R
ruth
Hello all, been quite a week but I FINALLY got home about an hour ago.
Here's the specifics:
Mon - Check into hospital, cardiac cath goes great, all vessels are clear!
Tue - Surgery time pushed back to 8:30 am which gave me a few extra minutes to wake up & spend time with my husband. The surgeon says she's planning on a side entry, right below the right breast between the ribs and a tissue valve. The surgery goes much longer than we were expecting and my husband was getting worried in the waiting room. By about 3:30 or so he asked for news and was told a *repair* was in process (we were told that replacement was about 99.5% likely) so I guess that puts me in the .5%. The side cut apparently made the repair time a little longer & trickier.
Tue Night - Waking up with that tube was awful. My throat was sore beyond belief. There was a nurse, I never even met her but I know her voice that had this gentle yet firm way of telling me not to fight the tube. She was a real lifesaver. By the time I came too, probably around 7'ish the next morning (though time is a blur at this point) I had vague memories of things I thought I had heard overnight but was too out of it to really process. Then the surgeon came by and said what I thought I had only dreamed in the fog, that she had been able to do a repair! She feels the repaired valve will have at least 20+ or more years in it. There's no way to know for sure right now obviously but it's a great outcome.
Wed Morn - I've just started to come to and I'm begging for ice chips from everyone I see. Maybe it was the length of time under anesthesia or my fighting with the breathing tube but I litterally felt like ice wasn't a luxery but a necessity. My throat just didn't want to breathe if it didn't get a constant supply of ice chips. I was able to judge the receding anesthesia by when I was no longer able to *chew* the ice due to painful dental fillings.
Wed Aft - By now I had moved to the step down floor and the transition was pretty rough. I really felt horrible and the reduced level of care left me feeling ignored. It was soon determined that I was quite anemic, and was given 2 units of blood and put back on oxygen. Of course the oxygen dried my throat out so, more ice! I was also a slave of sorts to the "button" for self-administered fentanal (spelling?). Every 6 minutes it would give a dose. They had to up it to give a small constant dose but I still needed the extra jolts too. So, I would just start to sleep, wake up in pain, push the button, just start to fall asleap, etc. This went on most of the day. This was a pretty miserable day for me. Oh, and by now I couldn't chew ice, just suck on it which was not nearly as satisfying. Water wasn't much good, it didn't have a lasting effect.
Thurs & Fri were spent mainly sleeping, with intermittent chatting. I still had a lot of pain in my right chest, primarily from the drain tubes. I pretty much had good use of my left arm and I had learned to remind every nurse, aide, everyone that I had *not* had a sternectomy before they would try to help me move about.
Sat I had originally hoped to go home but it turns out that was the day that the chest tubes came out. I've had more fun in my life that that little experience. But, it was over quite quickly and my right chest pain decreased and breathing was easier. I was told that I could come home on Sunday, yeah!!!!!
It was so wonderful to feel the fresh air today and to see the real world again. Now I'm finally home, spending time with my lovely young teens and my husband who really was the greatest. It was a hard fought battle but I now have no more shoulder pain (aka chest pain for ladies), no shortness of breath and no arythmias. I couldn't feel any luckier.
Thanks all for the encouragement, advice and good wishes, they were appreciated and put to good use!
Ruth
Here's the specifics:
Mon - Check into hospital, cardiac cath goes great, all vessels are clear!
Tue - Surgery time pushed back to 8:30 am which gave me a few extra minutes to wake up & spend time with my husband. The surgeon says she's planning on a side entry, right below the right breast between the ribs and a tissue valve. The surgery goes much longer than we were expecting and my husband was getting worried in the waiting room. By about 3:30 or so he asked for news and was told a *repair* was in process (we were told that replacement was about 99.5% likely) so I guess that puts me in the .5%. The side cut apparently made the repair time a little longer & trickier.
Tue Night - Waking up with that tube was awful. My throat was sore beyond belief. There was a nurse, I never even met her but I know her voice that had this gentle yet firm way of telling me not to fight the tube. She was a real lifesaver. By the time I came too, probably around 7'ish the next morning (though time is a blur at this point) I had vague memories of things I thought I had heard overnight but was too out of it to really process. Then the surgeon came by and said what I thought I had only dreamed in the fog, that she had been able to do a repair! She feels the repaired valve will have at least 20+ or more years in it. There's no way to know for sure right now obviously but it's a great outcome.
Wed Morn - I've just started to come to and I'm begging for ice chips from everyone I see. Maybe it was the length of time under anesthesia or my fighting with the breathing tube but I litterally felt like ice wasn't a luxery but a necessity. My throat just didn't want to breathe if it didn't get a constant supply of ice chips. I was able to judge the receding anesthesia by when I was no longer able to *chew* the ice due to painful dental fillings.
Wed Aft - By now I had moved to the step down floor and the transition was pretty rough. I really felt horrible and the reduced level of care left me feeling ignored. It was soon determined that I was quite anemic, and was given 2 units of blood and put back on oxygen. Of course the oxygen dried my throat out so, more ice! I was also a slave of sorts to the "button" for self-administered fentanal (spelling?). Every 6 minutes it would give a dose. They had to up it to give a small constant dose but I still needed the extra jolts too. So, I would just start to sleep, wake up in pain, push the button, just start to fall asleap, etc. This went on most of the day. This was a pretty miserable day for me. Oh, and by now I couldn't chew ice, just suck on it which was not nearly as satisfying. Water wasn't much good, it didn't have a lasting effect.
Thurs & Fri were spent mainly sleeping, with intermittent chatting. I still had a lot of pain in my right chest, primarily from the drain tubes. I pretty much had good use of my left arm and I had learned to remind every nurse, aide, everyone that I had *not* had a sternectomy before they would try to help me move about.
Sat I had originally hoped to go home but it turns out that was the day that the chest tubes came out. I've had more fun in my life that that little experience. But, it was over quite quickly and my right chest pain decreased and breathing was easier. I was told that I could come home on Sunday, yeah!!!!!
It was so wonderful to feel the fresh air today and to see the real world again. Now I'm finally home, spending time with my lovely young teens and my husband who really was the greatest. It was a hard fought battle but I now have no more shoulder pain (aka chest pain for ladies), no shortness of breath and no arythmias. I couldn't feel any luckier.
Thanks all for the encouragement, advice and good wishes, they were appreciated and put to good use!
Ruth
