A Slight Detour

Hello there,

We're back, and Barry is back at the Braintree Rehab after a short return to the Beth Israel Hospital.

On Tuesday, during Barry's physical therapy session, he was experiencing lightheadedness, shortness of breath, and chest pain, and upon exhertion, his blood-pressure dropped. The Rehab thought it best to send him to the South Shore Hospital Emergency room. We spent four long hours there while they performed an EKG, CT Scan, blood work, and chest x-ray. The doctor there was concerned about the EKG pattern and abnormality in the pericarditis (heart lining) He then phoned Barry's surgeon at the B.I. who instructed the doctor to send him back to the B.I., where we waited another 3.5 hours while they performed the same exact tests.......and you wonder why your health insurance premiums are so high?!!!!

Upon initial examination, they determined that there was fluid around Barry's heart (in the percarditis) and that the abnormal EKG were both perfectly normal for the surgery that Barry went through. After being kept overnight for observation, they performed an echocardiogram and additional testing. The great news is that he his graf is healing wonderfully and there is no additional disection to the descending aorta.

They determined that the lightheadedness was caused from dehydration from the dosage of Lasix that Barry was on. Lasix is a diarrhetic that he was taking to remove the 20 pounds of excess fluid that he retained after surgery. They determined that the drop in blood pressure was caused by the dosage of blood pressure medication that he was on. They expect the blood pressure to go up during physical exertion and Barry's was going down. His heart was having difficulty pumping blood to the brain as the blood pressure medication also slows the heart down. They have since reduced the blood pressure medication dosage and stopped the lasix. Oh, and the chest pain, they believe was caused by indigestion from the Chicken A La King that he had for lunch!!

Before sending him back to Braintree rehab this morning, they thought that there was a possibility that he may be able to come home today. They brought in a physical therapist to put him to the test, and his blood pressure dropped yet once again and he became lightheaded. The physician's assistant indicated that he still has a lot of the lasix and blood pressure medication in his system and that we would have to wait and see what reaction his body has to the reduction in medications. He was sent back to the Braintree Rehab today where they will continue with his therapy and try to get his blood pressure under control.

Once under control, Barry will be able to come home. For the first month, he will have the VNA come to the house to do his therapy at home and monitor his blood pressure. He will then be required to attend therapy at the Braintree rehab on an outpatient basis.

Are you still awake?? Now that I have bored you with all this medical information, Barry was quite content sitting outside on the patio amongst friends this evening. I left him around 8:30 this evening tucked into bed with his vanilla hoodsie, gingerale, and his new book, "The Last Lecture", by Randy Paulst. Thank you Janie!! He has lost the add'l 20 pounds in fluid and an add'l 17 pounds of his own body weight! His appetite has improved and he is getting about 6 hours of sleep each night. He is looking forward to his therapy sessions tomorrow and to the day that they give him the ok to come home.

It's all good and we are back on the road to recovery. If you would like to visit him, he has been moved to room 209! Thank you all for checking in! Goodnight!

Lisa