Tom
Harrison
Current
Age: Fifty-four
Occupation:
Social
Worker
Your
Family:
Wife and four children, two
still at home
When you found out about your
condition:
January 2002
What symptoms you had:
Weight
loss, chills. Night sweats
How you prepared for
surgery:
Avoidance mainly
What type of surgery you
had:
Prosthetic
valve replacement, aortic stem
repair
Medications before
surgery:
None
Medications after
surgery:
Coumadin, Metoprol
Type of valve you
have:
Sulzer Carbomedics Device
Hospital where your surgery
was done:
St. Boniface in Winnipeg
Your experience
there:
Good
Your first few days
home: See
narrative below
Your recovery since
then: See
narrative below
How you found out about this
site: Web
search
In May
2001I celebrated my 54
birthday in good health. I was
now a year away from age 55,
which would allow for early
retirement and I looked
forward to deciding if I
wanted to stay at my current
job or try something else.
As I
celebrated that birthday I had
had no major illnesses and the
last time I was in hospital
was when I had my tonsils out
at age 5. My blood pressure
was always good; I’m a
non-smoker, eat well and
exercise regularly mainly by
walking. I had never
experienced shortness of
breath or chest pain. I always
went to my doctor for a yearly
check up and they sent me for
tests, mainly to screen for
cancer, as there is a
substantial family history.
My maternal grandmother died
of a heart attack in her
forties, otherwise there is no
family history of heart
problems.
In August I took my family for
a holiday in Scotland and
spent three weeks touring the
highlands and tracing my
family’s history on the Isle
of Skye. On returning I went
back to work and a week later
my wife, two daughters and I
were cleaning the basement on
the September long weekend
when I put my back out. The
lower back pain was intense
and I was not able to go to
work. I saw a doctor at the
clinic who prescribed T3’s for
pain and an
anti-inflammatory. During the
next 5 weeks I saw my own
doctor, a physiotherapist, a
massage therapist, and a
chiropractor (I was in so much
pain the visit was
cancelled). With 5 weeks rest
the pain had subsided and I
was able to go back to work.
During this time I lost about
10 pounds and since I was only
165 to 170 to start the loss
was dramatic. I assumed the
weight loss was related to the
back injury and that I would
soon gain it back. However
during the month of October I
lost another 10 pounds and
began to feel tired all the
time. In addition I began to
experience chills in the
evening and would go to bed
and wake with night sweats.
I went back to my doctor who
sent me for blood work and a
chest x-ray. The doctor
stated “I’ll call you with the
results” but I never heard and
when I called could only get
through to reception. I was
feeling worse and made another
appointment. The Doctor
stated that the x-ray was
clear and the blood work
within normal ranges although
a couple of results were on
the high side. I was unsure
were to go from here and the
doctor suggested a referral to
an internist but the earliest
appointment would be the first
week in January.
Through to the middle of
November I continued to
deteriorate. Some friends
from a former office asked me
to lunch and were shocked by
my appearance. One of them
asked my permission to call a
mutual friend at one of the
hospitals to see if she could
arrange an earlier
appointment. The friend was
able to get an appointment
with an internist but that
doctor wanted a referral from
my doctor whom when contacted
refused to make a second
referral. The friend then
contacted the doctor
originally referred to and
arranged an appointment for
December 15th with
another internist in the same
office, thus avoiding the need
for a new referral. All of
this took time while my health
continued to fail.
On November 27th I
had dental work done.
On December 14th I
finally attended the
appointment with the internist
who gave me another complete
physical and scheduled tests.
When the blood work again came
back normal he scheduled a CT
scan of the abdomen for Jan 4th.
I was again promised a call
with results and when I heard
nothing my wife called the
office and got an appointment
for me to go in January 9th.
I had been having pains in my
joints over a period of weeks
and on January 5th
had trouble walking. At the
doctor’s office on January 9th
he did another routine
physical and heard a murmur in
my heart. He had an angiogram
done immediately and scheduled
me for an ultra sound first
thing the next morning. The
afternoon after the ultra
sound he called to say his
suspicion, that I had a
congenitally defective valve,
that it was infected, and that
I might require surgery to
replace it, was confirmed. He
recommended a course of
intravenous antibiotics
followed by a referral to a
cardiac specialist. My
reaction was total disbelief.
The next morning the doctor
called again asking me to come
in that morning to see a
specialist in infection
control. They placed a PICC
in my arm, which would allow
me to go home on the home IV
program but kept me in
hospital three nights while
they monitored my progress.
Then I went home with a nurse
calling in twice a day to
administer the medication
through the PICC. I was on
these antibiotics until
February 8th and
eventually learned to
administer it myself at the
same time coming to grips with
what was now in my future.
