Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from the RAH

Day 4 post op

Had a horrible evening - high temperatures and hot sweats all night with frequent vomiting. Still had the lines in my neck and couldn’t get comfortable.

Gave up in the end and just watched movies all night made me irritable throughout the day ! Tried sleeping in the morning but couldn’t with all the constant Dr and nurse visits.

I got up at about 10.30 pretty adamant that I could get up on my own, made it to the shower chair and then realised there was no way I could wash myself lol ! Having these invasive surgeries really strips you of your dignity but hey you have to take the help when you need it.

I then had visitors and they came just in time as they were pulling the artery drip from my neck- it looked liked a straw both in thickness and length. It didn’t hurt but it was uncomfortable. It also bled a lot a i got blood all over my new pj’s :(

I then go set free for 15 minutes -woohoo- Aaron Mum and dad pushed my wheelchair to the hospital gardens it was nice to get some fresh air.

We had a Christmas picnic in the room but I was feeling too sick to eat. I did get a nice pamper pack from the hospital.

I had bloods an ecg and X-ray.

I’ve had a high temperature all day so the took some more blood for testing which I was grumpy about as I’m over being prodded.

They couldn’t remove these lines until my IRN level was lower so I haven’t been on blood thinners the past few days

I had the pacing wires removed from my heart today which was the strangest feeling in the world - literally can feel wires being pulled out your heart. In the picture below you can see the wires on the pillow if you look closely- these wires were keeping me alive for the past 4 days ! Freaky.

Comments

I’m in ICU

Thank you all for the well wishes I have been receiving from literally all around the world. I’m currently in ICU, awake and able to take fluids, not up for eating anything. The surgery went well but there was some complications as electrical conductivity was damaged when removing the old valve and ring that was already in there. This means I’ll be getting a pacemaker and that will be fitted either tomorrow or Sunday. I can hear the valve ticking which is just a very faint tinging noise. I’m in good spirits and not too much pain just discomfort from all the tubes. Waiting before surgery After surgery on ICU

Battery Operated

Alright so i guess I'm practically a terminator, invincible and something of the future ! I have not only my mechanical valve and pacemaker but also two wires anchored in my heart at 59cm and 69cm long, my rib cage is wired shut and i also send and receive data wirelessly, 100% battery operated, and i have two serial numbers. Superhero power is being able to ricochet bullets from the chest My weakness is magnets. But in all seriousness I am now 100% dependant on my pacemaker due to what is called Complete Heart block and have 8 years battery left which will make me 34 at next robot update. Heart Block is the most severe type of heart block and is often caused by an existing condition, CHD in my case and complications during my last surgery stopped the electrical conductivity. Originally Dr's were hoping my heart would find its own rhythm but that wasn't to be the case and now i am completely battery operated. My Cardiologist saw me about two weeks...

X-ray

Just got my chest X-ray back In the top right you can see the pacemaker The cross-cross wires are were they sewn the sternum up and the small silver ring to the right is my new valve. My pacemaker is doing 91% of the work so I am literally a battery powered robot- pretty incredible what they can do

Here we go again

This last week has been full of hospital appointments (and a shit load of waiting around) for my 6 month follow up reviews. I got a mixed bag of results, Good news my pacemaker is working wonders, completely pacemaker dependent however at 100% with 8 years battery life left. My bloods are not bad, last INR was 2.3 so only slightly under range I've been given the clear to have an entire month of blood tests which is fantastic for me not having to stab myself every Friday. My new mechanical valve is working brilliant which is fantastic, BUT here's the kicker --- I've developed scar tissue below my aortic valve which is now restricting blood flow out of my heart and to the rest of my body. The only way to fix this is open heart surgery number 4 ! I'm pretty bummed, last year i made some massive life changing decisions and having a mechanical valve came at a cost of not being able to have my own children, warfarin ( blood thinners) daily meds and frequent blood te...

Georgie's Journey

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