Beaumont Post-Op Appointment

Sam is blessed to not only have amazing surgeons and nurses but he also has not one but TWO cardiologists (Dr. Hanzel at Beaumont and Dr. Bach at U of M). Sam had called for a post-op check-up with Dr. Hanzel but he was booked through January. Sam opted to see the nurse practitioner Carla on Monday. Just before we left the house Sam sent a quick email to Dr. Hanzel (Yes they are on emailing terms). Sam told him he wasn't able to get an appointment with him and was 2 weeks post-op and would be seeing Carla in his office that afternoon. In hopes that if Dr. Hanzel was still in the office maybe he could pop his head in and say hi to us.

We met with Carla and Sam has dropped 18 pounds of the fluid weight that was put on from surgery. Great news!! His blood pressure is so good... I am not used to the numbers still. I am so used to it being high on three different blood pressure medications that its always shocking to hear it in the perfect range :) Carla listened to his heart and hardly hears his once very prominent murmur. Sam also used to have what Dr. Deeb called the "bullfrog" - this was when his carotid artery in his neck would bulge due to his heart being so enlarged. This is no more as well :)

We went over the concerns Sam was still having post-op - first up was the ever infamous sweats/chills and difficulty sleeping. Carla suggested he stop taking the pain medicine all together and just take Tylenol as long as he felt comfortable. She also assured us that he will start getting more sleep at night and that it just takes time. We also discussed his current medications (I had to bring a print out since there are so many!).

Just as the appointment was wrapping up there was a knock at the door... Dr. Hanzel came in!! He had office hours in the morning but was doing hospital rounds and had a few seconds to spare and just had to check on his man Sam! Needless to say the smile that spread across Sam's face was amazing! It was so nice Dr. Hanzel stepped away for a few minutes to talk to us and check Sam over. He listened to Sam's heart, did a quick exam and was THRILLED with how great he looked 2 weeks post-op.

Sam felt so much better when we left the doctors office. It was a sense of comfort to hear Dr. Hanzel tell Sam things sounded good and that he looked good...I guess listening to me day in and day out wasn't enough ;)

It truly warmed my heart that we have been lucky to have some really fabulous doctors that are willing to do extra for their patients. Dr. Hanzel has always called us back even if it was 10pm at night or sent Sam an email (what Dr emails patients?! - this guy!). Needless to say there was a little bounce in our step on the way out of the hospital Monday.