Angie & Jim

Another day, another surgeryby Jim

I’m here at Lucile Packard’s Children’s Hospital.  Monday, Angie was at her regular 6 mo. checkup appointment and they were testing her pacemaker and were surprised that her capture voltage has dramatically changed over the last six months.  After a little consulting among the doctors, they asked Angie if she could come back the next day for surgery to replace her ventricular lead.  We were a little surprised by the news.  As it turned out, the surgeon they wanted couldn’t perform the surgery until Thursday, but yesterday they called us and said, “Dr. Maeda has had something come up on Thursday, can you come in tomorrow instead?”  So, we got up at 5 am and drove down to Palo Alto.

It is interesting being back in a children’s hospital.  I’ve already been called Dad by two different nurses.  I like it 🙂  I stopped trying to correct them back at Primary Children’s because I found it kind of endearing.  When we came here to California, they had us start going to the adult hospital for Angie’s regular visits and surgeries.  At first, I was a little sad because we were used to the extra attention and friendliness of a children’s hospital.  After a few years, though, I got used to it.  So it is very different coming back to this environment.

In actuality, Angie’s done very well lately.  In fact, I think she’s set a record for how long she’s gone without a surgery in our married life.  I think her last surgery was in Oct of 2010 when she got her pacer replaced.

Thank you all for your support and love and prayers.  I will keep you posted with updates throughout the day.  If you want to get emails whenever I post, please register and subscribe to the Medical News and Hospital Updates tags to get notified when I post.

Another Updateby Jim

So, I didn’t realize that the 6 hours of bed rest was in the recovery room and in the recovery room there are no visitors.  The surgeon failed to mention that.  So here I am waiting in the waiting room while Angie recovers.  I just got off the phone with her and she’s doing fine.  She’s slept mostly (because there is nothing else to do when you’re required to lay flat and not move).  I had her glasses and a book she brought with us brought to her so she could have something to do.  I’ve been told that she can be discharged at 8 pm, so I’ve just got 2 more hours.

I have a new appreciation for Netflix and WiFi in hospitals.

All Doneby Jim

Well, that was faster than I thought.  Dr. Al-Ahmad just finished chatting with me.  He told me that the procedure went just fine.  They used the pacing catheter for just 2 or 3 minutes and that the old pacer “came out just fine”.  He also explained that they opted for a slightly different type of pacer this time that has a longer battery life instead of one that “has more algorithms”.  I thought that was a strange way of describing it, but he explained that the pacemaker they removed was the typical anti-tachycardia pacer that has a bunch of algorithms for pacing her heart down when/if she gets fibrillation in her heart.  Since she hasn’t needed those algorithms, he felt it best to get a pacer with “fewer algorithms” but with longer battery life.  I guess they replace the memory unit that contains the code with a larger battery.  Makes enough sense, I guess.

So, now I wait for them to let me see her and we wait for her 4-6 hours of bed rest before we can go home.  The surgeon said that she can go home tonight if she is feeling up to it and everything goes well this evening.  I know Angie will want (very badly) to go home tonight, so let’s hope the next few hours go well.

Finally Startedby Jim

Angie’s little status number on the display on the waiting room status screen just went green indicating that her procedure has begun.  We only had to wait about 5 hours while they figured out what to do.  I’m not entirely sure why we had to be here at 7:45, but that’s okay.

They are going to do put in a pacing catheter to pace her heart if they need it during the actual swap.  Angie said that often, they can unplug the old pacer and plug in the new one fast enough that the patient only loses a beat or two.  I like plugging in televisions and Xboxen and the like, but I can’t imagine what it would be like plugging stuff in and knowing someone’s heart isn’t beating while I’m plugging.  I think Angie has three leads on her heart right now, and I can usually only unplug one cable at a time.  There are two surgeons in there; I wonder if the they will do it together and say something like, “Okay, on three.  One… two…”

Anyway, because of the “backup” pacing catheter, she’ll have to stay lying in her bed for 4-6 hours after the procedure without moving.  We were told that we will still be able to go home tonight, but with today’s late start, I’m beginning to worry.  I will keep everyone posted as things unfold.

Swappin’ Out Batteriesby Jim

I’m here at Stanford with Angie; we’re here today for a pacemaker replacement surgery.  We’ve known about this one for a little while, but her doctors are saying that it is time.  A while back, when Angie was talking on the phone to one of the nurses (or somebody, not sure who) they asked her if it had beeped yet.  Upon questioning, Angie found out that her pacemaker will start beeping out loud when the battery gets low.  Suddenly, she thought, “Oh, I hope it doesn’t happen while I’m working in the temple!”  Can you imagine, “Sorry everyone, it is just my pacemaker’s battery dying… Don’t mind the beeping, I’m just fine.”

They took Angie back for her pre-operation chat.  I wasn’t invited this time, but I imagine I’ll get to chat with the surgeon or one of the nurses with Angie before she goes in.  Anyway, I’ll keep posting here as the day progresses.