This is Veronica, Jack’s wife, with a new update on Jack’s healing journey. It’s Day 43 since being re-admitted to the hospital, and doctors are optimistic that Jack will make a full recovery. Jack has made significant progress. As of this morning, they have removed over 50lbs of extra fluid. Jack is back to his weight post surgery in October, and his body is responding very well. Jack’s lungs are able to breathe better without all that extra fluid, only…
I’m trying to get this straight so that you can see what I’m going through, but mostly for myself and my ability to hold onto memories. On Wed and Thursday (10/26 & 10/27) my wife wrote about what she saw and how I was reacting to the 2 days after TPVR. From the inside it was what she said, plus the confusion of my own space and time. Sleeping in a hospital is pretty miserable. They were giving me powerful drugs to…
I’m writing this from the hospital on Tues Nov 8th. I just read the last post since the operation, Two Pig Valve Replacement (TPVR). That’s’ what I’m naming my operation. It has been since the 29th, but lots happened in the time being. I’m back at Keck because I talked the Docs into releasing me when I thought I can make it on my own. (Cowboys, army men, John McClane (Die Hard) can all take a bullet and they still go strong,…
Hello, it’s Veronica, Jack’s wife. Today, Jack has been up and walking around. Twice today (morning and late afternoon), Jack walked throughout the entire cardiac unit (both ICU & telemetry). It’s about 112 yards each time around!!! 😳 I couldn’t believe it! Jack is breathing without the oxygen. While he was walking, his oxygen levels were higher, but dipped down a bit once he sat down. He’s doing the deep breathing exercises with the spirometer. I think he’s motivated to…
Hello all. This is Veronica, Jack’s wife. Jack has been recovering really well this week. His sense of humor has returned and he’s more alert, showing more strength. Yesterday, I talked with one of the cardiac surgeons. He said that clinically Jack is doing well and improving as planned. They knew after the surgery that the ICU recovery plan was to take it slow. Surgeon said they expected Jack to remain in ICU for about 5 days post surgery because…
Hi all. This is Sarah, Jack’s daughter. Today was surgery day, and it started at 10am. We got updates from the operating room every 2 hours letting us know how things were going. At 3pm, the surgeon called to let us know they were done and everything went great. The surgeon ended up replacing the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve. He was then sent to the ICU still intubated, which means he had a machine breathing for him, and…
Hi all. This is Sarah, Jack’s daughter. Today was surgery day, and it started at 10am. We got updates from the operating room every 2 hours letting us know how things were going. At 3pm the surgeon called to let us know they were done and everything went great. The surgeon ended up replacing the mitral valve and the tricuspid valve. He was then sent to the ICU still intubated, which means he had a machine breathing for him, and…
This is a YouTube clip of Dr. Vaughn Starnes, the Surgeon-in-Chief of Keck Medicine USC. He will be performing my operation next week. The video starts at the point where the interview is covering what will be done to me next week. He will be removing the old mechanical valve and put in a Porcine (pig valve).
It’s just one week until at 7:30 am Tuesday the 25th, I will undergo my 3rd heart valve replacement at Keck/USC. Yesterday I woke up feeling nervous of the date crawling forward towards me. I’ve been thinking today of many of my symptoms that will hopefully be gone in a few weeks after the surgery. The thing I hope mostly to be finished with is the anemia. My anemia comes from my blood cells being sliced up when going through…
Pre Operation, Hello All, Since December of 2019 I started to feel a real drag on my energy and breathing ability. This probably started before December, but that was when it really showed up in a big way. I was with my wife, kids and grandkids in Cle Elum, WA. We were sledding in the snow, but after just a couple of runs, up and down the hill, I noticed that I was becoming exhausted and when I took off…