The doctor now informed me
that “ might need surgery” had
changed to will need as soon
as possible and that an
angiogram or heart cath. would
be needed to rule out the need
for bypass surgery as well.
I finished the antibiotics
February 8th and
went for the heart cath on
February15th. The cardiac
surgeon then met with me. It
was good news and bad. My
arteries were clear but he
suspected that the valve had
been leaking for years and
that the extra load placed on
my heart stretched the Aorta.
He wanted another angiogram
done, this time of the heart,
and would operate the day
after it was done. A week
later his office called to say
the angio was slated for
Monday February 25th
and my surgery for Wednesday
Feb 27th. (Had to
go home for a day in between
due to scheduling problems in
the OR) The Angiogram
confirmed that I required a
valve replacement and about a
third to a half of the aorta
replaced with a synthetic
material.
I had at this point been
feeling unwell for six months
and now faced major surgery
and an uncertain future with a
need for ongoing medication.
I had to go back to the
hospital on the Tuesday to
meet with the anesthetist and
then reported to the hospital
at 5:30 Wednesday morning. I
was prepped (shaved from neck
to ankles) and wheeled into
the OR. This is a teaching
hospital and I had requested
that my surgeon, not one of
his students, perform the
surgery. He assured me he had
no students at this time so
that would not be a factor. I
never thought to ask the
anesthetist and once in the OR
he introduced me to his
student and they began to put
in IV lines, one in each arm.
The student made five
unsuccessful tries when the
anesthetist took over. This
was not really painful in any
way and is my last remembrance
until after the surgery.
My next remembrance is my wife
telling me the surgery was a
success, that I was in the
intensive care unit, and that
the nurse would take the
breathing tube out of my
throat as soon as she was sure
I was breathing on my own.
The test was if I could raise
my head off the bed. Someone
who had had the operation had
warned me that the tube would
be there and it was hard not
to gag on it. I could not
raise my head but did raise my
arm to point at it several
times. This was not the test
and I gagged a few times and
then raised my head and out it
came. My wife left for the
night and I drifted in and out
of consciousness. By morning
I was more awake than asleep
and was told I was doing well
and would be transferred to
the Step down unit.
Once in the step down unit I
began to ask for pain medicine
(Morphine?) on a regular
basis. My nurse said that
when the tubes in my chest
cavity were removed I would
have less pain and
discomfort. Late that morning
she said she was going to
remove the tubes and gave me
an extra dose of painkiller.
She then said “your going to
feel this” and I thought, “ask
for more medicine” but did not
act on the thought and she
removed the tubes. My initial
thought was the right one.
However with the tubes out I
was more comfortable. The
nurse also removed the
catheter and stated “if you
can’t urinate on your own I’ll
put this back in”. (good
incentive to do it on your
own). By the next morning I
was transferred to the ward.
My nurse then explained that
if I continued to use the
Morphine I risked having my
lungs fill up with fluids. I
switched to T3’s and a few
days later to Tylenol to avoid
the constipating effect of
codeine.
No one explains that your
entire body is under stress.
Never mind your heart, your
lungs are sore and have fluid
in them, your stomach hurts,
bowels and bladder are not
working, fingers on your left
hand are numb, left shoulder
is sore, you ache all over and
every one tells you this is
perfectly normal. I also
developed back pain perhaps
from being in bed to long.
Gradually the other tubes were
removed, the IV in my left
arm, the pacemaker wires, the
monitor and wires, and finally
the IV in my right arm.
At the same time a
physiotherapist had me climb a
flight of stairs and checked
my pulse rate with the goal of
keeping the increase to 10
points. I also started a
series of stretching
exercises, and walking in the
hall.
On my second day on the ward
the nurse arrived with a large
needle and stated that the
doctor had prescribed a shot
of anti biotic followed by
eight of Heparin, blood
thinner, over 4 days. All
this by IM injection. These
were not as painful as they
looked.
After 8 days in total I headed
home.
The next day I was to go back
to the hospital for a blood
sample to determine INR levels
for the Coumadin. I had
developed chest pain for the
first time. (a sharp stabbing
pain) and ended up in
emergency where they conducted
a series of tests and
reassured me that the pains
where muscular rather than
heart related and that I
should keep on with the pain
medicine.
Over the next couple of weeks
I began to feel better. (Not
day by day but certainly week
by week), and gradually got
some strength back.
The artificial valve is noisy
but I am getting used to it
and the medication regime is
becoming habit as well. In
another three weeks I can
drive again and tomorrow I am
starting a rehab program
offered here for heart
patients.
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