Abdominal Surgery
I suppose the
title of this should be “Surgery for someone with artificial heart valves who
is taking the blood-thinner warfarin,” but that is a little long, even though
it is more accurate. As you read this,
remember that I am a patient, not a doctor.
This is my experience, as best I can explain, and may not be the same as
others in a similar situation might experience.
A few months
ago I was diagnosed with endometriosis, a fairly common affliction of younger
women best described in this article: https://jeanhailes.org.au/health-a-z/endometriosis/symptoms-causes
Although the
affliction is common and the surgery to remove the cysts is fairly simple and
routine, it became more complicated due to my artificial heart valves and the
warfarin all artificial heart valve recipients must take to thin the blood to
prevent clots forming on the valves.
Warfarin
patients must be weaned off the warfarin for several days prior to surgery to
prevent excessive bleeding. So I took my
last warfarin Saturday evening and entered the hospital Tuesday (Dec. 01 2015) morning to prepare for surgery on Friday (Dec
04, 2015). Tuesday, Wednesday, and
Thursday I was given an injectable blood-thinner which has a more predictable
half-life and is more easily controlled than warfarin. About 24-hours after surgery, the blood
thinners were restarted.
The other
complication, also due to artificial valves, is the risk of bacterial infection
as such infections can settle in the area of the artificial valve with
life-threatening results. To deal with
this, a powerful antibiotic was started through an IV drip Thursday, the day
before the surgery, and was continued for seven days. So, even though I was up and moving around
Tuesday, I had to stay in the hospital another few days.
Besides the
antibiotic, the doctors wanted close post-op monitoring so I had a day or so in
the ICU right after the surgery.
The actual
surgery required a team of doctors: The
ob-gyn doctor/surgeon, her assistant, a stand-by surgeon in case it became
required to remove the whole ovary and the appendix, the cardiologist, and, of
course, the anesthesiologist, who determined general anesthesia was required
instead of the customary spinal as a
spinal has risks specific to anyone taking a blood-thinner.
Everything
worked out OK; I am up and around with a new scar (I’m proud of my scars! They show that I’m tough – and also that I am
lucky. Not so many years ago, open-heart
surgery was not available and Marfan’s Syndrome was not well-understood.) But there are some lessons to be learned.
One is that,
for the Marfan patient, everything is more complicated and you just have to
accept it and deal with it. (One of the
ways I deal with it is by publishing this blog; one of the ways YOU are dealing
with it is by READING this blog!)
Another lesson
is that everything is more expensive:
your daily meds, routine visits to the cardiologist, prescription eyewear,
and, as this story details, hospitalizations, especially those as a result of
surgery.
If you have
Marfan’s, it would be very easy to become despondent and discouraged – please
do not. Many have tried to explain why
God allows bad things to happen to good people – I won’t try. But I will say that I believe God has both me
and you here on Earth for a purpose. I
will embrace the life God gives me, live according to how I believe He wants,
and wait for His plans to unfold.
If you ever
want to talk, call me.
Precy
Comments
Post a Comment