As many of you know, I had quadruple heart bypass surgery on August 29. Here is the original email explaining the details.
I was able to come home on September 2 and have been making slow, incremental progress since then.
I owe that progress, first of all to my amazing wife Amethyst-Susan Brown-Feinberg, who took over all household tasks when I got my diagnosis in early August and has been taking care of me since. When I went in for the surgery, Amethyst’s sister came up from Eugene. Her presence has been a great blessing since she is a retired Physician’s Assistant and could translate all the medical terminology and answer my questions.
Then when I came home, my daughter flew in from NYC for a week to help Amethyst and to keep my spirits up.
I cannot imagine a better home care team. I am truly blessed.
And I have to say I had a “dream team” at Providence St. Vincent Heart Clinic. My surgeon, Dr. Gary Ott has performed 1,000s of these procedures and also does heart transplants. Being in the hospital is never pleasant, but the nurses and other support staff were wonderful.
Gratitude List
In addition to my family and medical team I want to thank all those who have been helping in other ways:
Our watering team: Yvonne Mancini, Aurora Victoria WindDancer, Elizabeth Braithwaite
Gifts from distant friends and family for groceries and meals.
Visits from local friends who understood I can only meet and talk for short periods.
Thank you for the hundreds of messages here and in other channels and the beautiful cards sent in the mail.
Status Update
I had surgery follow up on Sep 11 and I’m making good progress. I also got to see an x-ray of my chest. Wow is all I will say..They said it is ok to sleep on my side so I got the first good sleep in weeks. Last night I slept 7 hours. My pain level is manageable with occasional Tylenol.
I am getting stronger. I get up and down more easily. I’ve walked about 2,000 steps the last few days. Will work up to four ten minute walks per day. My appetite is better as tastebuds have woken up. And Amethyst is keeping me well fed. Today I was able to shower, dress and make breakfast with minimal assistance, which makes me feel more human and less an invalid!
I have scheduled appointments with interventional cardiologist, pulmonologist for CPAP next week and a final postop review Oct 2. Cardiac rehab evaluation is Oct 10. I’m impressed with Providence Medicare follow up. They have been proactive in contacting me for appointments.
I will write again as the news warrants. I wont be very interactive on Facebook for a few weeks, but please know I do read everything you send me. And I plan to get back to my Kickstarter for my graphic history comic sometime in October. I continue to get enthusiastic feedback from early readers. Stay tuned.
With much love,
Sander
