Pericarditis & Pericardiectomy Part IV

Teri16 · June 28, 2005, 7:05pm

Hi Everyone and Welcome to the 4rth new Pericarditis and Pericardiectomy Thread Part IV!

Teri16 · June 28, 2005, 7:36pm

Cathy...I'm thinking of you. I hope your surgery went well and I know everyone is waiting to hear from you!!

Frand1118 · June 28, 2005, 8:11pm

Thanks Teri! Maya G...I had the same problem as your boyfriend. In September, they took out 900 ccs of fluid. In April, they took out 300 ccs of fluid. I've been tested for everything!!! Still no answers. My cardiologist has me weening off the prednisone and I should be done in 2 weeks. With my last surgery, they said they took a good size piece of the pericardium off. They said that if the fluid comes back, it will go into the sac that covers the lung. I sometimes have days where its tough to breath, but all in all feel pretty good. My last cardio appt. went well so I don;'t have to go back for another 3 months. I hope its resolved. They thought initially that it was TB but thank goodness it wasn't. However, I do wish they had some idea what caused it. I had absolutely no symptoms and it was caught by complete accident so I was lucky. Best of luck to him. This site gives me piece of mind.

Teri16 · June 28, 2005, 8:15pm

Fran! It's great to hear from you here and I'm glad to know that you are on the mend!! ~ though that is a lot of fluid! I've heard where sometimes it is mistaken for TB. So I don't think you were alone with that initial thought. You take care and keep us posted on you as well!!

Hugs, Teri :)

"Because he is he and I am I."......E. V. Lucas

Maya_G · June 29, 2005, 3:24pm

Hi Frand, thanks for your story! So, did you have a pericardial window or a pericardiectomy? He is back on 40 mg of prednisone and feels great right now (thank god he isn't suffering any side effects from it), but the problems started again last time when he went down to 20 mg. The doctor said they may have tapered too quickly. My fingers are crossed but I am worried that we will have problems as we begin to taper. How long was the fluid/inflammation returning before they decided to go in and do a surgery? My feelings are that they really want to wait before they go in and do anything invasive. Thanks for sharing and I am so happy that you are feeling better.

Frand1118 · June 29, 2005, 4:37pm

Maya, My 1st surgery, in September, was a window through the sternum. The 2nd one was a partial pericardiectomy under my left breast. Is your boyfriend on any inflammatories? The fluid started coming back after I was off my meds in November and they operated again in April. So 5 months. I was on prednisone the whole time too. I have days where it is difficult to breath...like today...it stinks. I'm ok sitting still but as soon as I get up to move its hard. I also get terrible heartburn at times which I never had until all this happened. See what happens when you turn 40! You just have to take it 1 day at a time.

Mister_S · June 29, 2005, 6:33pm

Hi, everyone.

Cathy---hope all is well. I would imagine that you are out of the ICU by now, and that they'll be discharging you sometime in the next few days!

Fran and Maya.... Yes... the sac that covers the lung... the pleura... I discovered (thanks to an X-ray that was taken during my post-op followup visit [got my stitches out!]) that I've got fluid in my chest. I already knew this, though. I could feel this sort of bubbly, gurgling sensation under my ribs, particularly when lying down, or at night. The good news is that the stuff is not in my lungs; my lungs are perfectly clear. But, on Friday, I get to got back to the hospital so they can poke me with a needle and drain off the fluid. Awesome, eh?

RE: cardiologists at USC (for Maya)---my doc is Rory Hachamovitch, and I thinks he is just terrific. Very concerned and very thorough, and he was the first medical person (aside from the nurse) to come and see me after my surgery.

---Mister S

Maya_G · June 29, 2005, 10:02pm

Thanks very much Mister. We will put in a call later today.

I'm so sorry you have to be back in the hospital to drain the fluid... if it is not in the lung, where is it? Darren (my BF) had to get the fluid drained out of the pericardium (500 ccs of fluid) and it was really OK... after all you've been through it will be fine. Its crazy, with this pericardium, it just does not want to let up! What is the deal?

You'll be in my thoughts and I thank you so much for the referral.

STORRIE · June 30, 2005, 2:27am

Dear Teri. Nan. Andrea, mister. Les

Out of surgery and I am alive. The heart did flip out during surgery. Went into Atriall Fib;and they had to paddle me to stop the Atrial Fib. Finally got me back into normal rythum. Pretty scary for awhile. Going into surgery was not that bad because they really tricked me, they said they would take care of me and they decided to move me after surgery to ICU to NURSE RATCHET, and this lady was the nurse from hell. I was givin an epadureal, it did nothing....tick tock, all night long, the pain that I felt from the drains was like nothing I had never felt like this, she was so mean that if I moved off my back she would punish me and push me back in to place and tell me i was not allowed to move. She would grab the blankets underneath me and yank them.

STORRIE · June 30, 2005, 2:48am

Sorry had to start again from here, was getting upset. This woman and apparently no one else didn't realize they had numbed my lower body instead of my upper body. My upper right thigh and lower back started to become extremly numb I cried hysterically all night long.I cried out for my family; my husband and the nurse kept telling me basically to shut up or she would make life really miserable for me.

