A Day of Doctors..

This morning we headed out to U of M to see Sam's cardiologist Dr. Bach. You may remember Dr. Bach was the cardiologist that told us it was "GO TIME" for surgery last summer. This was Sam's first appointment with Dr. Bach post-op and his first echo.

Sam's echo showed his atrial flutter had stopped (Sam felt it subside overnight). It showed his heart had good working valves and that it looks like a heart that just had open heart surgery (no way!). Dr. Bach confirmed that Sam's atrial flutter doesn't affect his heart or the valve surgery. The left ventricle is still large but should decrease in time. His echo also showed a SVT (supraventricular tachycardia) episode.

Here is a great video example that shows everything Sam's heart has been through recently: SVT, atrial flutter, atrial fibrillation.

We met with Dr. Bach and discussed Sam's last week of atrial flutter/fibrillation. We discussed his recent hospital stay and what Beaumont suggested for treatment. His opinion is to start Sam on medication and if it shouldn't work or he starts to get these episodes more frequently then we will go to the cardiac ablation option. Sam and I agreed this is a safer and better option at this time. Dr. Bach started Sam on propafenone medication that controls his hearts rhythm. He also increased some of his blood pressure medications as his blood pressure has recently increased with these episodes. We are hoping with the new medication and other medication tweaks his heart will focus on healing.

It takes a few doses of the new medication to really take affect on Sam's body. In the meantime he needs to lay low and can resume cardiac rehab next week in hopes that when he goes back he isn't asked to get off the treadmill for atrial flutter/fibrillation again.

We called Dr. Hanzel on our way home from U of M so we could discuss everything we talked to Dr. Bach about. He was on board with the medication treatment and reserving the cardiac ablation if the medication doesn't work. We were relieved both doctors are on  the same page and working together on Sam's health. So needless to say all of the procedures for tomorrow are cancelled and Sam now has a week to relax and hang out with Baxter :)

I would like to end on a positive note (kinda like how Brian Williams does every night on the NBC Nightly News) So below you will see an adorable photo of Baxter taken by our good friends Chris & E'Lisa Campbell. Enjoy!

Atrial Flutter Options

After a sleepless night at Beaumont (well I shouldn't say sleepless...more like 2.5 hours of sleep) the Doctors and nurses started rounds and saw Sam first thing this morning. Dr. Hanzel's office sent their fellow Dr. Hansen and they recommended three options to Sam and gave him some time to decide which one he wanted to go with.

1. Do a Echo, TEE test and Cardiac Ablation to correct the Atrial Flutter/PVC's

2. Perform a Cardioversion on the heart (shock the heart back to it's normal rhythm)

3. Get discharged and use oral medications to maintain his heart rate

Sam talked this over with his mom and I and we thought option 1 was the best solution given he has been battling this on/off all week. We reasoned this because if they were to do a cardioversion and shock his heart he still runs the risk of his heart going back into the Atrial flutter and needing it again. Option 3 was not an option in my opinion since the medications haven't worked really well in the hospital so I don't think they will work that well out of the hospital.

The plan was to do an echo cardiogram of the heart first and then from there they would do a TEE test to ensure there were no blood clots within his heart - if there were ANY they could not do the Cardiac Ablation. If they were to do the Cardiac Ablation with a blood clot in the heart Sam would run the risk of having a stroke. However, Beaumont wasn't able to even do the cardiac ablation that was needed as they needed a part for the equipment that wasn't available. Lucky for Sam at the time his A flutter was calming a bit so they discharged him with medications and we go back on Tuesday to fulfill option 1. Not ideal but there is no need for him to stay at the hospital all weekend when they can't do anything but watch him. My nursing duties are in full force again!

They sent Sam home on Digoxin and have him on a burst dosage to start.. he has to take 4 pills and then a few hours later take 3 and so on until his heart rate can go down and be regulated until Tuesday. They also put him on Pradaxa to thin his blood for the next 30 days. I have cut him off of the knives again and anything sharp around the house.

