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Today, I'm going to my vascular doctor for a check-up to make sure my bypass is functioning and I've healed correctly. I've been having some minor symptoms reminiscent of my pre-surgery condition, so I'm a little worried. Actually I think the phrase "deathly afraid I'll get readmitted to the hospital" is more accurate.
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jackshoegazer is out of surgery, which was a "text-book operation" according to the surgeon. He is in intensive care, on a lot of drugs and oxygen, but they were able to get the breathing tube out in the OR so he should be out of ICU tomorrow. He's experiencing quite a bit of pain and the meds aren't helping much, so your continued thoughts, prayers (he's rather fond of Ganesha, Remover of Obstacles), long-distance Reiki, and general well-wishings are all greatly appreciated. Feel free to send flowers, cards, etc. care of Jeremy Parker to the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. He doesn't have a room number yet, but I'm sure they'll get there. Flowers and immediate-delivery items should probably wait until Wednesday, to make sure he's out of ICU. I'll post a room number as soon as he has one.
You can use the hospital gift shop to send flowers or gifts at (801) 507-5130, or send him a message which the nurses will print out and deliver to him at this site.
A missive from antarcticlust...
Jul. 21st, 2008 10:07 amHello, friends of jackshoegazer! This is antarcticlust, posting with Jeremy's account to keep you all updated on his medical procedure, as he'll be out of touch for a couple of days at least.
Jeremy's surgery started early this morning. He's at the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. After surgery, he'll be in Intensive Care for a day or two, and then back into a standard room for more recovery. I'm sure he'd welcome flowers, etc. at that time (though not before, as they can't have flowers in ICU), and cards would be equally appreciated if you're so inclined. Feel free to send to the hospital in the above link.
His dad will call me as soon as he gets out, so I'll know how things went and will post another update. Thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers, and good intentions!
jackshoegazer! This is antarcticlust, posting with Jeremy's account to keep you all updated on his medical procedure, as he'll be out of touch for a couple of days at least. Jeremy's surgery started early this morning. He's at the Intermountain Medical Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. After surgery, he'll be in Intensive Care for a day or two, and then back into a standard room for more recovery. I'm sure he'd welcome flowers, etc. at that time (though not before, as they can't have flowers in ICU), and cards would be equally appreciated if you're so inclined. Feel free to send to the hospital in the above link.
His dad will call me as soon as he gets out, so I'll know how things went and will post another update. Thanks again for all your thoughts, prayers, and good intentions!
Medical imaging is amazingly advanced, ladies and gentlemen. At my vascular appointment today, I got to see a full 3D CGI rendering of my chest, including the skeletal and circulatory systems. It was such a very cool experience.
The bad news however is that my superior vena cava is completely occluded, which means almost no blood is getting through. I have a "fibrosing mediastinitis", a ball of scar tissue pinching off the vein. My body has done a great job, my doctor says, of rerouting the blood elsewhere. I have some crazy large veins that no one else has.
The "cure" for my odd blood flow issues is a spiral vein graft, wherein they take a length of the saphenous vein in the leg and wrapped around a stent in a spiral. It is then attached one end to the vena cava above the obstruction and the other end directly into the right atrium, bypassing the obstruction. This completely erases all issues and symptoms. In 1999, all patients who had this procedure were still asymptomatic six years later.
My doctor wants to get the guy who invented the procedure to do it. Unfortunately, he lives in Salt Lake City and is retired. However, the guy's son worked under him and performed this procedure many times. My doctor said he himself can even do it, but would prefer to let someone who does them regularly do it. So, he's going to call up Salt Lake and see what the situation is and get back to me.
Then we find out if my insurance will cover it. Then I decide when to have it done. It's no exact hurry, not quite an emergency - yet. It's pretty major surgery, so I'm thinking sometime in the summer. Maybe not take summer classes this year. I wouldn't need to be on anticoagulants anymore afterward. It would be awesome, amazing, liberating.
Additional reading:
1) Bypass of superior vena cava: Six years' experience with spiral vein graft for obstruction of superior vena cava due to benign and malignant disease
2) Superior Vena Caval Bypass Using the Superficial Femoral Vein for Treatment of Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
3) Superior Vena Cava Bypass Using Spiral Vein Graft - Ministernotomy Technique
P.S. Oddly, when I was first diagnosed with this back in 2001 and had no insurance, the hospital I went to put a stent in and sent me on my way and never mentioned the spiral vein graft. My new vascular doctor seemed kind of surprised they put in a stent because superior vena cava stents almost always fail. It's like they did the bare minimum and kicked me out. Capitalist medical systems rule, people. Get one!
The bad news however is that my superior vena cava is completely occluded, which means almost no blood is getting through. I have a "fibrosing mediastinitis", a ball of scar tissue pinching off the vein. My body has done a great job, my doctor says, of rerouting the blood elsewhere. I have some crazy large veins that no one else has.
The "cure" for my odd blood flow issues is a spiral vein graft, wherein they take a length of the saphenous vein in the leg and wrapped around a stent in a spiral. It is then attached one end to the vena cava above the obstruction and the other end directly into the right atrium, bypassing the obstruction. This completely erases all issues and symptoms. In 1999, all patients who had this procedure were still asymptomatic six years later.
My doctor wants to get the guy who invented the procedure to do it. Unfortunately, he lives in Salt Lake City and is retired. However, the guy's son worked under him and performed this procedure many times. My doctor said he himself can even do it, but would prefer to let someone who does them regularly do it. So, he's going to call up Salt Lake and see what the situation is and get back to me.
Then we find out if my insurance will cover it. Then I decide when to have it done. It's no exact hurry, not quite an emergency - yet. It's pretty major surgery, so I'm thinking sometime in the summer. Maybe not take summer classes this year. I wouldn't need to be on anticoagulants anymore afterward. It would be awesome, amazing, liberating.
Additional reading:
1) Bypass of superior vena cava: Six years' experience with spiral vein graft for obstruction of superior vena cava due to benign and malignant disease
2) Superior Vena Caval Bypass Using the Superficial Femoral Vein for Treatment of Superior Vena Cava Syndrome
3) Superior Vena Cava Bypass Using Spiral Vein Graft - Ministernotomy Technique
P.S. Oddly, when I was first diagnosed with this back in 2001 and had no insurance, the hospital I went to put a stent in and sent me on my way and never mentioned the spiral vein graft. My new vascular doctor seemed kind of surprised they put in a stent because superior vena cava stents almost always fail. It's like they did the bare minimum and kicked me out. Capitalist medical systems rule, people. Get one!
