I
Ikebi
To all,
Need to apologize for not getting back sooner, however I believe that I have a good excuse and I hope all will forgive.
I was operated on September 26th 2008. While in ICU I started to complain about having numbness in my right thumb and forefinger and I complained about it on a daily basis even while in the lower level nursing and was told that it would most likely go away very soon, however I should have insisted on someone in neurology take a look at it. The numbness and problem with the right hand was the biggest problem, the new valve and graph seemed to be the least of my problems other than the chest discomfort and the occasional sneeze or cough which would give me the sharp pain temporarily and it was something that I could live with, but the arm became the issue. The issue was nerve damage caused by a clamp that was placed on the chest opening to the arm pit. This clamp is used to keep the chest incision open while they work on the heart. The problem is known as Brachial Plexus Injury and this injury caused sleep deprivation until I made a trip back to Cleveland Clinic on October 29th. Boy had I wished I had made the trip earlier. It had been many weeks of having drug induced sleep of maybe only two to three hours and being constantly tired and week. This problem slowed up my recovery because I was not able or willing to get going on anything. This injury cause my right arm to ache the type of ache like a tooth ache, nice and deep inside the arm and it would wake me up. It would then ache for an hour or two until I was able to take another pain killer. This type of ache is unlike the pain you get when you cough or sneeze after this operation. That pain is doable because it goes away in a few minutes. This other ache slowed down recovery big time and had I had a neurologist right out of the box, this delay wouldn't have happened and it was solved by the drug called (Neurontin) what a difference! The first night I slept seven hours straight the second night I slept six hours straight, went and had some Tylenol and slept another four hours. Made me feel like a new man. So if you experience numbness in any arm before you leave the hospital insist on seeing a neurologist.
Today it is November 2nd and I still have numbness in the right hand but it is now tolerable and if the arm aches it is during the day time.
This was the second open heart surgery that I have had. The first in 1995 one was only partially successful because I had a graph fail probably only months after the surgery and this failure was not discovered until two years ago when I had two stents placed in my heart. That revelation answered the problems that followed after the first operation. The stents also failed within a year. I have had heart discomfort for more then 13 years and I suffered from atrial fibs for the first five years after the first surgery. Today even though I still have some degree of discomfort I have noticed that my heart now feels like it did before any of this started, so there is hope in the end.
What was done this time around:
Redo aortic valve replacement with 23mm Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve, coronary artery bypass grafting x1 with saphenous vein graft to left anterior descending arter and endoscopic saphenous vein harvest. What ever all that means!
Ike
Need to apologize for not getting back sooner, however I believe that I have a good excuse and I hope all will forgive.
I was operated on September 26th 2008. While in ICU I started to complain about having numbness in my right thumb and forefinger and I complained about it on a daily basis even while in the lower level nursing and was told that it would most likely go away very soon, however I should have insisted on someone in neurology take a look at it. The numbness and problem with the right hand was the biggest problem, the new valve and graph seemed to be the least of my problems other than the chest discomfort and the occasional sneeze or cough which would give me the sharp pain temporarily and it was something that I could live with, but the arm became the issue. The issue was nerve damage caused by a clamp that was placed on the chest opening to the arm pit. This clamp is used to keep the chest incision open while they work on the heart. The problem is known as Brachial Plexus Injury and this injury caused sleep deprivation until I made a trip back to Cleveland Clinic on October 29th. Boy had I wished I had made the trip earlier. It had been many weeks of having drug induced sleep of maybe only two to three hours and being constantly tired and week. This problem slowed up my recovery because I was not able or willing to get going on anything. This injury cause my right arm to ache the type of ache like a tooth ache, nice and deep inside the arm and it would wake me up. It would then ache for an hour or two until I was able to take another pain killer. This type of ache is unlike the pain you get when you cough or sneeze after this operation. That pain is doable because it goes away in a few minutes. This other ache slowed down recovery big time and had I had a neurologist right out of the box, this delay wouldn't have happened and it was solved by the drug called (Neurontin) what a difference! The first night I slept seven hours straight the second night I slept six hours straight, went and had some Tylenol and slept another four hours. Made me feel like a new man. So if you experience numbness in any arm before you leave the hospital insist on seeing a neurologist.
Today it is November 2nd and I still have numbness in the right hand but it is now tolerable and if the arm aches it is during the day time.
This was the second open heart surgery that I have had. The first in 1995 one was only partially successful because I had a graph fail probably only months after the surgery and this failure was not discovered until two years ago when I had two stents placed in my heart. That revelation answered the problems that followed after the first operation. The stents also failed within a year. I have had heart discomfort for more then 13 years and I suffered from atrial fibs for the first five years after the first surgery. Today even though I still have some degree of discomfort I have noticed that my heart now feels like it did before any of this started, so there is hope in the end.
What was done this time around:
Redo aortic valve replacement with 23mm Carpentier-Edwards pericardial valve, coronary artery bypass grafting x1 with saphenous vein graft to left anterior descending arter and endoscopic saphenous vein harvest. What ever all that means!
Ike
