said he still sees Dr. Bonhoeffer at least once/year and I said "Can you please personally tell him thank you from us?" His research and work is amazing. Dr. Berdjis told us that Brent's new pulmonic valve (which is a pig valve) can last anywhere from 10-20 years. I think we can all agree that Brent deserves a 20 year break! As I've said, we're all praying for that 20 year gap and hoping this was his last sternotomy. It was very encouraging talking with Dr. Berdjis and hearing about all the new research. God bless all of the surgeons who are researching adult congenital heart disease!
Brent has been sleeping most of the day/night - he's probably awake for about 5 hours total of every day. He has been eating - not much, but enough. Hopefully tomorrow he will be more awake yet still feel rested and be able to take less pain medication. I am so excited that he can walk to the bathroom by himself - that's huge! We had date night tonight in the hospital - we turned Jeopardy on the TV, I ate yucky cafeteria food, and Brent ate a little chicken noodle soup. We've been here a week - I needed a date night, especially after my day on Wednesday. ;) Brent stayed awake for at least 4 minutes of our date night, so that was good. We'll try again Saturday night for 6 minutes of awake time. ;)
Things really are progessing well and I am very excited to go back to San Diego on Monday. It will be nice to be at home and I can get back to wedding planning while Brent recovers. Again, we are so grateful for the continued support, prayers, thoughts, phone calls, texts, etc. We have such a great network of friends and family in our lives and there's no way we could do this without you. Brent pulled through his 8th heart surgery because of the prayers of literally thousands of people! THANK YOU so much for praying for my amazing fiance!
Please continue to pray for the following:
*quick and easy recovery
*no pain/discomfort
*healing for Brent's sternum
*no nightmares/peaceful sleep for Brent
*a healthy heart in Brent's future
*no more heart surgeries for 20 years
*a beautiful wedding on August 9th with a fully recovered Brent
*God to use the next 8 weeks in Brent's life for His purpose
I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend; please feel free to come visit us at St Joseph Hospital in Orange County or at home next week!
God bless,
~Rachel
Friday, June 26, 2009
We're walking!
Friends/family,
Today was post-op day 1 and I think it went very well! The surgeon came by briefly at 7:00 am and then at about 7:15 am, the nurse moved Brent to the chair. He sat there for about an hour, used his incentive spirometer (small device used to help expand his lungs), and then moved back to the bed. Unfortunately, when he moved back to the bed, he started having severe pain and was very distressed. He was squeezing my hand and crying out to the nurse to please make it stop. He was very tense and just looking at me with these tearful eyes that said "please make it stop!" I didn't know what to do except hold his hand, tell him to relax, kiss his forehead, and silently pray. I was trying so hard not to tear up and upset him. I was afraid it was going to be a bad day at that point! His nurse called another nurse and she rushed in and gave him some Morphine, and he slowly started to relax. It was not a fun experience - it's so hard to see loved ones in so much pain - and I can't even imagine how much pain he was in! We then slept until about 11:00 am - I think we both needed the rest! Brent continued to sleep for the majority of the day - when he was awake he began to eat jello, drink broth, juice, and hot tea. So he's eating again!
Ever since the morning pain incident, Brent's pain has been well-controlled and he's made a lot of improvement on the incentive spirometer. The anesthesiologist came by this morning as well and informed us that the aneurysm on Brent's heart was the size of a fist! I can not believe how big it was - and how amazing it is that we caught this last Friday! The "what-if's" are horrible to think about - that aneurysm was almost the size of his entire heart! Praise the Lord that we caught it before it ruptured. I am so glad he made that cardiologist appointment at 4 months instead of waiting until after the honeymoon. What a blessing - and how amazing that they were able to fix him! So while it's disappointing that all of this has happened within the past 6 days and so close to our wedding day, I am SO grateful that everything has happened the way God intended. I might not have had a wonderful man to marry if we would've waited!
