Souveniers

I went into the hospital on January 23 to have my aortic valve replaced. All things considered, I had a pretty good attitude - not a lot of concerns. I've been under general anesthesia twice before so I was confident all would go well this time, too. Well, something went wrong - too long of a procedure? the heart lung bypass machine? Who knows. Either way, my body rejected something and I spent a week in ICU fighting to survive.

I was discharged from the hospital on February 4 - almost two weeks later. Alive, yes -- that does count for an awful lot! But also with a range of weirdness that had happened to my body (or would start to happen over the next few days) from all the trauma.

• thrush - a yeast infection in my mouth
• 100% hearing loss in my right ear
• GIGANTIC bruise (darkest purple I've ever seen) on my upper left thigh
• high blood sugar
• high blood pressure
• various blotches, tape/sticky marks, etc - but these are pretty much standard
• two arms which were TERRIFIED of needles for the next couple weeks - I swear my veins all went into hiding (who could blame them)
• rather startling hair loss (this started the day after I got home)
• dry, flaky skin - practically leper-like (between the hair and the skin, Tony was constantly vacuuming up after me)
• scabby knot on the back of my head (where did this come from? We noticed it several days after I was home)
• concerns about kidney function
• concerns about fluid around my heart

I've been home a couple weeks and things are starting to settle down a little. Everything seems to be healing well and the weirdness seems to be subsiding a little.

• the thrush was gone after about a week (what a gross week). I still can't really taste much, but my doctor assures me that is only temporary
• still no hearing in my right ear, but we remain optimistic that once things settle down and my body heals itself, this might correct also
• the bruise has pretty much disappeared (believe it or not, there's still evidence four weeks later - it was a hell of a bruise)
• I'm off the insulin (way to go, pancreas!) but continue to monitor my blood sugar twice a day
• I'm on medication for my blood pressure - hopefully this will come under control and I can get off the meds
• all the tape/sticky marks have been washed away (several showers later)
• my arms and veins are relaxing a little - they've only been poked twice in the last two weeks
• the hair loss has reduced dramatically (no harm done - I started with a lot of hair so it never reached the point of being noticeable, other than to me)
• the dry, flaky skin has subsided after a change to a milder soap and applying plenty of lotion
• the knot is gone, but the scab remains
• I have appointments with the kidney specialist, as well as my surgeon in a week and a half, so these last two concerns will be answered then

Day by day, inch by inch my body is recovering. My energy level is very low and I do feel weak - but if my body needs that energy and strength to heal itself, I can hold off on running any marathons until it's done. ;-)