[AGL] POCD

[Frances Morey]

In July of 2012 then husband-to-be Mike Westergren had a valve replacement
which involved opening his chest, diverting his blood flow and causing his
heartbeat to stop for the time of the surgery. It is the most recent kind
of surgery to be developed and become routine.

The first time Mike had it was when he was 17 and that surgery was
experimental. He was then a patient of renowned surgeon Denton Cooley, MD.
His parents were told that it was risky to perform the procedure but
without it he would soon die anyway. The valve repair at least gave him a
chance to live longer, which he did for 50 years, until it wore out again.

Yes, after the most recent surgery, this time for a valve replacement (with
a Dacron valve), he was not "himself." He was angry, impatient and
intolerant of people around him. We let him be alone for a few weeks. After
that he came out of it. He has been in robust good health for the last 8
years enjoying my vegan cooking.

Best,
Frances

On Sat, Sep 19, 2020 at 3:30 PM Michael Eisenstadt <eisenstadt0 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> That's post-operative cognitive decline which is very commonly suffered
> after open-heart cardiac surgery. I am writing to ask if any of you know
> anyone who has had open-heart cardiac surgery and if you noticed
> cognitive issues in the individual after he/she survived the operation.
>
> Speaking to such a person at one of Dave Moriaty's parties in the early
> months after his operation, I was struck with his cognitive change from
> the man I knew before the operation. Wife Madelon spoke with him too and
> had the same impression. Happily, at a subsequent Dave party, I spoke
> with him again and he seemed more like his old self. Of course, chatting
> with someone is necessarily subjective, not like subjecting him to a
> battery of tests.
>
> The medical literature says POCD is very very common after open-heart
> surgery. Does anyone of you have personal experience with such an
> individual?
>
> Thanks in advance for any info.
>
> Mike
>
>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://pairlist1.pair.net/pipermail/austin-ghetto-list/attachments/20200919/4803359b/attachment.html>