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Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:32 am  |
I just came through 9 hours of surgery. I checked into the clinic at 11am on Monday, was called in at 2pm to get my I.V. installed and have labwork done. At about 4pm I was finally taken to the Catheter Lab and they started the procedure at 5pm. My husband and parents were with me until they took me in to begin the surgery. The doctor told us it was going to be complicated and could take between 4-8 hours. I'm an optimist so I assumed he was just telling us that as a worst case scenario. I'm young, strong, and healthy so I figured I'd be out of there in 3. Wrong. Not only did it take 9 full hours, I was awake, alert and felt everything they were doing! They put catheters in my groins and sent several tools up into my heart. They used a pacing tool to trigger tachycardia so they could map out where the bad electrical signals were and a radiofrequency tool to burn the spots so they couldn't fire any more. A couple of times they had my heart rate up to 280. That felt terrible. I could feel the burns too, mostly it just felt like warmth but several of them were very uncomfortable. It took so long because they couldn't find the beginning of the circuit causing the 280 rhythm, they think it may be on the outside of my heart. They finished at 2am and by 3 I was put in a hospital room to recover but I didn't sleep because I was having little panic attacks every time I'd start to drift off. Plus, they had me attached to an automatic blood pressure unit that came loudly to life every half hour and printed out my vitals. I was also hooked up to telemetry that the nurses were watching on monitors in their station. They came in every hour to look at the fabulous new holes in my groins (it looks like 4 on the left, 2 on the right) to make sure I wasn't bleeding - they had pumped me full of anti-coagulants so I wouldn't have a stroke during the procedure. They gave me a jug of water but I didn't eat until about 9am so it shouldn't have been a surprise that my bloodwork was a little scary and my bp was down to 75/45. I was supposed to be released that morning but one of the docs from the cath lab came to see me and decided I needed to have some IV fluids, and try to get my vitals back up. I still hadn't slept at all but now I was afraid to spend too much time in bed because my pb results looked a bit better when I was up. They took blood again and said that it looked like I was improving. My bp came up to about 80/55 and they released me at 4pm. We ordered dinner and ate in our hotel room. I finally got to sleep for the first time at about 10pm last night but I was wide awake this morning at 5. I'm hoping that I'll get drowsy again after sitting here at the computer for a while. I know I need more sleep and I'm supposed to go back to the clinic for a treadmill stress test to see if I can trigger an attack. I feel like crap but I know I'm on the mend because my appetite is back. In fact, I'm pretty sure they just started serving breakfast and I may sneak down there for something to eat.
Thank you everybody for the warm wishes and happy thoughts.
Liz |
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Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:36 am |
Liz-
Is wonderful to hear that your surgery went ok. Hope the recovery is also good. Sounds like it is ok so far (especially if you are hungry for hospital food already).
Take care of yourself- and let husband and parents (I think they were flying in, yes?) look after you too.
Best wishes
maddy |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:52 am |
Liz,
Glad to hear you are on the mend - take care.
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Lucia, VERY fair (ghostly so!)redhead, combination skin prone to dehydration. |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 5:07 am |
I'm really thinking of you here - you are so brave going through all that, weel done for getting through it all. I wish you all the best for a speedy recovery  |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 6:53 am |
Hey, Liz, glad to hear from you although sorry to hear what you've gone through. Get well soon and get loads to get the energy to recover.
KK |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 10:49 am |
I am glad everything was well in the end. I hope you have a speedy recovery. You must let everyone pamper you and don't overdo things.  |
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50, happy reluma user started 16.6.12 original formula. PMD user. started LouLou's ageless regime. |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 11:03 am |
Hi Liz
Here's wishing you a speedy recovery after what sounds like a bit of an ordeal - you poor soul!
Take care
T x |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:26 pm |
You go, Lucky Girl I was thinking about your surgery on Monday and I sent you a positive thought.
It was in the morning,I didn't know that they do surgeries so late !!!!
I lot of best wishes to recovery! |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:31 pm |
| Liz, so relieved that everything went well for you. Wishing you all the best in your recovery. Give your body time to heal and try not to worry too much |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 12:34 pm |
big hugs Liz! When you gonna jump out of a plane next?
Liz xxx |
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my new jewellery website:www.gentle-medusa.com |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 1:13 pm |
Geez...I picture you in my mind's eye jumping out of planes and racing around on motorcycles....what a scary, freaky experience that must have been -- and you were conscious of what was going on?!  I'm sending good vibes your way and wishing you a speedy recovery! Gosh - life is fragile, isn't it? Take good care!
