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Posted by pam sherburne on February 12, 2003 at 09:09:48:

Thanks for all the good wishes. Everything went, for the most part, very well. My surgery went fast; they had told us 3-8 hours and I was through in a little over 3. Maybe because of that, I've really felt very well since. The surgery was Thursday and on Saturday, I caught the bus and went to Tower City and looked around for about 45 minutes. There was one problem. The night after the surgery I began to experience a bit of pain when I took deep breaths. The nurse found nothing wrong. However it got worse and worse over the next several until I was very uncomfortable all the time. The nurses found nothing but could hear a rasping sound when I breathed. They called the on-duty cardiologist who didn't know what it was either. I was given X-rays, 3 inhalation treatments, shots for drug reaction. Nothing helped and they were still stumped so they just left me alone until the dr. from Natale's team made rounds the next AM. He listened and immediately told me I had periocarditis and to start taking ibuprofen. By Saturday morning I was much better and it's not serious, but that night was scary, since it got worse so quickly and no one knew what was wrong. Plus I received and will be charged for a lot of treatment I certainly did not need. No one ever mentioned to me that this could happen. I am also a bit surprised that 3 nurses and a cardiologist who care for Natale's patients all the time couldn't figure it out.

So far, I have felt no heart arrythmias at all. Is this a good sign? Could I be having some I wouldn't feel? Did they tell you to see your local dr? Other than going on Coumadin, they didn't really tell me anything as far as instructions.

For those of you who haven't had the CC experience yet, PVI really is amazingly easy. Complete loss of dignity for 2 days is about the worst of it. I was very worried about a psychotic reaction to the drugs, but Natale figured out that it was probably the Versed that did it to me in past proceedures and so gave me little or none of that and I did just fine.

I had several other questions, but can't remember them right now. (Can I blame my poor memory on the surgery?) I'll be glad to talk to anyone with specific questions I haven't answered. Thanks to all who encouraged me and good luck to those yet to go. Also, remember Father Allen Bates, who will have his tomorrow.

Pam

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