So around 4:00 pm, 2 of Brent's co-workers came over to visit. Even though Brent's been exhausted all day and in and out of consciousness, it was very good for him to see them. It was also good for me to have some outside contact today. :-) After they left, the nurse told Brent it was time to start walking. I know that it's so hard for him to walk and very painful, but I encouraged him that he could do it and that it would speed up his recovery. We started with one lap around the ICU and then he settled into the chair. Sitting up in a chair is also very good for recovery - even though he sleeps in the bed in a somewhat sitting up position - the chair is better. (Brent and I had planned on getting a new couch after we got married but I realized today I'll definitely be getting a new couch the first day we get home to help his recovery - mine is very uncomfortable and not post-surgery friendly!) He had me turn on the NBA draft - he told me yesterday right after surgery "Don't forget the NBA draft is on tomorrow at 5:00 pm!" - so he watched that today. And by watched it, I mean he slept through it but I think he was happy it was on. :-)
Brent sat up in the chair for about 30 minutes and then told me he was in so much pain, that he wanted to lay back down. I asked him to please take one more lap around the ICU, that it would help him so much and even one extra lap today would speed up his recovery! He said he couldn't do it. A very sweet woman from Elevate church made us a large gift basket, and in the basket was a jar filled with scriptures. I brought the jar over to Brent and said "Ok, here - pick out a bible verse for encouragement to help you walk." He reached his hand in the jar and pulled out the following verse "Stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes." (1 Samuel 12:16.) We both looked at each other and I was like "Honey, God just told you to stand up!" He agreed and was encouraged for lap #2. :-) It was so awesome - and so God! It was a really special moment for us. Brent got up and took another lap like a champ! I was so proud of him for doing 2 laps around the ICU - and so were all the staff! We all told him he would be perfectly fine walking down that aisle in 6 weeks. It was so encouraging after a tough morning.
Around 6:30 pm, Brent was transferred out of the ICU and into the Telemetry unit, where we will remain for 4 days. We are now in room 1340 (building 1, 3rd floor for those coming to visit!) We watched Jeopardy and now Brent has fallen back asleep. :-) Tomorrow all of his tubes will be removed, which will greatly decrease his pain.
As I said before, just because the surgery is over does not mean life is going to be easy for Brent. He's got a long 8 weeks ahead of him and we will continue to need prayers and support! 2 walks around the ICU just 24 hours after surgery is definitely a praise, but he's got a long way to go for our wedding in 6 weeks! He will recover very well and I know God is blessing him immensely, but I ask that you all please continue to keep Brent in your prayers. We've worked so hard planning our dream wedding and honeymoon - and we want Brent to be close to 100% in 6 weeks, which will certainly be a miracle from God!
Thank you again for your support and prayers thus far, we would not be where we are right now without that support and the huge outpouring of prayers!!! I truly believe that the reason Brent is doing so well is because of the tremendous amount of people asking God to heal Brent! I can guarantee it was not an easy surgery and probably one of his more complicated ones - yet he's doing better than ever. Thank you God!!!
I will continue the updates tomorrow!
God bless,
Rachel
Today was post-op day 1 and I think it went very well! The surgeon came by briefly at 7:00 am and then at about 7:15 am, the nurse moved Brent to the chair. He sat there for about an hour, used his incentive spirometer (small device used to help expand his lungs), and then moved back to the bed. Unfortunately, when he moved back to the bed, he started having severe pain and was very distressed. He was squeezing my hand and crying out to the nurse to please make it stop. He was very tense and just looking at me with these tearful eyes that said "please make it stop!" I didn't know what to do except hold his hand, tell him to relax, kiss his forehead, and silently pray. I was trying so hard not to tear up and upset him. I was afraid it was going to be a bad day at that point! His nurse called another nurse and she rushed in and gave him some Morphine, and he slowly started to relax. It was not a fun experience - it's so hard to see loved ones in so much pain - and I can't even imagine how much pain he was in! We then slept until about 11:00 am - I think we both needed the rest! Brent continued to sleep for the majority of the day - when he was awake he began to eat jello, drink broth, juice, and hot tea. So he's eating again!
