Okay more report, the hardest part of the procedure was showing up at 8 am and then having to wait until 4 pm. My wife, mother, 2 adult sons, and daughter-in-law were present. My children went home on Sunday evening.
I remember nothing about the preps for the surgery and have only a spotty memory of being in the ICU, mostly I have reports from my family of being alternately asleep and awake from about 11 pm on. I had been worried about being confused but I was told that I was aware of what had happened and conversed easily with my family, told jokes, and worked to convince my family that they should stay with me. My beloved wife stayed with 24/7 throughout the ICU and step down unit.
Saturday morning about 7 am is the first time that I have a clear memory of and I remember being concerned about the shift change between nurses (but the oncoming nurse was excellent also). Saturday I slept and walked (about 1/2 mile) I ate very little but generally I felt fine, as lond as I didn't move. Saturday evening the nurse showed me how to sleep on my side without pain which was a relief. So I have been sleeping primarily on my side since then. I walked 1 mile on Sunday, and 1.25 miles on Monday.
Sunday was the toughest day since I started on Oxycontin on Sunday and it really tore up my stomach. After walking all I did was sleep on Sunday and feel bad. Shifted to Ultram which was a big improvement. I'm sore but the pain is easily manageable. Monday I felt great all day, I was mostly ignored by the nurses (except for every 2 hour checks), sent out for food, slept several hours.
I'm starting to get used to the idea that I'll need to sleep a bit. Right now I'm sleeping 10-12 hours a night and taking 3 naps that are 1-2 hours in length. We'll see how long this continues but I'm starting to accept that I'm not completely in charge. I got a call from one of my first lieutenants today asking if I could help him out with a meeting at 2 pm since I was out of the hospital and told him that I planned to take the rest of the week off (except for a Friday morning meeting).
I'm still very tired but the overall procedure wasn't bad. Hoping for no complications and a quick and easy recovery. The surgeon's PA recommended 6 weeks off from work but said she realized that I probably wouldn't listen. Got the speech about listening to my body.
I'm a little concerned about the repair. My surgeon says that the repair was easy and believes it will last as long a tissue valve (10-20 years) and may outlast the tissue valve. But admits there is no evidence to support this belief, just a feeling. I may be confused on this point (I was a bit blurry when he was talking to me), but I think the surgeon stated this was only the second recorded attempt to repair a true quad valve.
I'm getting tired - more later.
Mark
