OK...So What The Heck Is A "TIA"?

At this point I've gone through two surgeries, and I'm home
dealing with my slow recovery, taking meds, watching my
blood pressure and trying not worry, and be happy....
Now they have started me going to cardiac rehab, 3 days
a week...I use three different stationary pieces of
exercise equipment and I'm starting to recondition
myself....I hope that I  can get to the place where I'm not
so short winded all the time...

That's My Girlfriend Belinda....Thank God I have her in my
life at this time to take care of me and help me along!

One Wednesday I'm on the third and last piece of equipment
in which I place my feet in the stirrups and pedal for 11
minutes..I'm working harder that I usually do....going by the
guage on the screenI'm putting out "80 watts" of work output
instead of  the usual 60....I'm wanting to get myself moving along in
the weekly climb towards being healthy and able again.....

Then, my left foot falls out of the pedal and after
repeated tries it kept falling out, no matter how many times
I put it in, it simply falls out again.....Then I try enlarging the strap
thinking that its simply too small for my left foot....but Im strangely
unable to use my fingers, or figure out how to unhook it, so I signal
for the Nurse Practitoner Cheryl to come and assist me...

When I start speaking to her, we both realize that the left
side of my mouth is drooping, and my speech is so slurred that
something is wrong! She exclaims, "Stephen, are you alright...?"
before I know it,there are five more nurses there with a bed on
wheels....putting monitoring tags on my chest and asking me
questions,wheeling me into the ER, which luckily was on the same
floor as the rehab!

By the time they got me into the ER, my symptoms were
almost gone. They were talking about sending me to get a CAT
Scan, and using the word"stroke"....After a little bit more time,
I was able to smile with both sides of my mouth, and my speech
returned to normal.....

The ER Dr. gave me a Stroke test consisting of 22
questions, each scoring towards how bad my stroke was...I
scored a 1 out of a possible 22, and they told me I had what
was called a TIA, or a "Transient Ischemic Attack" which is so
small a stroke, it's like a warning....They wanted to ambulance
me down to the Springfield hospital where I had my surgery,
and have mysurgeon look at me as well....so I stayed another
night in the hospital .....it was funny 'cause all the nurses down
there were exclaiming "Steve!" What are you doing back here?..."
and "How are you?"

It was like being around old friends again....that
was nice....I really like the staff in the cardiac telemetry
unit at Baystate Hospital, very hard working and pleasant....
They took great care of me and helped me through the
worst of the whole ordeal....I appreciate them very much....

The next day I had a 40 minute MRI on my brain and neck to
check for clots or damage from the lack of oxygen, and it
eventually showed all clear....Then they gave me a Trans
Esophageal Echo, which meant they knocked me out and put a
camera down my throat to check on the aortic pipes that
were just put in to see if there were anymore clots in them....
which also was all clear....!

I was relieved to say the least!!!!

I got to go home that night with Belinda, and started the
road to recovery again....I have to say more fearful of what
the future held for me since I could have another TIA at any
time....and maybe I would be at home or at least not at
rehab like I wasbefore. I had new meds to take to further
lower my blood pressure, and it meant that it was more
watch and wait...

Then another shoe drops! Im seeing my local cardiologist,
and she reads on my CAT Scan report that my abdominal
aorta has enlarged below the second repair to another
aneurysm! Oh No-Possibly another surgery!
My mind is blown....I wander out of her office                                                     
dumbfounded....feeling hopeless and I can see how Im
actually going to die instead of having the feeling that
I'm going to live forever like before the whole ordeal.

I go home, and start telling Belinda, Lisa, and
Nick....writing emails that I have even more bad news..
Im crying at the drop of a hat now more than ever! A third
surgery in 7 months! Would I be  paralyzed? Would I even
make it off the operating table?   How would I live in my house
with a stairway to the bathroom and  bedroom, and my studio
with my bass, guitar and computer?

I'm scheduled to go see my surgeons nurse that next
morning, and hear whether or not I have to go for surgery,
and how soon....this is definitely the hardest night of my whole
cardiac experience.....

Stay with me as the news takes a dramatic turn, and the
Lessons of Life start pouring in.....

Then The Other Shoe Drops !

There she is, my musical friend Annie Hassett, 
who was available to drive me home from the 
hospital since my girlfriend was working that day...