Ever since the morning pain incident, Brent's pain has been well-controlled and he's made a lot of improvement on the incentive spirometer. The anesthesiologist came by this morning as well and informed us that the aneurysm on Brent's heart was the size of a fist! I can not believe how big it was - and how amazing it is that we caught this last Friday! The "what-if's" are horrible to think about - that aneurysm was almost the size of his entire heart! Praise the Lord that we caught it before it ruptured. I am so glad he made that cardiologist appointment at 4 months instead of waiting until after the honeymoon. What a blessing - and how amazing that they were able to fix him! So while it's disappointing that all of this has happened within the past 6 days and so close to our wedding day, I am SO grateful that everything has happened the way God intended. I might not have had a wonderful man to marry if we would've waited!
So around 4:00 pm, 2 of Brent's co-workers came over to visit. Even though Brent's been exhausted all day and in and out of consciousness, it was very good for him to see them. It was also good for me to have some outside contact today. :-) After they left, the nurse told Brent it was time to start walking. I know that it's so hard for him to walk and very painful, but I encouraged him that he could do it and that it would speed up his recovery. We started with one lap around the ICU and then he settled into the chair. Sitting up in a chair is also very good for recovery - even though he sleeps in the bed in a somewhat sitting up position - the chair is better. (Brent and I had planned on getting a new couch after we got married but I realized today I'll definitely be getting a new couch the first day we get home to help his recovery - mine is very uncomfortable and not post-surgery friendly!) He had me turn on the NBA draft - he told me yesterday right after surgery "Don't forget the NBA draft is on tomorrow at 5:00 pm!" - so he watched that today. And by watched it, I mean he slept through it but I think he was happy it was on. :-)
Brent sat up in the chair for about 30 minutes and then told me he was in so much pain, that he wanted to lay back down. I asked him to please take one more lap around the ICU, that it would help him so much and even one extra lap today would speed up his recovery! He said he couldn't do it. A very sweet woman from Elevate church made us a large gift basket, and in the basket was a jar filled with scriptures. I brought the jar over to Brent and said "Ok, here - pick out a bible verse for encouragement to help you walk." He reached his hand in the jar and pulled out the following verse "Stand and see this great thing which the Lord will do before your eyes." (1 Samuel 12:16.) We both looked at each other and I was like "Honey, God just told you to stand up!" He agreed and was encouraged for lap #2. :-) It was so awesome - and so God! It was a really special moment for us. Brent got up and took another lap like a champ! I was so proud of him for doing 2 laps around the ICU - and so were all the staff! We all told him he would be perfectly fine walking down that aisle in 6 weeks. It was so encouraging after a tough morning.
Around 6:30 pm, Brent was transferred out of the ICU and into the Telemetry unit, where we will remain for 4 days. We are now in room 1340 (building 1, 3rd floor for those coming to visit!) We watched Jeopardy and now Brent has fallen back asleep. :-) Tomorrow all of his tubes will be removed, which will greatly decrease his pain.
As I said before, just because the surgery is over does not mean life is going to be easy for Brent. He's got a long 8 weeks ahead of him and we will continue to need prayers and support! 2 walks around the ICU just 24 hours after surgery is definitely a praise, but he's got a long way to go for our wedding in 6 weeks! He will recover very well and I know God is blessing him immensely, but I ask that you all please continue to keep Brent in your prayers. We've worked so hard planning our dream wedding and honeymoon - and we want Brent to be close to 100% in 6 weeks, which will certainly be a miracle from God!
Thank you again for your support and prayers thus far, we would not be where we are right now without that support and the huge outpouring of prayers!!! I truly believe that the reason Brent is doing so well is because of the tremendous amount of people asking God to heal Brent! I can guarantee it was not an easy surgery and probably one of his more complicated ones - yet he's doing better than ever. Thank you God!!!
I will continue the updates tomorrow!
God bless,
Rachel
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