Walttriznastories's Blog

UPDATE STAYING ALIVE

April 7, 2012 at 11:07 pm 2 comments

It’s been a couple of interesting months for me. Let me give you the details and you’ll see why my productivity was down.

While on a cruise toward the end of January with my wife, Joni, I began experiencing increased shortness of breath while going up stairs. The day after coming home, Joni took my vitals which she had been monitoring before the trip and said that I was in atrial fibrillation. A call to my internist resulted in a visit hours later and from his office to that of a cardiologist. I was scheduled for a cardio version a few days later. It worked, but after a few weeks I was back in a fib.

After a failed stress test, I was scheduled for a cardiac catherization on March 26. A blockage, 75%, was found in the main artery feeding the front of the heart and is known as the ‘widow maker’. If this stops functioning, so does Walt. This artery gets its disturbing name because it provides flow to just about everything downstream. It could not be stented, only bypassed. But I had a great deal of luck on my side. The bypass could be done using robot technology and three small incisions.

After surgery I had a slightly rocky recovery, kidneys got a little balky. I left the hospital on April 5 with an eight to twelve week recovery ahead of me.

During the course of my hospital stay our daughters, Annie and Lynn along with Lynn’s boyfriend John, were a constant help to Joni around the house and raised my spirits with their hospital visits.

What am I going to do about this experience? Write about it, of course. I approach this experience for a unique prospective. I have a science background and my wife is a nurse. Also, at the age of 64, this was my first hospitalization.

Entry filed under: Update, Walt Trizna. Tags: heart bypass.