Journey: The Cardiac Edition

In the beginning, the Journey was about the Lymphoma cancer diagnosis. In the last year it has expanded to cover some other health issues. Today, we really move into the “Cardiac Edition” with the kickoff to heart surgery.

We’re up at 6am and off to St. Boniface Hospital for a 7:30 am meeting with the Cardiac Pre-Operative Assessment Clinic team. For those of you interested skipping to the outcome, click here, otherwise read on.

The team is a nurse, ECG tech, a nurse practitioner and the cardiac anesthesiologist.

The nurse confirms all my basic info, records height & weight, temperature, blood pressure (sitting & standing). All my medications and vitamins are reviewed and recorded. The contents of the pre-op package of printed material is reviewed. Special attention is given to what I need to do the night before and the morning of the surgery. Blood is collected for testing and an ECG is performed. The last test is to get a chest x-ray on the way out of the hospital.

The nurse practitioner confirms my medical history and confirms in more detail all my medications. She reviews all my symptoms related to the heart issue. She performs a physical examination. In addition to discussing the surgery she reviews what to expect post-surgery and highlights of the recovery process. The recovery is quite lengthy with the sternum that they cut open healing in about three months. There is a lot of detail on exercises you need to do both in hospital and after discharge to give me the best outcome. Lots of things you can’t do for quite a while, like basically don’t use your arms because it, stresses the sternum which is trying to heal. No pushing, pulling, lifting, no driving for 4 to 6 weeks, etc. etc. I’ll need to get used to asking for help and letting others do quite a bit of stuff. Deep breathing and walking seem to be key exercises.

The cardiac anesthesiologist shares his understanding of my situation gleaned from my hospital history files and his consultation with the nurse practitioner. He explains more about the nitty gritty of the surgery, the risks and benefits and answers all our questions.
He feels that I’m an excellent candidate and will do well in my recovery.

Summary:

• I’m on the cardiac surgery wait list and flagged as “urgent”.
• I will get a phone call with the date of the surgery. The date is likely to be “within days to a couple of weeks”.
• The phone call is likely to be on a Friday morning with a date in the following week.
• I’ve completed all the pre-op testing.
• Surgery is typically 3-5 hours.
• Hospital stay is typically 5-7 days
• Full recovery is over the following 3+ months

Just waiting for the phone call with the surgery date.

At this point we are both feeling quite overwhelmed with the enormity of the journey ahead but we are also relieved and encouraged that things are moving ahead quickly. Our God is good.

Ps 91:2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.”

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More details

Cardiac Sciences Program website for additional information and videos including:

Your Heart, Your Health A Patients Guide To Heart Surgery – YouTube –

Patient guide to heart surgery book: https://cardiacsciencesmb.ca/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/PatientGuidetoHeartSurgeryEnglish.pdf

Heart and stroke “Living well with heart disease” book

Moving safely after heart surgery pdf/book