Pudoodles |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 4:03 pm |
Thanks so much for all the support. I was back at the clinic today to do a treadmill stress test. I could only do 8 minutes but I passed the test. I wasn't able to induce an attack and my heart rate has been normal since the surgery. I'm exhausted though and need to catch up on my sleep.
I don't know when I'll get to jump out of a plane next but I'll be back on my my little motorcycle riding in the jungle soon and I'm planning to start training for a triathlon when I get back to Roatan.
We postponed our trip home for a few days so I could stay close to doctors but I can't wait to get back to the island and our Kitty. I miss my furry girl.
blue skies, Liz |
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Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 8:47 pm |
((((((((Freefall) ) |
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Wed Apr 13, 2005 9:57 pm |
| Wow, Liz, I'm so glad you are doing well now. What an ordeal! I have no doubt you will recover well and succeed in that triathalon. Thank you for updating us, I am thinking about you. ((((Hugs) Annette |
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V2J 6P7 |
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Mabsy
Moderator
 
Joined: 17 Aug 2003
Posts: 9644
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Fri Apr 15, 2005 9:52 pm |
Hi Liz,
I'm really glad that you're recovering well and I wish you all the best. It's very unfortunate that you had to go through this (any surgery is bad, 9 hours of surgery is even worse, being aware of it would be beyond dreadful as far as I can imagine) and I hope that this means that you've used up your lifetime hospital quota and won't need to see the inside of the operating room ever again
Mabsy
ps. Sorry for the late wishes but I haven't been able to log on for a couple of days. |
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Sun Apr 17, 2005 12:28 am |
| Although we all don't really know each other, we do all really feel a connection. So happy you are up and around and ready for your trip home. I was thinking of you and your kitty (so cute from the pic you posted!). Furry faces are great for the spirit and for healing! I'm sure the warm sun and amazing beauty of where you live will also help. Take very good care and keep us posted. joani |
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Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:24 pm |
Thanks again. It is very cool to have such a great group of people sending me warm wishes.
We're back in Roatan and the Kitty is very happy to have us home. We arrived last night and our luggage arrived this morning.
I had a little scare today. At around noon I developed a fever with chills and aches. We drove out to the clinic and the doctor checked me over. She tested me for malaria and I'll get the result tomorrow. In the meantime she put me on an antibiotic in case it is an infection I'm fighting. I hate popping antibiotics and down here that is always the first thing the docs want to do, even for a virus! This time I agreed that it was safer to err on the side of caution. I haven't told my parents, they flew back to California when we flew down here. I know Mom will be up all night worrying about me if I tell her. Also, she didn't want me flying down here so soon after the surgery and this would give her one of those "I told you so" opportunities.
While I was writing this I got an e-mail from my surgeon in New Orleans saying that it is really unlikely that the fever has anything to do with the surgery. This is the first time in my life I'm hoping I have the flu!!! |
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Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Sun Apr 17, 2005 9:52 pm |
Liz,
I am so glad you had a successful surgery. You are a real trooper!!
God Bless,
Winnie |
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Tue Apr 19, 2005 9:07 pm |
I'm worried since we haven't heard back from you. I pray everything is alright. I hope we hear from you soon!
-Cheri |
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Wed Apr 20, 2005 1:57 pm |
I'm feeling much better thanks. No more fever. I went back to the clinic to get the results of my malaria test but unfortunately ants ate my blood sample. We decided not to bother doing it over because I'm not having any more fever/chills.
We rented 3 dvd's so I can be a couch potato for a couple more days without being too bored.
The only part of me that is still really uncomfortable are the spots in my groin where they put in the catheters. Of course, that is exactly where the Kitty wants to sit while she makes biscuits on my belly.
Liz |
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Owner at GS & Company at Semiahmoo Shopping Centre |
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Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:03 pm |
I am so happy you are ok. When we didn't hear back from you in a couple of days I just knew the test was positive. Thank goodness it wasn't. I can't believe ants ate your blood sample!
Take it easy and let hubby & kitty do all the work.
-Cheri |
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Wed Apr 20, 2005 6:09 pm |
Oh my goodness! I'm somewhat new to this site, but I just wanted to send my sincerest thoughts to you. I wish you a speedy recovery
misskoslow |
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