Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Upcoming Surgery

March 2, 2022 - I have been cleared for coronary artery bypass surgery (four or five bypasses) on March 4, 2022, as per my cardiothoracic surgeon, my cardiologist, and a pulmonologist.

I arrived at the hospital in the morning of February 28 for further testing: an EKG, three blood extractions (including one from my right wrist to test my blood-oxygen level), and a chest X-ray.

Yesterday, I had a 30-minute-long pulmonary function test. I did well, but not great.

This morning, I had another nebulizer treatment, another EKG, another blood extraction, and another chest X-ray. I will have an echocardiogram later today ... and a urine test. (I recently had EKGs and echocardiograms at my cardiologist's office.)

I thought that I would go home between testing and surgery, but I will just remain in the hospital.

Various factors may complicate my open-heart surgery: asthma, diabetes, kidney failure (last year, with 6 weeks of dialysis), congestive heart failure (last year), a covid infection (last year), and a recent heart attack. Throughout last year, I was hospitalized seven times, including a thoracentesis of my right lung; three of four surgeries on my left foot (osteomyelitis and tumor removal); pneumonia twice; dangerously low hemoglobin levels; dangerously low white-blood-cell count, and intensive testing for a possible TIA (mini-stroke), which I didn't have. I started my series of hospital visits in December 2020 with dangerously low potassium levels and dehydration.

In the future, I may need to have a pacemaker or a defibrillator installed.

UPDATE:

Yesterday: also covid test
Today: also MRSA test; I just finished my echocardiogram [heart] and my ultrasound (two carotid arteries (in neck)]

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