David Osborne
Current Age: 60 plus 9 months.
Occupation: Computer Programmer since 1961
Family: My family consists of a very dedicated and
loyal wife since 1960, three children (one girl, two boys) all above
the age of 31, two grandchildren from my daughter and a very loyal
and gentle brown, 140-pound Labrador retriever.
My Condition: My first hint of a heart problem came when
I was being processed through the Marine Corps Boot Camp at Paris
Island, South Carolina in 1961. My first day in boot camp was very
stressful. One of the activities was a full medical examination by a
team of doctors. Our platoon of 80 young boys, mostly in their late
teens, were having their hearts listened to for possible heart
defects. After the first military doctor listened to my heart, he
called four other doctors to also listen to my heart. They did not
tell me what the extra attention was about, but I did hear them say
“If he can make it through boot camp, he will probably be able to
stay in the Marine Corps”. After 14 and ½ weeks of the most
strenuous activities you can imagine, I graduated and was sent on to
Helicopter Maintenance School at Jacksonville, Florida.
Because I had a short business school on business automation,
I was reassigned to one of the Marine Corps data processing centers,
which began my career in Data Processing and programming computers.
For the most part I had no symptoms of heart problems until
the early 1980’s. I occasionally complained of sharp pains in my
left pectoral muscle, which the doctors attributed to my stressful
job. In 1999 I noticed that I would begin sweating profusely with
only moderate physical exertion. No pain, just a feeling that
something was not right with my body. By late 2001, the symptoms
included more frequent sweating and left shoulder pains. I was
finally put through the various stress tests, including the nuclear
injections and scanning before and after the treadmill test. Finally
a heart sonogram showed that I had a condition known as Aorta-Stenosys
with a sub normal blood flow. I was told that some day I might need
the aorta valve worked on. My rating was rating of 1.4, which is
below the normal 2.0 to 2.5. I was told that when the opening was .7
or less I would have to have the valve replaced. I thought it would
be at least 10 years before I would have to have it replaced. My
last sonogram prior to the surgery showed the opening to be only
0.7, down from 1.4 in only 8 months.
In January of 2002, I had a heart-catheter procedure done to
determine the true extent of my problem. $15,000 later and a few
hours after the procedure, a heart surgeon came to my room and
suggested I just stay over night and have the valve replaced the
next morning. I naturally thought that he just needed a new Mercedes
and wanted to work on me before I had time to think about it. I told
the doctor (heart surgeon) that I would like to think it over for a
while and get back to him. He said that the longest I should (or
could) wait was 4 to 6 weeks. I was a bit shocked since my symptoms
were not bad yet.
My wife and I took a trip to see my “In-Laws” for a few days
(against the doctor’s wishes) and I did OK. The doctor’s nurse had
pre-warned me to go to the nearest emergency room if I began having
any chest pains. I agreed and took the trip.
I worked my normal 10-hour days the day before my surgery was
scheduled (2/26/2002) and left not knowing if I would ever return to
my job. One of my good friends and co-workers had tears in her eyes
as she said for me to not worry about the surgery and everything
would work out. This did make me feel a little uneasy, but I brushed
it aside and went on home.
I had no problems going to sleep that night and woke up a
little early to take a last really clean shower hoping to keep down
the chances for an infection setting in after the surgery. While
driving to the Memorial Hospital, Jacksonville, at 5:30 AM, I began
to sense that my wife seemed worried about the whole process. I did
not have any doubts that I would survive the procedure OK and would
return to a normal life. Evidently my wife of 42 years had other
feelings.
We arrived at the check in desk at 6:00 AM and signed in. My
surgery was to start at 7:30 AM, so I figured the “front desk”
people would rush me back to the OR prep room. We sat down in the
waiting area and watched the clock reach 6:30, then 6:45. My wife
asked the desk person who checked me in about getting me back to the
OR soon. The indignant lady said that she knew what she was doing
and for us to not worry. By 7:10 AM we were still in the waiting
room when an OR nurse asked if we had arrived yet. I got up and told
the OR nurse whom I was and what the front desk woman said. The OR
nurse went into over drive and immediately rushed my wife and me
back to the OR-prep room. In 5 minutes I was on a gurney with an IV
in my arm, trying to communicate with my wife for a traditional good
luck kiss. I got it and then the nurse said we were going to the OR
room now and she would give me the injection to put me to sleep. She
did this while she was telling me she was going to do it. Within
hearing her last word of her sentence I was out to dream land. Two
days later I woke up as I was being wheeled into my cardiac ward. I
had made it through the surgery and the intensive care two-day stay.
The only thing I remember during the intensive care time was
pointing to my throat and shaking my fist at someone to take the
tube out. They finally did and I went back to dream land. Next, I
was yelling for them to take the urine catheter out. They finally
did that too. I was not aware of the three plastic tubes hanging out
of area just below my breastbone. By the time I got back to the
cardiac ward the tubes were gone. Now all I had to put up with was
the 36 metal staples in my chest. The only bad pain I experienced
was on my back between my shoulder blades. I was injured in an auto
accident about five years ago that caused muscle spasms (trigger
point). The heart surgery evidently affected this injury big time
and I had to have my pain pills regularly.
The aorta heart valve I was born with had only two leaflets,
which is not as effective as the normal 3-leaflet valve. This may be
one reason I could never run as fast or ride my bike as fast as my
brother and sister and other children in my neighborhood. It must be
programmed in my genetic code!
Every day the hospital vampires would come to get two tubes
of blood. No one told me why and I just thought it was part of the
process. I was also given chest x-rays every morning and was not
told why. After the 6th day in the hospital I was visited
by a specialist of infectious diseases and was told that the problem
had much improved and I did not have to worry about anything. How
could I worry about anything when I wasn’t told why the doctors were
concerned, but as it turns out, my white cell count was very high
indicating a massive infection was possible. The doctor said it was
probably just my body reacting to the postoperative recovery
process. My first day on my feet was interesting. My nurse asked me
to walk around the rectangle ward one time. She held my arm to
steady me and off we went. I only went about 40 feet and my legs
began feeling like they would give way. Over the next couple of days
I was able to extend the distance to three or four laps around the
ward unassisted. On the 8th day I was released from the
hospital and my wife drove me home. I told her I wanted to drive but
she said the doctors did not want me to drive for at least six
weeks.
At home, I recorded all of my vital statistics on a clipboard
log I made on my computer. Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure,
and medications were recorded many times per day. My heart rate
stayed between 100 and 110 even while in bed and upon wakening up.
It took almost 4 months for the heart rate to start falling back to
normal. My current fully resting heart rate is now between 56 and 62
and my blood pressure stays in the very normal range (115/75). My
incision site is getting better all the time. I measured the length
of the incision and found it to be just over 9 inches.
My back pain problem was resolved with the help of my family
doctor. He gave me a shot of steroid into the location of the pain.
Two days later my pain was gone.
It might be interesting to know that 4 months after the
surgery, I was diagnosed as having type-2 diabetes and have probably
had it for the last 5 or ten years. Nice news, right?
I feel like I have been given an extension on my original
manufactures warranty. I am now the proud owner of a St. Jude
Mechanical Heard Valve designed to last 200 years. Now all I have to
do is live another 139 years to get my moneys worth.
If more details are wanted about the recovery process and
what I experienced, I would be glad to answer any reasonable
questions via E-mail.
Thanks,
David Osborne |