How long were you in the hospital?

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Valve Replacement Forums

Help Support Valve Replacement Forums:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
T

twobike

When I first started reading up on the lengh of stay for OHS I got 5 - 7 days. Then I started noticing how many were saying they had complications and setbacks. Seems like almost everyone. Has a Poll ever been taken for the group on the length of the hospital stay? Some aren't even out of CICU in 5 days. I'm thinking that if my husband has to have 3 valves worked on and a maze and possible bypass, he would be in a lot longer. I don't want him to think he will be out in a week and then be discouraged when it takes longer. Could someone set up a Poll for this question?
 
I don't think that just because he is having all that "stuff" done necessarily means a longer stay for him. Some go in for a "simple" valve replacement and run into all kinds of issues, while others go in for more complex procedures and breeze through it. It really just depends on how your body reacts to the whole process. It is impossible to predict how long anyone will need to stay in the hospital when they have had heart surgery.


Kim
 
My first OHS was emergency. I was in CICU on a heart balloon pump four days before I was well enough for surgery. Finally had my surgery and I went home on day five post op.

My second surgery (a year ago today), I was in CICU post op less than 24 hours. Surgery was on a Thursday and I went home Tuesday.

Had uneventful recoveries both surgeries, four years apart.
I think there is a real benefit to eating as healthy as possible prior to surgery and doing as much exercise as is approved by doctors and within your ability. I am a faithful walker and eat a very healthy diet and I truly believe it can make a measurable difference in our general condition and recovery post op.
 
I also went in through ER on a Tuesday, had surgery on Friday and went home the following Friday. 11 total days. I was lucky.....no complications from surgery.
 
Hospital Stay

Hospital Stay

Hi Twobike,

As a couple of others have indicated in their replies, the recovery stuff associated with the hospital stay is an individual thing. This is the case with a lot of the issues one faces with OHS. There are a lot of these issues that are difficult to wrap one's mind around. It's also pretty normal to worry about many of these issues. Unfortunately, most of these issues that we worry about are not things we can control.

Your surgeon and the folks who run the ICCU can probably give you a good idea of how long your husband's hospital stay will be. I made a couple of trips to visit with the manager of the ICCU where I had my surgery. The people who run these units see a lot of cases and seem to have a pretty good grasp on how different patients will fare with different OHS procedures. Yes, you can survey the members here, but it might be a better course to ask the people who will be involved in the actual surgery and recovery.

-Philip
 
It really does depend on many factors. I went in for valve replacement surgery on a wednesday and was home saturday afternoon. I "only" had a valve replacement and I didn't have any immediate post-op complications.
 
The stay at the hospital is not necessarily tied to what surgery one has...I was supposed to stay 4-6 days for double valve replacements, but I stayed 10 days because my INR was low and my surgeon wanted to raise a bit at a time....I stayed 8 days in ICU because there were no available rooms in the cardiac step down!! not for any other reason. I was fine and walking and everyone around looking and cheering me:)
Do not worry in advance...we rarely get the results we expect!~ Good luck.
Who is the surgeon?! or surgeons since there are four procedures that are needed!
 
Ditto what's been said - it really depends on your body's reaction to the OHS. In my case, I had a "routine" MV repair. I was admitted and had my surgery on a Monday, and was discharged the following Sunday. I could have been released as early as the Friday but due to a low grade fever they decided to keep my a couple of more days. Two weeks later I was readmitted for another weeks stay due to complications during recovery (pericardial tamponade) but that's another story.
 
For my first surgery in '76 (it was a repair) I was in the hospital for about twelve days. For my surgery in '99 I was given an estimate of 3-4 days but ended up staying in for eight because I had some a-fib and problems with my coumadin dosage.
 
I didn't even want to know how long it could be when I went in. 5 days? 7 days? I was ready for 10 days if there were complication. My murmur was discovered at my annual physical (I was asymptomatic, actually reffing high school soccer games at the time) and my echo was a week later (followed by the usual other tests) and my surgery two weeks after the annual physical as my regurgitation was massive.

I don't know if it was because I was running up to 7 days prior to surgery or not, but I was discharged less than 72 hours after the surgery, and having ribs at Applebees that night. My surgeon said I could stay in the hospital 2 - 4 more days if I wanted to / felt I needed to, but as an attorney who deposes surgeons every week, I know the less time you spend in hospitals, the better. You need to be there when problems are being monitored, but don't treat them like hotels.

I was lucky, no complications in the hospital or after discharge.
 
