Valve Job

[outerlimits]

open heart surgery coming up on 9/18. getting a cow valve and while the hood is up, a bypass to a partially blocked artery. rehab is gonna suck-can't do squat for first 6 weeks.

once cleared, gonna dry fire with an airsoft so i can get used to seeing iron sights once again. i have a new limited gun coming soon. figure i'll have time to build a new AR for next season as well. might even sharpen up my typing skills so i'll be ready to get into superstition when that 2 minute window opens up next month. and thank god for college football-the nhl is coming up as well. i may even dust off that flying v and learn how to play it. come to think of it, it's a good time to send in that 1985 dillon 550 for a re-build. loaded everything i need for now. gonna shoot a club match tomorrow, then the waiting begins.

hopefully, i'll see y'all on the other side.

[EEH]

Nah,,stay on this side!

Good luck, with rehab.

[ChuckS]

Best of luck!

later,

Chuck

ps: Flying V, eh? Got a Marshall stack to go with it?

[Sarge]

Best wishes to you. Get well soon and get back to the range.

[Steve RA]

Good luck !!!

[blind bat]

The cow valve is a bump to open, right?

[Flatland Shooter]

Good luck from someone that did the same thing just over two years ago.

The first six weeks suck. Not even allowed to ride in a car for the most part.

If necessary, let your doctor know if you need pain meds. (I suffered much more than I should have. Its a macho thing but once I decided to make the call I was advised it was actually slowing down my recovery.)

Then comes a couple months of cardio-therapy. Sounds bad but it felt good being able to exercise like you've not been able to for too long.

Hang in there and keep at it. Its all worth it.

Bill

[kcobean]

Git 'er done and see ya on the range (proverbially speaking.

[DougCarden]

Hang in there Butch!. Start planning next years matches! good luck

DougC

[ong45]

Good wishes for ya Butch !!!

[Jim O'Young]

Butch-

I'll be sending LOTS of positive energy your way.

Stay strong!!

Jim

[Dan Sierpina]

Good luck, Butch!

[outerlimits]

4 weeks post op yesterday. other than losing weight and feeling like a gimp, i'm alive and well. start cardio rehab in 10 days-can't wait. dry firing is getting old. looked and my 930 in the safe and it hurt just to look at it. doc says no live fire till next year. that sucks. sick of watching shooting videos. OTOH, had a steak the other night and it was good. beer still tastes weird. not ready for the expensive vino just yet. also found out flying v's are a pain to play.

[Flatland Shooter]

Good for you sir.

About now you will be getting a little color back. My first six weeks I had to sleep in a Lazy Boy recliner. Hopefully you are having better luck.

You will be amazed how quickly you will advance in cardio therapy. I've never really like exercising for the sake of exercise, but I did enjoy the change of pace it provided. And you will be in therapy long enough that you stand a good chance of continuing using the treadmill and exercise bike long after the sessions end.

If you have a few bad days just remember how much better it will be in the very near future.

Take care.

Bill

[outerlimits]

post op 12 weeks tomorrow-restrictions lifted! can't wait to get to the range. new rifle is finished and just waiting for new limited gun to show up from FGW. feeling great.

now for a little humor...i wrote this in ICU so i would not forget all the little details:

at the hospital at 0530, get a complete shave from chin to toes, only in the front. they do leave the back and the arms. i'm as hairy as a bear so it looks crazy right now. anyway, put on the gown, have a good 15 mins with the anesthesiologist who tells me what to expect. i say goodbye to my wife and sister, very emotional morning for me. will i ever see my daughter again?

downstairs to the OR i go. next thing i know i'm awake, in ICU, looking at a clock and realizing i'm alive. what happens next really, sucked. i'm expecting to get rid of the breathing tube soon. two hours go by and it's still there. hugely uncomfortable. so little air comes thru you swear you are choking. then i start to hear and see nurses and PA's scurrying around concerned. i'm bleeding way too fast way too soon. post op 5 hrs now, and they give me blood. i am clotting and the drain tubes are as well. they use some weird suction devices to try to clear the tubes. this goes on for hours. the clock i swear is broke. i'm now awake some 6 hrs with the breathing tube. they suction around it and thru it. makes me shudder. i pray for water-not happening. my arms flail and nurses ask things like "you want the tube out, right"? hell yes i do and hell yes i know you can't...so don't ask. wish i had pre-made cue cards telling them what i really wanted to say.

the day continues, pain is huge. i ask for pain relief only to find out they have given me everything under the sun. doctor's tell me there is nothing left to try for pain meds. the clock still is broke. post op 10 hrs, still bleeding. get more blood and frozen platelets, which tend to clot. hear doc's talking about going back to OR to determine what's causing the bleeding/clotting. begin to worry, wondering if this is it. it's now post op 14 hours and they tell me the breathing tube is coming out. i'm so happy. loved the ice chip or two i got.

docs start to explain a procedure i'm about to go thru. never read about it and hope no one ever has to go thru it. post op 15 hrs, wide awake and in lots of pain. docs decide i need another drain tube as my collapsed lung might be taking on blood. they explain what it will entail. basically, insertion of drain tubes are usually done when one is out cold. i was not. they find the spot they are going in from, under my right arm about 5" down from the armpit. i get some local shot to numb. then the fun begins. as they start cutting the hole, i can feel the knife and it is so hot. they stop and gimme more numbing sauce and continue cutting. now it's deeper. i'm screaming at the doctors at the top of my voice. being a marine, i use every swear word i've ever heard, many, many times. i threaten to find out who the doctor is after i get out, track him down and kill him and his family dog. pain is unreal. they keep cutting and plunge something that felt like a 2" round piece of PVC into my side, working it between the ribs. doc's said i passed out around then.

i wake up some time later and seem to be better. pain is manageable and i'm still alive. bleeding, clotting, draining is now as expected. i happy to be alive. the ER doc came in a couple hours later to introduce himself and apologize. i apologized as well, and told him i would spare his dog.