Lavelle's Health Journey

Lavelle's Health Journey Mom's journey to a heart valve replacement.

06/05/2026

Yesterday Mom had an appointment with the cardiology nurse practitioner. This was her first cardiology visit post valve replacement. The report was very good! Her echocardiogram and labs looked very good. Her mitral valve has severe stenosis but at this time only needs to be monitored. The aortic valve and two other valves look great. The NP was very pleased with the results. She will see Dr. Habib(cardiologist) in December and the NP again in one year.
She has an appointment with the NP in the cardiology clinic next week. She will start cardiac rehab in a couple of weeks.

Mom is feeling good and sounding good. The focus is to build strength and stamina.

05/24/2026

I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday weekend. For the most part I have been in the yard working in the flower gardens, spot spraying for weeds and relaxing on the patio.

Mom is doing good. She feels much better. According to her primary care doctor she no longer has C Diff based on her current health and lack of symptoms. It is very frustrating to receive conflicting guidance regarding a test to confirm this. So she no longer has the digestive issues, however, we are still flowing infection control protocol for another week.

Home health is still coming in(RN, PT, OT). Once she is dismissed from home
health she will start cardiac rehab to build her stamina and strength.

05/15/2026

Mom came home last night! Unfortunately with C Diff. Until she tests negative we have been advised to not allow visitors. She is on Augmentin and Vancomycin, I have also added a probiotic. At the moment she is just very weak. Hopefully, this resolves in a couple of weeks🙏🏻

05/14/2026

Mom needs some prayers🙏🏻 This evening she was diagnosed with C Diff. There is never a good time to get C Diff and with all Mom has gone through lately this is a critical time. I will have more information tomorrow after I speak with the doctors.

05/12/2026

Well Mom has been readmitted to the hospital. She started throwing up at 8:30 this morning. Ironically, the home health supervising nurse visited this morning and released her from home health. She told the RN she had vomited. The nurse told her to avoid milky drinks and spicy foods🙄 After work I took her to Prairie Star ER. After labs, fluids and a CAT Scan the ER MD thought it was best to admit her, due to her low functioning kidneys. I know Mom wanted to come home but I agreed with the doctor's decision as she was week and still experiencing nausea at 11:00 pm.
Last week she was thriving. She had a good Mother's Day and then Monday things went haywire. For now she will be at the Advent main campus in the short stay wing, room 222. We are hoping it is a short stay.

05/02/2026

Yesterday was a great day for Mom. Mitchell took her to an ENT appointment in the morning. It appears that her never ending bloody nose has resolved. No more packing! It was packed four times over the last three weeks. She is not to blow her nose for two weeks.

In the afternoon I took her for labs and an echocardiogram. We will find out the results when we meet with the NP,at the cardiologist office, next week. The bright spot is she did great walking (with the assistance of a walker) a good distance.

Over the next month a home health nurse and a physical therapist will visit twice/week. She has had two PT sessions that have went well.

04/23/2026

Mom is home!!!!! Earlier today Sue picked Mom and brought her home. Mitchell will be with us for at least the next week to help out while I am at work.

Mom will start cardiac rehab, three days a week for three months, in the next week or two.

The dogs and I are so happy to have her back at home❤️

04/19/2026

Thursday morning Mom had her first appointment at the cardiology clinic. Labs and vitals were checked and we watched a video on "living with and managing day to day life with heart failure". Mom's potassium was low and BP was running high so adjustments were made with her meds. The NP was concerned about with the fluid retention in her legs and feet as that was not an issue prior to the valve replacement. Her next visit in the cardiology clinic is May 22nd, May 1st labs and May 8th her first follow up visit at the cardiologist's office withe the NP. Tuesday she has a follow up appointment with ENT and the nephrologist wants her to schedule a clinic appointment with his NP. All the appointments and all the fun🙄

Thursday afternoon I noticed a positive change in her energy. She enjoyed an afternoon visit with Butch and Sue and Friday a visit with her friend Rocky. Today, Larry, Tonya, Mitchell and Kaden came up for a visit. Friday we had a meeting with the team at Brookdale. Since her first week was challenging due to her nose bleeds and low energy not a lot was accomplished. They would like to keep her for an additional week, if the insurance will allow it. So either she will be home by Thursday or extended another week and focus on her PT and OT. She had a good PT session on Friday and is ready to focus on improving her strength and coming home.

04/15/2026

Friday Mom had an ENT appointment to remove the packing from her nose. The nose was still lightly bleeding. The ENT cleaned out the nostril and scoped it. He then cauterized the area that was bleeding and then repacked the nose with a dissolvable packing saturated with antibiotics. The packing came out Sunday night.

Today the nose was bleeding, resulting in large clots. The nurse at Brookdale became concerned about Mom's hemoglobin level. She contacted the ENT clinic and they recommended taking Mom to the ER. She was transported to the ER. A big debt of gratitude to Sheila for being with Mom at the ER, as I was working. Mom and Sheila spent approximately six hours at the ER where little was done. The good part....Mom's hemoglobin was good. They told Mom her heart sounded good. Her nose was packed and told her to make an appointment at the ENT office. Sheila drive Mom back to Brookdale. After a couple of challenging days Mom said she is ready to do some PT and OT so she can come home.

04/12/2026

Mom is having a challenging day with chills and nausea. At this point she is requesting no visitors.

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