My grandmother's heart surgery yesterday went well. They replaced two valves (mitral valve damaged by childhood rheumatic fever and one other) and did two bypasses. She's 86, so her recovery will be slow, but she's making small, steady improvements already. Frank and I are off to visit again now.
UPDATE 8/12
I spent a couple of hours with my grandma last night. Her wonderful night nurse had me coax her into eating some chicken noodle soup. It was pretty bad soup, so I bribed her with alternating bites of yogurt. After this had gone on for a while, I said, "We've got this soup about licked, Grandma," and she fired back, "Good, then throw the rest out."
He also had her up and walking while I was there. She liked that even less than the soup, but she got the job done. So, she's pretty miserable but doing well.
The plan is for her to move into transitional care on Tuesday, be there for ten days, and then return home. She'll need daily help there for a while, which I don't think we've quite figured out. She really hates having strangers messing about in her home (and who can blame her).
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8 months ago
2 comments:
Go Grandma, Go Grandma, Go Grandma! Here's a quick healing a strong body!!
RANDI
Originally, the aorta was the bad valve and then as Grandma's congestive heart failure worsened this summer, the mitral valve started to close also. The doctors suspected that all she had was holes where the valves were supposed to be and upon surgery, they discovered their suspicions were correct, two narrowing holes that weren't pumping properly. The phys. asst. referred to this as a "rheumatic" heart since bouts with rheumatic fever (caused by juvenile strep throat)is what caused the damage to the valves over the years.
Grandma's heart beat and pulse were never normal and she was always in what they call "A-fib", irregular rhythm. Surprise! The morning after the surgery, her heart was beating normally with the two new valves and the nurses said "The top of her heart is healing". Dr. Byrnes is our miracle worker to have even taken on the task of healing an 86 year old woman! He said he would retire if she comes back to him in 10 years to have the new valves replaced!!! Long live Grandma!!
Mary
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