The reason I bring it up is that the energy we shared
during that ride was so wonderful and uplifting...
even though I was gaunt and weak we sang together all
the way home....She is so cool!

It made me feel hope, and loved, and that life had new
meaning for me, it felt really good to sing with
abandon with someone who loved me! Very healing.... I
had played bass for her many times before, and those
gigs were always high energy and a lot of fun....Annie
also got all the local musicians together and they
threw a benefit for me at a small local club....I was
completely broke at the time, and it really
helped....My heart is filled with gratitude towards
Annie and all my friends that came to the Deja Brew
that day...all four bands that I'd played in one way
or another came and played outside...it was great!

I'll never forget it~

So I'm home for about two months....getting used to
the shock of such a sudden life change...from painting
houses, playing music, and being an all around people
person to being stuck at home, no driving, no lifting,
no choice! My blood was being drawn by a visiting
nurse for my Cumadin dosing, and I was so short of
breathe, and weak....Id lost over 45 lbs...!

As time went on...I could see that I was getting a
little bit better every day.... I was still taking
Percosets for pain every 4 hours, but the incision
going down my sternum was healing nicely....(I called
it the "surgeons necktie"~) I was starting to be
encouraged slowly that I was on my way to a new life
....all done with the medical world !

As the days went by I noticed pain in my lower
back...especially when I layed down flat on my back
and took any kind of breathe.....it really hurt! I
started to think I had a kidney stone, or a clot
again, and I went to the Dr...who sent me to get a
full torso CAT Scan.

It was a Saturday, and I went home, only to get a
message on the phone from the Emergency room Dr. I
returned his call to find out that I had no stone or
clot, but that my aorta below the repair I just had
enlarged too rapidly.... and that due to the fact that
the walls had stretched thin thy could burst.... so I
had to go back to see my Surgeon and he scheduled my
second surgery that following Thursday! I was
devastated...I couldnt believe it!

Needless to say I cried myself to sleep that
night....More surgery! This time he was going to go in
on my left side between my ribs...from my shoulder
blade all the way around to my chest....It was going
to be a more painful recovery since they were going
laterally through muscle and tissue.... and there was
a risk of paralysis from dealing with the descending
aorta that low!

I seemed to resolve myself that next day that I was
going to do what I had to do to save my life.....Gosh!
I was just starting to feel stronger and feel relief
from the pain....but now I felt that this time it was
"planned", and not an emergency like the first one...

My brother Nick and my girlfriend Belinda took me in,
and we expected the surgery to take 4 to 6 hours, and
it took 15 hours! My surgeon told me afterwards that
my aorta had "incorporated" itself into my lungs, and
that he first had to separate them before he could
replace the aorta itself with more plastic pipe! He
also told my brother that his instrumentation told him
that I wasnt getting a signal to my left leg, and that
he was afraid I was going to wake up paralyzed!

The nurses couldnt believe I was back again...I'd been
with them for 47 days just 2 months before, and here I
was again. Luckily, I could move my leg, and I only
stayed in the hospital for another 7 days...so 54 days
so far, and 29 hours of surgery!

But boy...did this one hurt! I couldnt lay on my left
side at all, and every cough and sneeze was like
getting stabbed.....I was quite depressed by
now....crying at anything that made me realize I was
done with life as I knew it....even watching music
being performed on TV brought me to tears....My band
had to wait for me again....no more Thursday night
practices for quite a while....

It was during these times that my friend Lisa, (a
regular paint customer turned friend of Belinda and I)
was always visiting me in the hospital + at home,
bringing me my favorite Reeses Peanut butter cups, and
always encouraging me and visiting me, as well as my
Brother and Belinda.... To those three people I am
Eternally Grateful for their tireless help,
compassion, expenses travelling, and patient
generosity.....Without their Love I don't think I
would've as strong during those times.

I appreciate anybody who is taking the time to read
this painful account of my past, but believe
me.....the road to recovery physically and spiritually
is quite uplifting....and it is my sincerest hope that
you'll follow this story till it "gets better"...and
even share your stories with me in the Comments box
below each post here at Smilin Daily!

If you desire to email me with more than the comment
box can hold...feel free to email me at:

stav7256@gmail.com