How long were you in the hospital?

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Ross said: Yes, be PROACTIVE and PERSISTENT. They will ask you to leave many times, INSIST on staying unless your absolutely exhausted and must get some rest. Also, make sure you have Durable Power of Attorney just in case you need to see his medical records, fire someone and get him better care, etc,. It would be wise to consult your own attorney to have one made.

Couldn't agree with him more. Hospitals can be terrific and they can also be a nightmare. You never know how that will go. I have seen excellent care and horrible care in the same unit of the same hospital at different times. I cannot say why.

But I do not trust much about "good care". It only takes one nasty or incompetent person to ruin an otherwise normal recovery.

Try to have someone there at all times to keep an eye on things.
 
My stay was 16 days due to an episode of SVT and a slow rising INR.
Hubby or my nurse daughter were with me every single day.
We had home care for the dog, cat, etc. twice a day.
 
Admitted the day before my surgery, as is fairly normal in the UK, on Wednesday. Surgery Thursday PM, discharged Sunday ten days later. Admitted on the following Thursday with complications (complete heart block) and discharged Friday of the following week.
 
In '64 I was in for about a month, but in '77 it was only 5 days. I wanted to leave after 3; however, they kept me 5
 
Twelve days but they tried to kill me in ER by using an antibiotic I'm very allergic to.

...and they were informed in advance about my allergy!
 
Major complications from the surgery, required 20 days in hospital and 21 pints of blood, I had brought 4 pints of my own blood. In ICU 3 different times, last time for 7 days, 5 of those on ventilator. Went home (550 miles) with fever and diarrhea. Another 2 weeks before I could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Lost 22 pounds.

Wife was with me everyday and night except for 6 hours the first night after surgery.

During the same time I saw men 20 years older than me having the same surgery, go home after 5 or 6 days.
 
As Ross and Nancy said: they will ask you to leave for some things. And those are precisely the moments your spouse will most likely want you to be there.

My wife was asked to leave when I was going in and out of consciousness with the breathing tube still in. I wanted her there, so I could communicate. She had brought a pen and paper with her. You'd think the nurses and Physician's Assistant would have figured out to do that after all those open heart surgeries, but there wasn't a pencil or shred of papyrus between them. Why? Because they weren't interested in anything I had to say. THAT's why you want your spouse in the room.

My wife was also asked to leave when they were taking out my breathing tube.

Fortunately, they don't know my wife. :D

She stayed. I communicated. If they had done anything untoward, or forgotten something, or were ignoring something that was plainly important to me (they do, you know, if they think they can get away with it), she would have been on them like peanut butter on bread. Thickly spread, and impossible to remove.

Be your spouse's voice and advocate. Know enough to know when something doesn't make sense. Like when my wife went into the hospital for intestinal problems, partly because her gastroenterologist was concerned about possible bleeding, and an associate doctor tried to put her on heparin shots because she was over 50.

Didn't get far, because I was there for her, like she was there for me. I saw it on the sheet as the nurse was bringing in the syringe and pitched a fit. The shot was to have helped ensure that she wouldn't develop blood clots (from being in bed one day?) to avoid lawsuits. What a lawsuit it would have been if she had begun bleeding internally and it wasn't caught or wasn't controllable...

Fortunately, she's worth much more to me alive.

The point is, be there for your spouse when all the nasty stuff happens. Later on, when the patient is lounging in bed, you're just another visitor, keeping him or her from sleeping. That's not when it counts. Be there when it counts.

Best wishes,
 
Hi,
I went into hospital the sunday day before my operation, after the op i was in ICU less than 24 hours, i was moved to HDU then on the wednesday afternoon i was moved to the ward, i came home on the monday, I had to stay in that long due to my INR levels not been high enough to come home, i had a AVR and a mitral valve repair.
I was readmitted to hospital the next friday due to having MRSA, but thats just my luck.
Good luck Jane
 
For me, I had surgery on a Friday (1:30pm), in ICU for less than 24 hours and moved to the "Heart Ward/Floor" and sent home on Monday by noon (11:30am) with an INR of 1.6. I had no complications, although I believe I was kicked out because I was asking about my private room - I was in a room with about 6 people and getting no sleep.

