PVCs

What is a PVC you ask... well let me tell you a bit about them. A PVC is a premature ventricular contraction. Its an abnormal heartbeat that begins in the heart's lower ventricles. These extra beats occur before your regular heartbeat and disrupt your rhythm. The PVCs feel like a skipped beat or a flip-flop in your chest.

Some people can have several PVCs in a row...that is called a non-sustained ventricular tachycardia (NVST) and can become a dangerous rapid heartbeat. Sam started getting these the past few years as his heart enlarged. He would get maybe one in a day or multiple. We usually noticed them more often when he was over-tired, stressed or over extending himself. They also made sleeping a little tricky... he feels them more when he is sleeping on his left side [I think because his left side faces my side of the bed ;)]. Usually they tend to go away or become less bothersome when Sam was active.

This week Sam had a NVST episode. It started on Tuesday and he progressively got more as the day progressed. He called U of M and left a message for Marguerite to call him back. She requested he get some bloodwork done to see if his electrolytes were low. Wednesday Sam went and got bloodwork done at Beaumont and a ECG at his doctors office. His bloodwork came back good and his ECG showed a few PVCs.

We were told by both Diane (Dr. Deeb's nurse) and Marguerite (Dr. Bolling's nurse) that these happen to EVERYONE after heart surgery. His heart is still working on getting smaller and adjusting to the trauma its gone through. He needs to relax (easier said than done) and just focus on getting better. Sam is more relaxed now knowing that these happen to people post-surgery.

1 Month Post-Op Appointment

We drove to Ann Arbor today to meet with Dr. Bolling for Sam's 1 month post-op appointment. It was our first time back in Ann Arbor since surgery and the ride their seemed to trigger all sorts of emotions and memories for both of us. Its crazy to think its been 4 weeks already! At the same time Sam is more than ready to start doing things again. The past four weeks he has been restricted to not lift anything over a gallon of milk, no pushing/pulling, driving etc.

Once we got checked in Sam got a chest x-ray, EKG and INR reading for his coumadin level. Naturally his coumadin level was finally within the range they have been striving for the past four weeks (2.8) and he was taken off of this today. His chest x-ray shows his sternum is healing nicely and his EKG looked very good.

Dr. Bolling was running over an hour late today so we had time to hang out or in Sam's case take a cat nap on the couch in the waiting room. We were greeted by Marguerite and she took Sam's EKG and INR results to show Dr. Bolling. A few minutes later the man himself walked in and greeted us with a large grin (I love seeing these grins)!

Dr. Bolling shook Sam's hand and said he looks great! He listened to his heart, checked his incision site/chest tube holes, and looked over his EKG. He was very pleased with how everything looks and sounds. We went over a few questions Sam had and discussed his medications and the new regimen. Dr. Bolling said he should walk until he feels winded...the more walking the more his heart will go back down in size and faster. He also told Sam his sternum will let him know how much he can do and to listen to his body. It will take 10 weeks for the bone to fully heal.

Marguerite came back in to remove a stitch at the top of Sam's incision that was poking out. She is putting him on an antibiotic for a week to ensure no infection gets under his incision since its still draining some days. She also gave us a print out of his medication changes so I can keep track of them and went over a few more concerns/questions. She is working on his paperwork for Cardiac Rehab and we should get a call on that to set everything up within the week. Sam will need to do at least 6 weeks of cardiac rehab three times a week.

It was a good appointment and its all progress in the right direction. We are very happy and blessed! Thank you all for your continued support, well wishes and visits... we appreciate it all so much!!!

Now Sam just needs to rest and mend...

Don't be Shy - Stop on By!

In case any of you were waiting for the green light to come by for a visit or just scared... we wanted to make sure you knew we do accept visitors. We have enjoyed the great laughs and meals with friends the last few weeks....its been nice to have friends and family over since Sam doesn't get out much. If your in the area and want to pop in for a visit or you want a walking buddy at the mall (he still can't lift more than a gallon of milk so don't expect him to hold your holiday bags) or maybe you want to go for a walk around the block... Sam is open to both. And I may leave and run a few errands if you come over too!

The only catch...if you are sick or think you are getting sick you will have to facetime Sam on the iPad or call him. His immune system is still down so we can't take any chances. We wash hands a lot and use hand sanitizer.

Hope to see you soon :)

3 Weeks Post-Op

Today marks 3 weeks since Sam's surgery....some days it feels like time has flown by and other days I wondered why time stood still. Each day is something different... Sam finds new things that cause him pain, some days he has energy and wants to walk/do steps and other days he wants to take a nap and feels winded to do much.

Sam is down to one night sweat....the washing machine and I thank him for this :) I am now a pro at changing sheets at 3am as well, having fresh clothes on stand-by and still able to get back to sleep. When we have children one day it will be a breeze with the training I have now. Sam has been sleeping in bed more and last night made it all night in bed - HUGE!! I am starting to inch the thermostat down a bit... Consumer's Energy called to see why its going down... kidding but I think they freaked out with it being so high lately.

I know some of you are curious about his incision... Dr. Hanzel and nurses at U of M think his incision is one of the best they have ever seen. The two "bullet holes" underneath are from the chest tubes. Although Sam thought now would be a good time to come up with a story about being shot twice and then having to have emergency open heart surgery...

We have had a very trying week in the Kalef house... anyone in Michigan knows that on Tuesday we got a lot of rain and with that rain came water in our basement. This time it chose to come in on a different wall that was finished. I can't thank our friends, family and family of Fire Station 2 that came over to help me tear down the wall, vacuum up water, move furniture away etc. Sam took this hard because he wasn't able to do anything and went up/down the steps one too many times on Wednesday to check the damage. It was frustrating to sit upstairs for him and hear the drilling, hammering and all sorts of noise we could create in the basement.

[Basement leak discovered....we tried to patch it but water was coming in too much]

[The dyke we created so I could sleep that night and keep the water out of the basement. The water drained into the shop vac and ran from the garden hose to the sump pump]

[After the rod holes were filled and the crack was sealed. Note the sun that we discovered upon removing the wall/insulation]

For me its a bit different... I now know how to accomplish a lot on my own. I can attach a garden hose to a shop vac and route it to the sump pump and clear kinked hose lines if needed. I learned all about rod holes in our foundation walls thanks to Adam at Smith's Waterproofing. I can assist in patching walls and much more!

Enjoy your weekend!