21 day update

Hi Everybody:

Many of you have asked "so ... how DO I set up a spam filter in my email program?". For those that haven't figured that out, here's my update...

It's been three weeks since the surgery, and 17 days out of the hospital. The day-to-day progress is getting harder to notice, but week-to-week there's still significant improvement.

Taste: Most things are starting to taste near-normal. There's a couple of exceptions, though, that are still frustrating:
- Bananas. I love bananas. Imagine platypus grilled on the exhaust manifold of a diesel engine. That's what I'm tasting.
- Red Wine. I love red wine. Imagine Gatorade, Diet Pepsi and Buckley's Mixture in a blender. Yum.
- Vegetables. Fortunately, most veggies taste OK. Is ketchup a vegetable?

Pain: I'm back to taking some pain medication at night. A bottle of tylenol and a fifth of rum before bed helps me sleep thru the night ... and the next day ... and the following night. Overall, I'm feeling a little bit better and have a little more mobility every day. Pain isn't a big deal anymore.

Scars: Our good friend Kelly D told me about Dermatix. It's a silicone scar-removing gel that I'll use every day for the next two months. I doubt the scars will completely disappear, but I may frighten fewer children (or Laura). They're healing nicely, by the way.

Exercise: I've been walking a lot. Up to about 6km/day now, and I think I could do more but it's been SO hot here lately. Once it cools down I'll ratchet it up a bit more. Laura would like me to walk to Regina (she doesn't appreciate my "driving tips").

Driving: I get to drive at 4 weeks post-op. That's 6 days, 9 hours and 20 minutes from now. But who's counting?

Attitude: Things are really going well. This has been a real test of our marriage ... I don't know that Laura and I have ever spent this much time together. We seem to keep busy with the online gambling and the grow-op, so the days aren't too long. Laura is going to go back to work half-days for the next two weeks to cover for vacations. That will give me a chance to paint a self-portrait on the Diack's living room wall.

Sleep: Sleeping well through the night now. See "Pain".

Concentration: I'm able to read more than a couple of pages at a time now. Those Archie comics are still pretty challenging, but The Enquirer keeps me up-to-date with world events (so - what's with Brittany and Bigfoot?).

You: Again, I've been wonderfully surprised by the visits and the cards and the phonecalls and the identity theft. Thank you all for being so concerned and so supportive. I'm up for visitors (PLEASE!!) so give us a call on Laura's cell 604-505-1963.

Love ya*,
Doug

*platonically

14 day update

Hi Everybody:

By now you've probably added me to your spam filter, so I won't be offended if this doesn't get read. As many of you have shown an interest in what's happening, I'll keep sending these updates until you stop acknowledging them .... probably another week or two ;-)

So - it's been two weeks since my surgery. The doctors/nurses/janitors/homeless all said I'd be surprised by my recovery, and I truly am amazed.

Pain: Didn't take any painkillers at all yesterday. Previous to that, I was down to a couple of Tylenol before bedtime. It's still uncomfortable to get in and out of a car, sleep on my side, and do one-handed-pushups, but every day my mobility gets better and the pain is less of a factor.

Sleep: I've been getting 7-8 hours of sleep every night for the last week. It's not continuous - more like 5 hours, then 1, then another 1, but I can manage just fine on it.

Appetite: The metalic taste I talked about last week is still there with sweet foods, including fruit. Vegetables, fish, grain are all tasting close to normal. I'm hungry all the time.

Frankenstein Scars: I think they're going to heal just fine. The staples and stitches were removed before I was discharged from the hospital 11 days ago, and the teflon tape they applied to hold me together when I left Royal Columbian was gone this Monday. I've been taking photos of the scar every week ... I plan on creating a scrapbook for our grandchildren ;-)

Energy: Laura and I walked to Starbucks a couple of days ago. This would be about 1km each way, and was probably more than the "book" said I should do. Regardless, I managed it OK. Trying to get out and do something "ambitious" every day.

Attention: Still have a hard time concentrating for very long ... watching a movie is frustrating, and reading more than a few pages in a book is hard. I understand this is pretty normal, and will improve quickly over time as well. I find I'm thinking about 50 things at one time (not much different than from before surgery!). It was pointed out that I misspelled platonic in my last message - and I'm going to use my mental state as the excuse.