I would try not to worry too much about how much time he needs to spend in the hospital. Let it be what it is because there is no real correlation between how many days you are in the hospital and how successful your surgery is.

What you do need to think about is having someone there with him most of the time (either you or another family member) to keep an eye on his care. Most care is fine, but there are times when mistakes are made, the patient is left too long in pain, etc etc. It's just a good thing for the patient to have their own advocate there.
 
Karlynn said:
It's just a good thing for the patient to have their own advocate there.
Click to expand...

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.
 
Hi . Was in for 17 days, but had post op complications, re surgery the next day and then got C-Diff, and then had complications putting a pacemaker in. The people around me seemed to be going home after 5 or 6 days.

Lotti (UK)
 
Karlynn said:
What you do need to think about is having someone there with him most of the time (either you or another family member) to keep an eye on his care. Most care is fine, but there are times when mistakes are made, the patient is left too long in pain, etc etc. It's just a good thing for the patient to have their own advocate there.
Click to expand...

While I do agree with Karlynn (and Ross) to some degree, I knew this going in (we've emphasized this point for years) I just want to add that I kept shoo-ing my husband and daughter out because I was so darn boring to sit with and I had purposefully chosen a hospital with a great location so that they could eat and be merry and duck in and out to see me. Nothing went wrong for me except a urinary tract infection (which I am pretty susceptible to anyway, for some reason). My stay, for simple BAV replacement with tissue valve was surgery tuesday morning, released sunday morning. I think I was out of CICU by 4pm surgery day. I am/was an overweight, not fond of exercising, 50+ year old woman.

So I guess, my point would be... be ready to stay night and day, but most likely you won't need to.

Because of all the work that is to be done for your husband, my personal concern would be his length of time on the heart-lung machine. Sometimes, since the machine naturally leaches iron from the blood, patient could become anemic and need a transfusion. He might want to have his own blood on hand. Also, be sure that the surgeon/hospital are using all the newest state-of-the art equipment with good filters and quality re-warming times (the body is cooled down for surgery). Just questions to ask the surgeon or surgeon's office.

We are all different. Go in with confidence. Generally speaking, these people are amazing professionals. Keep your eyes and ears open, and your antenna up, but have faith. Everyone wants the best outcome for your husband.

Best wishes.

Marguerite
 
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.
Click to expand...

In the vein of that subject, a Health Care Proxy is mandatory.


I was like Marguerite. I kept shooing my DH out of the hospital. I was getting excellent care, was able to speak for myself, had full facility and didn't need for him to exhaust himself hospital sitting with me. I trusted he would be called if an emergency arose and I had full faith (maybe stupidly? - but two surgeries they came through splendidly for me) those seeing to my care. I wanted to sleep at will. Didn't even want the tv on. I simply wanted to retreat into myself and do what I personally needed to do to get well. Just my personal choice and everyone has their own perspective.
 
Three days for me.

In Monday, for surgery that day. Home on Thursday, when the original TOOTS picture was taken out on my front lawn. My little Abby (dog) was allowed to visit in the hospital before surgery (that was fun). My wife was there when I woke up and when I had the breathing tube taken out. She was there as long as I wanted, but it was mostly (Thank Heavens!) quite boring. She went home for meals and breaks and to feed animals, etc.

My wife didn't need to be home for me when I got home, and went back to work on Monday at my urging.

Sorry to say, everyone's experience is different, so you can't really go by anyone else, as tempting as it may seem.

Best wishes,
 
I got out AM of fourth post op day. At that time before the new heart center was built ,Inova post op was a madhouse. No private rooms.Yelling and lights on all night. Ugh! At home I got some good rest and began to recover. If possible, go home as soon as you can if you have some competent caregivers. My wife and daughter are both nurses.
 
Sorry to say, everyone's experience is different, so you can't really go by anyone else, as tempting as it may seem.

Best wishes,
Bob H
Click to expand...

That is what is so hard about pre-planning. We really are all different and there is no definite outline as to how things will go. Same patient can't predict how things will go for them from one surgery to the next. I had same surgeon, same hospital, many of the same nurses and caregivers yet I was very much better my second surgery immediately post op.

Some patients really need help at home for weeks and others of us were okay to be alone from day one. Mass General insists when they release OHS patients they have arrangements for someone present in the home with them for most of the day for a week. I truly did not need that but others could not manage for themselves even after two weeks.

There's no way to know for sure in advance. Makes pre-planning difficult.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Back
Top