Mike Kalahar's Surgery Log

Greetings to all you fans out there,

I must be getting better since I now have enough energy and focus to write an update. I have made slow but steady progress since the blood transfusion. The latest theory is that I had something described as periocarditis. It is a syndrome that results in some people post heart surgery. The symptoms include but are not limited to fatigue, muscle cramps and aches. I had many of the symptoms but not all. The prognosis is good expecting to get past it within a couple of weeks un-aided. The treatment is cortisone treatment. I chose to not fill the prescription for a couple of days after the doctors visit to see if I showed improvement. I hoped for 10% improvement each day and felt like I achieved that goal.  As a result, I have not taken any cortisone, and I am making consistent daily improvements albeit slower than I would prefer.

I am continuing to sleep less, and have even gone two days without a nap.  I am walking 45 to 50 minutes per day, mostly on flat ground, but with a few hills here and there.  My sleep patterns are still far from normal, but they are acceptable.  My appetite is still smaller than I am accustomed, but is slowly improving.  My weight continues to hold seven pounds below my pre-surgery weight.  My mental state has improved dramatically over the last several weeks.

Thank you all for your interest and support in this adventure.  I appreciate all the warm wishes and visits.

Dad’s spending tonight in the hospital.  Mom and I are going to go in  together in the morning and see him before she has to go to work. Assuming all is well, I’m going to bring him back home and then head into town and run some errands.

This evening they did a CT scan of his chest, and an echocardiogram. They both showed a fairly normal situation.  The echo did show some fluid buildup around his heart, but that’s considered very normal for someone this soon after an open heart surgery.  His hematocrit is fairly low (23.9), so they are keeping him tonight to give him two units of blood.  They decided to do it overnight so they could take their time and give it to him slowly, and also because we didn’t want to still be at the hospital at midnight.

I’m hopeful that the extra red cells will really help dad feel better, and that he’ll be energetic and happy tomorrow.

Dad has been short of breath for the last few days. It’s been getting worse as time passes, and the UW Med folks recommended we come to the ER for a chest xray, and possibly other diagnostic tests. We’re just checking in now.

Today, mom and dad drove over to the other side of the Elwha, and went for a walk in the national park. They walked around Altair campground and then Elwha campground. All told, they walked for about 35 minutes. It’s nice to see dad out and about. :-)

Yesterday, Mom and Dad travelled to Seattle to do a post-op visit with the folks at UW Medical Center. The biggest thing we learned from the visit was that the oxycodone we were carefully administering whenever he wasn’t feeling well was likely responsible for much of his discomfort. As a result, yesterday he took a much smaller dose of oxycodone, and today he’s completely off it.

With him off the oxycodone, his mental clarity has improved quite a lot. The enormity of the surgery (and the need for a pacemaker) is hitting him pretty hard, but as you all know, he’s tough and he is dealing with it admirably.

There’s some speculation that the iron supplement he was taking was the cause of some of his other discomfort, so we’re temporarily discontinuing that. His crit is still down at 27, so he’ll probably start on iron again soon if he’s feeling well.

Thanks to everyone for all the good wishes. I’ll make a point of writing updates here more frequently, but I can’t promise I’ll have much to say. :-)

We’re all really happy to be home. There is a lot to do, but it’s great to be home. Dad has been walking several times a day, for 10 to 15 minutes at a time. The scenery here is a nice change from the halls of UW Medical Center. We’ve had several visitors, and have really enjoyed the company. Papa Gordie (pictured above) is here now, and we’re chatting about life and beer.

We are safely home. Ashleigh is making dinner while mom and dad visit with Bobbie and Don.

We’re on a 3:15 ferry to Kingston. We should be home in another few hours. Rumor has it they had a pretty rough time with the checkout procedure, but I haven’t heard many details yet. We’re all looking forward to having this part of the ordeal behind us.

This morning, I dropped mom off at the hospital and came back to the house to pack. Mom and dad are trying to get through the last hoops so they can check out, while Ashleigh and I pack. The bikes are loaded, things are ready to roll, and now we are waiting for a call to head to the hospital.

We can’t safely leave the car in the garage at the hospital with bikes on it, as bike theft is too big a risk. We’ll swoop in and pick then up, and then head for home.

This morning dad made it up an entire flight of stairs. It took a lot out of him, but having made it was a really big achievement.

Update: Mom just called to let me know we’re shooting for a 2:30 departure from the hospital.

Dad has been moved from the ICU to a regular room. The doctor says, barring any unforeseen events, he can go home tomorrow. Ashleigh and I made dinner and brought it to him (see photo). We’re setting him up with some movies on the iPad tonight, and looking forward to a probable trip home tomorrow.