Nancy
July 15th, 2001, 07:04 PM
Joe had his PATs. The anesthesiologist told us twice that it was going to be a LONG surgery. So I guess I'm looking at 10-12 hours.
Two years ago, Joe had to go to the hospital several days ahead of surgery to get on Heparin but now the situation has improved. He is getting Lovenox injections at home given by the Visiting Nurse's Association. They come twice a day 12 hours apart. In addition to the injections, they have kept very careful records on his CHF. They take his vitals, listen to his heart and lung sounds, measure his ankles and stomach area for fluid buildup and keep track of his weight. When he had a 5 pound weight gain in 3 days, increased girth, and minimized lung sounds, the nurse was on the phone pronto with the doctor and got him a prescription for 5 mg. of Zaroxolyn right away to be taken every other day until surgery(double the last dosage he had). This is in addition to his Lasix. He lost 6 pounds in 12 hours.
They will also draw fasting bloodwork the day before surgery, because of the Zaroxolyn.
So far, I'm very impressed and Joe is glad to be home listening to my dulcid sounds, or Irish sarcasm, whichever I happen to feel like at the time.
For those of you who don't know he's going in for his third valve replacement on July 18.
Two years ago, Joe had to go to the hospital several days ahead of surgery to get on Heparin but now the situation has improved. He is getting Lovenox injections at home given by the Visiting Nurse's Association. They come twice a day 12 hours apart. In addition to the injections, they have kept very careful records on his CHF. They take his vitals, listen to his heart and lung sounds, measure his ankles and stomach area for fluid buildup and keep track of his weight. When he had a 5 pound weight gain in 3 days, increased girth, and minimized lung sounds, the nurse was on the phone pronto with the doctor and got him a prescription for 5 mg. of Zaroxolyn right away to be taken every other day until surgery(double the last dosage he had). This is in addition to his Lasix. He lost 6 pounds in 12 hours.
They will also draw fasting bloodwork the day before surgery, because of the Zaroxolyn.
So far, I'm very impressed and Joe is glad to be home listening to my dulcid sounds, or Irish sarcasm, whichever I happen to feel like at the time.
For those of you who don't know he's going in for his third valve replacement on July 18.