The next morning I begged and begged for my tubes to be removed' and finally the next shift came and literally that evening was like laying on a bed of the sharpest needles. When the next shift showed up I told them that my right side of my body was becoming completly numb. They called pain management who agreed that the epiderma was hitting a nerve that was causing my lower extremities to gain complete numbness and come to find out i had no pain control; 0 pain control at 4 of my insisions sights so basically i spent the entire evening and till morning with no pain medication until the pain managment team was called when they found out my right leg was numb. Well i have to finish the rest of this tomorrow, I am exhausted and i have to go to bed, cya then
Cathy

Teri16 · June 30, 2005, 3:20am

Cathy!!! I'm so very very glad to hear from you! I was hoping and praying we'd hear from you soon! You made it and that is the most important thing for now - one big step and then small ones - one at a time.

Teri16 · June 30, 2005, 3:23am

I'm just soooo very excited that you made it through, Cathy!! WooHoo!! :) Just had to kick my heels one more time!!!

(((((Cathy)))))

"Because he is he and I am I."......E. V. Lucas

Teri16 · June 30, 2005, 3:31am

Mister, it sounds like you have a PE (Pleural Effusion)? We all normally have some fluid around the lining of the lungs, but with PE the fluid increases a lot. I know after bypass surgery this can happen and they thought that's what I had. However, I had Pleurisy (Pain) in this area with no effusion. Do you have some SOB (shortness of breath)? Is it painful? Hopefully, once they drain this excess fluid you'll feel much better, Mister!! Best wishes to you!!

Hugs, Teri :)

"Because he is he and I am I."......E. V. Lucas

Nan2 · June 30, 2005, 4:15am

Halleluya!!!!!!!

Cathy...I'm so sorry for your pain but it is SO GREAT to hear you complaining about it!!!!!!!! Congratulations! I'm so thankful you are through surgery and with it enough to be ticked off! I have been thinking of you all week so I was very excited to see your post! Thank you! Impressive to be emailing on day 3...you are my hero!

I had a nurse from hell too...I barely remember but my family tells me that I was very clear that she was not allowed back in my room to take care of me :) I hope by now you have some good pain control...that is the least they could do!

I'm so glad you are on this side of it all now! Every day will get a little better...you won't believe it! One day at a time and take it easy! Thanks for posting a note...so thankful it went well. Can't wait to hear every detail when you feel up to it!

Congratulations again! Nan

Nan2 · June 30, 2005, 4:18am

Mister...I had that fluid too...I called it soap suds...crazy feeling. Sorry that you have to go through that! Just don't look at the needle and it'll be over before you know it. I was close to having that done but never had to have it. Hope you are feeling tons better otherwise. Congratulations on getting your stitches out!

Nan

Mrozek · June 30, 2005, 6:06am

Cathy,

Congratulations!!! You postings were very informative... It seems that my pericardiectomy is coming up at Cleveland pretty soon... maybe I should get the name of the nurse... just for as a precaution.:>)))

-mrozek

Teri16 · June 30, 2005, 7:18pm

lol mrozek!! I think we all think we have the nurses from mars right after surgery, but most of the time when you look back - they probably helped to either save your life!, or helped prevent another problem from happening!! Believe me, I had one of them for my surgery, too, and now I look back and realize I was not her only patient. :)

Please keep us updated as to when you're going in mrozek!! We want to help you with any questions that you may have, too! :)

Big Hugs, Teri xoxoxo

"Because he is he and I am I."......E. V. Lucas

STORRIE · July 1, 2005, 2:06am

Hey Guys...

Teri16 · July 1, 2005, 3:39am

Cathy, now that I understand what happened a bit better - I am so very sorry!! I've only had epidurals with steroids going into my back - never with surgery, so I can't even begin to imagine what you went through!! ((((Cathy)))) As you start to feel better, is there some way you could talk to your Dr. and find out why all the last minute changes?? I do know that in a hospital, things happen, emergencies come up, people become ill, so that could explain why the different anesthesiologist? - but I wonder why they let your family go so quickly, if they promised you otherwise? And why weren't they able to give you pain med.'s during that 12 hrs. I hope you are able to ask some of those questions, Cathy, before you leave!

Do you have a small pillow to cushion your chest for your cough?

Keep us posted and please know that you are in my thoughts!!

With Love and Hugs, Teri

"Because he is he and I am I."......E. V. Lucas

tombets · July 1, 2005, 5:11am

Hi Everyone, Well I,m 7 weeks out and you can add my name to the Pleural Effusion list. I've been short of breath and asked my daughter to listen to my lungs and sure enough the left side girgled. Well, it took half the day today for the doctor to see me, get xrays and have it confirmed. The bad news is they won't perform the procedure till I'm off this darn cumadin for 4 days. That would be the 4th of July so they delayed it to Wed. because Tues. I have to get a blood test to be sure the drug is gone. What a pain. So I'm back in the do very little mode for few days.