We are going to have a nice low key weekend at home with Baxter... I think some Modern Family Season 1 and 2 are in order. Monday we are going to U of M to meet with Sam's other cardiologist Dr. Bach and go over everything that has been happening. More to come on Monday & Tuesday!

Atrial Flutter

Sam has been experiencing atrial flutter on and off for the past week. Its mainly occurred during cardiac rehab where he is being monitored and each time it happens they alert both U of M and his Beaumont cardiologist. Today it happened during his cool down phase of rehab and unlike the other times this week hasn't gone away. We are currently going on 8 hours and it shouldn't last this long. 


Atrial flutter is is an abnormal heart rhythm that occurs in the atria of the heart. Sam had a heart rate of 155+ in cardiac rehab. A normal heart rate is between 60-100 beats a minute. I got a call late this afternoon from Sam that he was having A flutter and he called Dr. Hanzel's office and we had to go to the emergency room. I bolted home, changed and let out Baxter (I haven't announced our newest Kalef... he is a cute goldendoodle) and got some items to keep me occupied at the hospital. We came up to the hospital where he had the VIP treatment (must be his recent surgery or something ;) and checked his vitals and put us in a ER module room. Sam's heartrate was 135+ when we got to the hospital. They gave him heperain and cardisol and between the two it was supposed to drop down.....it hasn't. So needless to say we were then expedited to being admitted and he will see Dr. Hanzel in the morning. 


I feel like some of this is deja vu... I am up late blogging again in my ever famous costco sweatsuit i love so much and about to sleep in a sweet hospital chair. I think in my next career I will invent amazing hospital chairs and beds! My brother is being so kind to stay at our house with the puppy since he doesn't understand why he was placed in the cage so fast and we left. For now we are hanging out watching tv and I am trying to keep Sam comfortable and not too stressed out. As much as he hates hospitals and doesn't want to be here - I am thankful we are in the right place for this and not home guessing if things are ok or not. 


To lighten the mood I would like to introduce you to Baxter Kalef. Yes, He does speak Spanish and Sam did name him after Anchorman :) He is like a small buddha covered in fur. 

He was born 11.8.11 and is a goldendoodle. He will get to be 20-25lbs full grown. We have had him over a week now and he has adjusted great to our house and schedules. He is starting to find his voice and he loves to get your attention with his little bark but he will start the Sam Kalef Puppy school 101 very soon to correct this! :) We are happy to have him and I think him and Sam have really bonded during the day. 

I will post an update tomorrow after we see the doctor and hopefully get some answers. Thanks for all of the thoughts and prayers - we appreciate it!!

8 Weeks Post-Op Update

Now that the holidays are over and I am finally getting some real sleep I wanted to give everyone a 8 week post-op update.

The main hospital in our area is Beaumont. Sam was signed up to go there for his cardiac rehab but they were in the middle of a contract negotiation between our insurance company (Blue Care Network HMO). Beaumont didn't feel the need to tell us or U of M that they weren't going to accept Sam into the cardiac rehab program due to the negotiation situation. After a few phone calls Sam is now going to Crittenton Hospital for his cardiac rehab program.

Sam goes three times a week for a hour each session. They hook him up to a heart holter monitor and watch him closely as he does his session. They did see a few PACs (Premature Atrilal contractions) on his monitor strip and alerted Sam. They feel similar to PVCs but appear in the left atria of the heart. We were very pleased that the nurses during his rehab session printed off a holter monitor strip and sent it to both our surgeon, Dr. Bolling and cardiologist, Dr. Bach at U of M. By the next day both the surgeon's office and cardiologist's office called to talk to Sam. They say these are common to have post-op but should they happen more often or cause arrhythmia issues he needs to head to the nearest ER.

Sam has an appointment scheduled with his U of M Cardiologist Dr. Bach on Valentine's day (fitting right?). He is going to do an exam and do his first post-op echo to check on the hearts size and compare from over the summer when it was at its largest. This way we will have a baseline moving forward to see how much the heart continues to go down from the surgery.

With Sam starting to feel a bit better you may even catch him out and about... I can finally give him some errands to run ;) And his cooking has never been better!