Journal entry by Barb Rumer —
Hi all, I have been slow to write in cliff's journal. It is Sat. and he has been home since 3/9
What a difference in sleeping in his own bed. generally 9 hrs a night - he is catching up on all that sleep that he didn't have in the hospital. We have had a long appt with his primary physician. Very thorough - with new appts : a neurologist to go over his kepra medication for myoclonus and any other items including his weaker left hand; a neurosurgeon to go over a very small( 4mm) menigioma mass in his brain - but this is probably there from birth, and not a problem - just a double check; and opthamologist for change in vision, probably due to the hypoxia, but also a double check; they double checked with a blood draw for anemia, phosporus and thyroid - all normal.
Cliff will continue to have once a week appt with speech/cognitive - most areas in cognitive are normal, but for one area ( I think auditory attention) they will work on more. On 3/18 we had 2 important appts. One with the cardiologist PA - she went over everything and described the very unique situation for cliff's heart attack - all of his arteries were clear, but one which was 20% blocked by plaque which is normal for his age and thus normally would not be an issue. However in a small % of people, this thinning lining of artery broke, causing a "plaque rupture" sending some blood in and creating a blood clot, thus stopping up the artery and with no blood flow creating the heart attack. His issue was just age related and not diet or anything else (he had always said he had "done everything correctly" as to diet and exercise). He was relived to know that he was not at risk for any other arteries in his heart . He will have an appointment in one month with the actual cardiologist who put the stent in his heart.
Thurs afternoon he had his first intake appt with Cardio Rehab PT; (there will be 36 sessions over the next 3 month) there was 1 1/4 hrs with just going over his past history, what his exercise life had been and his goal for getting back to pre-event exercise. He is released from a mandatory 10min/day walk to anything he wants as long as he keeps thing in the moderate intensity zone - Short term goal in the first 30 days is to go up and down stirs without shortness of breath.
the PT went over a heart healthy diet and need to keep sodium under 2000mg/day (yes even our organic sliced turkey breast meat has 420mg of salt - looks like I will be cooking regular organic turkey/chicken and pre-slicing it)
The program with cardiac rehab is that they have one hooked up as you exercise on bike or treadmill to monitor - so you stay in the moderate intensity zone as you increase your time and resistance and strength. Each machine measures your MET (that is not opera, but metabolic equivalent) - oxygen consumed , thus comparing this baseline (cliff walking at 2.3 mph at a slight incline) to his increased stamina over time
Lots of good info - Cliff is very goal interested and will do what it takes to get back to hiking and biking.
We are looking forward to seeing where his ability is in one month -
thanks for everyone's loving messages and thoughts
What a difference in sleeping in his own bed. generally 9 hrs a night - he is catching up on all that sleep that he didn't have in the hospital. We have had a long appt with his primary physician. Very thorough - with new appts : a neurologist to go over his kepra medication for myoclonus and any other items including his weaker left hand; a neurosurgeon to go over a very small( 4mm) menigioma mass in his brain - but this is probably there from birth, and not a problem - just a double check; and opthamologist for change in vision, probably due to the hypoxia, but also a double check; they double checked with a blood draw for anemia, phosporus and thyroid - all normal.
Cliff will continue to have once a week appt with speech/cognitive - most areas in cognitive are normal, but for one area ( I think auditory attention) they will work on more. On 3/18 we had 2 important appts. One with the cardiologist PA - she went over everything and described the very unique situation for cliff's heart attack - all of his arteries were clear, but one which was 20% blocked by plaque which is normal for his age and thus normally would not be an issue. However in a small % of people, this thinning lining of artery broke, causing a "plaque rupture" sending some blood in and creating a blood clot, thus stopping up the artery and with no blood flow creating the heart attack. His issue was just age related and not diet or anything else (he had always said he had "done everything correctly" as to diet and exercise). He was relived to know that he was not at risk for any other arteries in his heart . He will have an appointment in one month with the actual cardiologist who put the stent in his heart.
Thurs afternoon he had his first intake appt with Cardio Rehab PT; (there will be 36 sessions over the next 3 month) there was 1 1/4 hrs with just going over his past history, what his exercise life had been and his goal for getting back to pre-event exercise. He is released from a mandatory 10min/day walk to anything he wants as long as he keeps thing in the moderate intensity zone - Short term goal in the first 30 days is to go up and down stirs without shortness of breath.
the PT went over a heart healthy diet and need to keep sodium under 2000mg/day (yes even our organic sliced turkey breast meat has 420mg of salt - looks like I will be cooking regular organic turkey/chicken and pre-slicing it)
The program with cardiac rehab is that they have one hooked up as you exercise on bike or treadmill to monitor - so you stay in the moderate intensity zone as you increase your time and resistance and strength. Each machine measures your MET (that is not opera, but metabolic equivalent) - oxygen consumed , thus comparing this baseline (cliff walking at 2.3 mph at a slight incline) to his increased stamina over time
Lots of good info - Cliff is very goal interested and will do what it takes to get back to hiking and biking.
We are looking forward to seeing where his ability is in one month -
thanks for everyone's loving messages and thoughts
Patients and caregivers love hearing from you; add a comment to show your support.
Help cliff Stay Connected to Family and Friends
A $25 donation to CaringBridge powers a site like cliff's for two weeks. Will you make a gift to help ensure that this site stays online for them and for you?