Oh yea, I did not do any stairs while in the hospital. Guess it wasn't required.
 
Thanks all,
This gives me a better idea of what goes on. Good living and stamina is in his favor. Legally all is done. I do worry about sympathy pains. I fainted when he had his wisdom teeth taken out. Ofcourse we were both teen agers then. After 46 years and two kids, I'm a little better. Also I do worry about the Heart/lung machine. That is another reason why I really want him at CC.
 
Even with each person, each surgery may be different. After my first OHS I haemorraged internally and had to be reopened and reclosed, then developed a fever and spent several days in ICU with a delayed recovery. Mind you, this was back in the mid 70's and things have improved much since then.

My last OHS (Dec '08) I did really well and was supposed to be discharged on day 5, but I'd been transferred out of the cardiac ward (they needed the bed) to the renal failure ward and I think they forgot about me, so I got out on day 6.

I definitely think going in with a good mindset and in the best health you can is a big help though.


A : )
 
Fainted for his wisdom teeth, eh? You've come a long way, baby. But you can do it.

By the way:

Contrary to what seems logical, the proper way to warm the patient back up is slowly, not quickly. It took them quite a while to learn this.

Apparently, when the brain wakes up too fast or all at once, it has a sudden, desperate need for enormous amounts of oxygen that the body is incapable of providing through the blood quickly enough in sufficient quantities. The resultant, usually mild and mostly reversible cognitive damage is actually from oxygen deprivation, even though the lungs are properly and completely ventilated.

So tell them not to hurry...

Best wishes,
 
Advocate recommended

Advocate recommended

Nancy said:
Ross said: Yes, be PROACTIVE and PERSISTENT. They will ask you to leave many times, INSIST on staying unless your absolutely exhausted and must get some rest. Also, make sure you have Durable Power of Attorney just in case you need to see his medical records, fire someone and get him better care, etc,. It would be wise to consult your own attorney to have one made.

Couldn't agree with him more. Hospitals can be terrific and they can also be a nightmare. You never know how that will go. I have seen excellent care and horrible care in the same unit of the same hospital at different times. I cannot say why.

But I do not trust much about "good care". It only takes one nasty or incompetent person to ruin an otherwise normal recovery.

Try to have someone there at all times to keep an eye on things.
Click to expand...

Nancy is quite right. Care varies from hospital to hospital and also from service to service in the same hospital. My youngest daughter is post op hysterectomy. Out in four days. Got wonderful care. Her husband stayed with her the whole time. I advise all patients to have an advocate with them at all times, if at all possible. Hospitals can be very dangerous places. Last night I took the DVD for movie HOSPITAL with George C Scott(1971) over to her house and we had a lot of laughs.. Well, hospitals are not that dangerous any more- I hope.
 
I was in the hospital three days. Fortunately, I did not have any complications right after surgery. However, I was in the hospital over the weekend, which is not a very good time to be in the hospital especially after surgery.
 
I think the main point I want to make is do not measure yourself against others, everyone has a different recovery and it really does not affect the long term.
That being said, for my son:
3 weeks for the first 2 OHS, but one week was pre op while they were trying to figure out what was wrong with him.

2 weeks for the 3 OHS, but 4 days was pre op while performing tests and then waiting for his surgeon to recover from knee surgery. I was really stressed out at the 10 days after surgery, but looking back that was really good considering what he had been through.

My husband or I stayed with my son 24/7 until he was strong enough to stick up for himself and even then only left him for a couple of hours at a time. This is in spite of the fact that the care he received post surgery was absolutely amazing and I don't have a single bad thing to say about the hospital.
 
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