Hello. How are you doing? I would like to take this opportunity to first thank you for watching my videos, but more importantly to provide an update and an explanation regarding my medical challenges during 2022.
PHOTO: Here I am in the Intensive Care Unit at Boca Raton Regional Hospital in Boca Raton, Florida, on March 10, 2022, the day after my heart surgery. (My wife took this photo of myself.) As you can see, I am being heavily monitored; I am breathing supplemental oxygen; and I have a needle stuck in a vein in my neck with some sort of apparatus attached. The second photo shows how my chest incision has healed.
As you may know, I had seven-hour-long, quadruple coronary artery bypass surgery on March 9, 2022, and then two reconstructive chest surgeries two months later. On May 19, 2022, my surgeon removed metal sternal plates within my chest due to a staph infection. And then on May 25, 2022, my surgeon clipped off the tips of my ribs and reattached my chest muscle flaps to my body.
My surgeon used seven spaced-out sutures to close the eight-inch-long, vertical incision in my chest initiated by my open-heart surgery and made worse by my two subsequent surgeries, leaving me with eight deep holes in my chest to heal. Two holes in my belly where I had drains installed during my heart surgery were already healing.
I was in Boca hospital and at a nearby physical-rehabilitation facility for a total of 70 straight days (May 13 to July 21, 2022). That is the reason for my lack of piano videos during that time. I am expected to be mostly healed one year from my last (third) surgery, so I should be "up and around" by May 2023. After physical therapy and occupational therapy at the facility and at home, I now have enough strength to walk but with a metal walker for support.
During the past several months, the pain in my chest has mostly dissipated. The eight-inch-long incision in my chest has been closed for several months. While my chest continues to be constantly sore, swollen, and numb, these days, I am noticing more pain within my chest as my sternum (breastbone) that was broken in half by my heart surgeon, my clipped ribs, and my internal chest tissue all continue to heal. I suppose my heart is also still healing.
By the way, I still get an occasional twinge of pain in the inside of my left thigh near my knee where my heart surgeon removed a long section of my main vein there. He used four segments of the vein for my heart surgery.
That's all for now. As I get stronger and more mobile, I will post more videos of myself playing my piano.
Be well, and thanks again for your support.
Sincerely,
Bill Santos
I was in Boca hospital and at a nearby physical-rehabilitation facility for a total of 70 straight days (May 13 to July 21, 2022). That is the reason for my lack of piano videos during that time. I am expected to be mostly healed one year from my last (third) surgery, so I should be "up and around" by May 2023. After physical therapy and occupational therapy at the facility and at home, I now have enough strength to walk but with a metal walker for support.
During the past several months, the pain in my chest has mostly dissipated. The eight-inch-long incision in my chest has been closed for several months. While my chest continues to be constantly sore, swollen, and numb, these days, I am noticing more pain within my chest as my sternum (breastbone) that was broken in half by my heart surgeon, my clipped ribs, and my internal chest tissue all continue to heal. I suppose my heart is also still healing.
By the way, I still get an occasional twinge of pain in the inside of my left thigh near my knee where my heart surgeon removed a long section of my main vein there. He used four segments of the vein for my heart surgery.
That's all for now. As I get stronger and more mobile, I will post more videos of myself playing my piano.
Be well, and thanks again for your support.
Sincerely,
Bill Santos
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