Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Another update on Richard....

Richard went for another post-op follow up appointment yesterday. He saw a tech at last week's appointment who ran some tests including an EKG and an ultrasound of his heart. So yesterday he reviewed the results with the cardiologist. Everything looks fine. The closure sealed correctly and there are no leaks anywhere. He cleared Richard to start working out again. He's very happy about that. Last night, he and Mia went for a walk around the block! LOL! Since Maeve's been feeding Mia, Richard bought Mia a harness and we are going to start walking her a few times a week. She was so worn out....panting and pacing. It was so funny.

Richard STILL has an irregular heartbeat though. The doctor said that it could remain irregular for years. Slowly the heart should adjust to the new pressures and blood flow, but it doesn't happen overnight. I agree that it probably took a long time for Richard to develop this condition, so it'll take just as long for things to return to normal. The bottom line is that he's fine and the hole in his heart is fixed. The doctor told him that things could have been fatal if we wouldn't have caught this so early. He could have had a heart attack or a stroke in just a few years down the road. Very scary. I'm so glad that Richard decided to get some work done on his nose (which still isn't fixed by the way) and we discovered this. He saved his own life.

He goes back for a check-up in 6 months. I'll keep you posted.

2 comments:

Lynda said...

I had a irregular heartbeat for years after my open heart surgery. Don't worry to much about it. The exercise should help a lot though. :)

Kim said...

Lynda, thanks so much for posting that. It makes me feel soooo much better. I'll pass along the info. to Richard.