My mitral valve odyssey

I went in for my pre-admission assessment and meeting with staff at the hospital today.  It was a cold (3 degrees C), damp day.  Traffic was very heavy and the Port Mann was congested as usual.  We made it with about 30 minutes to spare and after finding a place to park made it into the pre-admission clinic area barely on time.  With that began another battery of tests and interviews.  First we met with someone from physio who gave me my very own red, heart-shaped pillow – which I understand will be my constant companion after surgery!  Then I had another ECG done.  After that we formally registered and then met with one of the pre-admission nurses to go over all of the paperwork.  My height, and weight and BMI were all entered into the myriad of details they need to collect.  Next we met with the anesthetist who took a leisurely time explaining all the things I could anticipate in regard to the surgery and the anesthetics.  He gave us a brief rundown of all the needles, tubes, wires, probes and cannulas etc that I could expect to be attached to me or inserted into me for the surgery.  Hmmmm….  He also answered any further questions we had very thoroughly.

After going to the lab for more blood work and the radiology department for yet another set of chest x-rays we were finally finished.  Huddled under our big black umbrella we made our way back up to Columbia Street where we added some more money to our parking meter and then ordered enchilada platters at the Indian/Mexican food restaurant across the street from the hospital.  That was just a little too spicy for me – just like the day of the angiogram when we went in for Indian curries.  After lunch we wandered down to a little bakery and bought some coffee and cookies.  We returned to our car and slowly made our way home.

This was an all day ordeal.  We arrived at RCH at 7:00 as instructed and then waited in one of the recovery rooms for several hours while various medical staff came in and out and assured us that we would be seen soon.

Finally other patients began to arrive in our room for the same procedure (some to have stents put in).  Some patients walked in like we did but most were brought in on gurneys, some even attended by paramedics.  We figured that those were transfers from other hospitals.   Most of my fellow patients were considerably older than I am.  We were told that RCH usually does 12 patients at a time on angio clinic day.

Things began to roll then.  I was given two hospital gowns and told to disrobe and put the gowns on.  I was put into a bed and an IV was started on me.  After a bit a nurse came along and gave me what she called a “bikini shave” at the location where the catheter would be inserted in my femoral artery!  I’ll spare the details.  After that I was allowed to walk around a bit – taking my IV pole with me. (notice the cool socks)

Once they were ready to take me into the OR I was wheeled into a waiting area and then told to get of the bed and walk into the OR under my own steam.  Someone grabbed my IV and carried it along.  The table in the OR was just wide enough for me to lie on.  There wasn’t even room for my arms until they rigged up special arm supports.  The cardiologist explained briefly what he was going to do and then we all got down to business.  He froze the area where the catheter was to be inserted (that pricked a little) and then I merely lay there as he did his thing.  They had mentioned that I would be somewhat sedated but I did not notice any particular difference in how I felt.  I tried to watch what he was doing via the monitor that he was using but the monitor was pointed toward him and so I only saw somewhat obliquely the general outline of what was happening.  At one point he asked how I was doing to which I responded with an indication that I was ok (I think).  Then the doctor told me that I could expect to feel a warmth in my chest – that was a wierd feeling – like the feeling I sometimes get when I take a large gulp of very warm coffee.  A few more minutes of some funny feelings in my chest and the doctor announced he was done and I was rolled into another waiting room.  I still had the catheter in me at this point and the nurse in the recovery room took a very large C-clamp (I kid you not – exactly like the one I used in woodwork class in Jr. High) and readied it to clamp down on my punctured artery once he took the pipes out of me.  I was told to take a deep breath and the pipes were removed.  That was a bit uncomfortable.  Then he applied the C-clamp to my leg and cranked it down very tightly.  I was told to remain perfectly still for the next 45 minutes while the nurse inspected the clamp regularly.  I was not to cough or move so as to allow the puncture in my artery to seal.  After they took the clamp off they applied a pressure bandage and I was to continue to lie still for another 2 hours.  That was a bit of a drag.

Finally they got me up and had me walk around the room and down the hall for a bit before they let us go.  The drive back was a bit of a blur – Bec drove, not me!