Health: Saw the doctor again today. Everything is exactly where it's supposed to be; BP is low (110/60), HR is good (50), lungs are clear. No pain other than from the large axe wounds I have in my chest and my left leg (they took a vein from there too).

Attitude: I haven't suffered any of the depression they talked about in the hospital. I'm feeling very "up", and am anxious to get on with life!

Plans: I have to see the cardiologist mid-August, and the surgeon mid-September. Once I'm cleared by both, Laura and I will "re-start" the plans we had for early June. We'll likely spend some time on Vancouver Island in September (Laura's mom lives there), and then head south to California in October. We plan on spending a few months in CA, AZ, NV, NM ... maybe get as far as Houston.

You: Again, thank you for all the words of encouragement, the email conversations, the phonecalls, the visits, the cards, and the psychic apparitions. I look forward to checking my email in the morning to see what's what, and to screening all our calls on Laura's phone (604-505-1963).

Platonic love to you all,

Doug

Doug 2.0 update...

Hi Everybody:

It's 4:30pm on Thursday, July 13, 2006.

A week ago, I was in Cardiac Intensive Care still unconscious and intubated from my open heart surgery (CABG: Coronary Artery Bypass Graft – times two).

Right now I am sitting in the loft of our friend's home, typing this message to you all. Even though it's happening to me, I'm pretty amazed how far I've come in a scant 168 hours.

Here's a brief update:

- I'm really glad I'm out of the hospital. Even though they'll ply you with whatever drugs you'd like (morphine, T3's, Ativan), it was beginning to drive me nuts. There were no private/semi-private rooms available, so I was in a room with 3 other heart patients (I especially liked the guy with fluid in his lungs that woke up in a panic attack every 7 minutes). The food sucks.

- The nurses are always asking about pain. Always on a scale of 1-10, 1 being a mild headache and 10 being just before you pass out or die.

- I'm very sore. When I cough, it feels as though I'm being hit with a sledgehammer in the chest (7). Laughing is also pretty painful (6). You never realize how much you laugh during the day until it stops being funny. I really don't want to sneeze (apparently, about 11).

- I can get the pain down to about a 2 with a couple of Tylenol, lying down, not moving, and very tired.

- I'm not sleeping. The hospital, the anesthesia, the food, the schedule and the inactivity have all added up. My body has no idea what's going on, and so I've only slept about 10 hours total in the last 3 days. My GP doesn't want me to take anything for it, but simply increase my activity and avoid any naps during the day; this should pass in a couple of weeks.

- Food tastes horrible. I don't know why they didn't put this little gem in the "Going Home After Your Surgery" book. Everything tastes like kerosene-soaked-cardboard. Yum. Apparently this is a very common affect of being on anesthetic for a long period of time.

- I look like Frankenstein. Pretty hard to look in the mirror with the fresh incisions. Now I know why they invented clothes.

- I'm restless. Not tired, just restless. I find I can't concentrate on a single task very long. Reading is very hard, listing to audiobooks is difficult, and even watching TV is frustrating.

Mostly though, I'm thankful. Thankful for all of you who were thinking of me (and Laura, and Kath, and Dave). Your phone calls and emails to Laura were a reminder to both of us just how wonderful our life really is …. I think Laura said she had over 100 people on the distribution list – many of those were requests to be added. She also got to "meet" pieces of my world she'd never met (mostly Agilent or HP folks).

Our friends have really stood out. You expect families to come together, as ours did, but our "family" appears to be much larger than we may have thought. The Diack's, in particular, have shown us incredible support – we're living at Mike & Brenda's, John and Mo are looking after the dog, and I'm embezzling money from Janice, Ed and Stu.

I have to say I was a little embarrassed at the number of people who visited me at both hospitals (June in Eagleridge, July at Royal Columbian). I often had nurses "reminding" me that they limit visitors for a reason – and 6 or 7 at a time was a little much. Regardless, I appreciated it.

So … I'm going try to be online for a bit every day from here on in. I'd like to keep the conversation going with any or all of you. You'll have to be patient if I'm having a bad/slow day … it may take me a while to reply.

Again, from the bottom of my Revision 2.0 heart, I love you all (platonic love, not romantic love – pervert).

Love,

Doug