I wanted to write about my surgical and post-surgery experience in hoes it might help someone else.
My dx was mild to moderate regurgitation (not requiring surgery on its own), plus an aneurism in my ascending aortic arch. The plan was to fix the aneurism and to go ahead and fix the regurg/valve while there. My surgeon estimated an 80% chance of repairing my valve.
First, I was scheduled for 10/5 but when I went to get my dental clearance, my dentist insisted that I have my wisdom teeth removed. Ugh. They weren’t causing me problems, but she thought they were getting impacted and it was just a matter of time, so better to do it before the surgery. I understand the rationale, but it was a big disappointment for the delay, not to mention needing oral surgery prior to heart surgery. So if you have any question about the dental clearance, take care of that ASAP. That moved the surgery to 10/14.
I don’t remember too much of the day. We got there at some insanely godawful hour in the morning, and they were wheeling me back about an hour after that. My first memory is of that night. I can’t sugarcoat this – that breathing tube HURT. And it hurt after it was removed also. They gave me short-acting fentanyl with a pump that I could push every 10 minutes. I do not recommend this because every time I fell asleep (and missed a pump) I would wake up in serious pain. This went on all night. They finally offered me oxy with the fentanyl as a booster, and that worked much better. On a side note, I’ve been disappointed in the oxy! It’s fine as a pain reliever, but I never got any special ‘high’, lol. Not that I want to get hooked, but I didn’t even get close enough to see what all the fuss is about!
It turns out the valve was in worse shape than expected (doc mentioned ‘holes’ in my leaflets, whatever that means) and I got a mechanical valve. I’d had my hopes set on that 80% estimate and keeping my valve so that was a big disappointment. Beats the alternative, though, right?
As I said, first night was very painful due to breathing tube. After that, any pain was pretty well-controlled. My incision was not painful; it was mostly my back and shoulders. Perhaps this is because I’m not used to lying on my back so much. The only other truly painful part was removal of the pacemaker wires, but the pain stopped as soon as they were removed. Surgery was on Friday, and they had me up and walking the floor Saturday. First walk was short and shaky but I’m all about getting better, so I walked as much as I could and by the end, I was up to 3-4 short walks around the floor per day. They even let me go alone, which felt like a victory. J My period came on Sunday, which I’d been told to expect. Because of the coumadin, it lasted about 12 days and I hope that gets better. I was discharged on Tuesday.
The first couple of nights at home were tough. It was hard to get comfortable long enough to sleep. I’m a stomach sleeper, which makes it harder. I basically would try one chair for a few hours, then another, then a third spot. I used oxy and Tylenol at night to try for sleep. My first day home, I took a walk. I was in my pajamas, clutching my pillow, and I passed 8 houses and came back…I felt like a rock star!
Within a few days I was able to dress in real clothes and actually walk around the block. I could take two walks at about 45 minutes each by the weekend. At this point, 2 weeks out, I take at least one hour walk plus another 1 or 2 walks that are shorter. One thing that derailed my progress is that I developed a persistent cough. The only time my chest hurt was after a long coughing fit, then I would feel a burning/sore sensation when I breathe. The cough is under control right now though. We are still working on getting the correct coumadin dose. In the meantime, I’ve had to give myself lovenox shots twice a day. I am hoping by next week I will at least be off the lovenox. I do still get tired, but I feel that I could return to work (office job) on at least a part time basis if I had to. No one seems in favor of this, though, so I haven’t tested it out.
I feel myself getting stronger and stronger every day, also sleeping better at night. I still rely on Tylenol at night, but I stopped taking the oxy (with about 10ish pills left) because it’s no longer needed.
I feel well enough that sitting around the house is dull. There’s only so much tv, books, puzzles, etc. a person can do. I am looking forward to getting the clearance to drive.
One other thing is that I had scheduled this surgery for January because I was told it wasn’t an emergency and I wanted to get through holidays, etc. first. I am so glad I moved it up. First of all, the valve was worse off than they thought. Also, it is much better to be on the other side and in recovery than being pre-surgery and worrying about it all the time. Dealing with the actuality is much easier than the anticipation.
The scar....I’m trying hard to think about it as a battlescar, a sign of victory. That’s gonna take some work. It’s ugly and so high. It starts right below my collar bone L
I guess he had to start there to get to the ascending aortic arch, but it is a bummer.
A big shout out to Dr. Conte and the nurses at Johns Hopkins. Man, those nurses are AWESOME.
Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
My dx was mild to moderate regurgitation (not requiring surgery on its own), plus an aneurism in my ascending aortic arch. The plan was to fix the aneurism and to go ahead and fix the regurg/valve while there. My surgeon estimated an 80% chance of repairing my valve.
First, I was scheduled for 10/5 but when I went to get my dental clearance, my dentist insisted that I have my wisdom teeth removed. Ugh. They weren’t causing me problems, but she thought they were getting impacted and it was just a matter of time, so better to do it before the surgery. I understand the rationale, but it was a big disappointment for the delay, not to mention needing oral surgery prior to heart surgery. So if you have any question about the dental clearance, take care of that ASAP. That moved the surgery to 10/14.
I don’t remember too much of the day. We got there at some insanely godawful hour in the morning, and they were wheeling me back about an hour after that. My first memory is of that night. I can’t sugarcoat this – that breathing tube HURT. And it hurt after it was removed also. They gave me short-acting fentanyl with a pump that I could push every 10 minutes. I do not recommend this because every time I fell asleep (and missed a pump) I would wake up in serious pain. This went on all night. They finally offered me oxy with the fentanyl as a booster, and that worked much better. On a side note, I’ve been disappointed in the oxy! It’s fine as a pain reliever, but I never got any special ‘high’, lol. Not that I want to get hooked, but I didn’t even get close enough to see what all the fuss is about!
It turns out the valve was in worse shape than expected (doc mentioned ‘holes’ in my leaflets, whatever that means) and I got a mechanical valve. I’d had my hopes set on that 80% estimate and keeping my valve so that was a big disappointment. Beats the alternative, though, right?
As I said, first night was very painful due to breathing tube. After that, any pain was pretty well-controlled. My incision was not painful; it was mostly my back and shoulders. Perhaps this is because I’m not used to lying on my back so much. The only other truly painful part was removal of the pacemaker wires, but the pain stopped as soon as they were removed. Surgery was on Friday, and they had me up and walking the floor Saturday. First walk was short and shaky but I’m all about getting better, so I walked as much as I could and by the end, I was up to 3-4 short walks around the floor per day. They even let me go alone, which felt like a victory. J My period came on Sunday, which I’d been told to expect. Because of the coumadin, it lasted about 12 days and I hope that gets better. I was discharged on Tuesday.
The first couple of nights at home were tough. It was hard to get comfortable long enough to sleep. I’m a stomach sleeper, which makes it harder. I basically would try one chair for a few hours, then another, then a third spot. I used oxy and Tylenol at night to try for sleep. My first day home, I took a walk. I was in my pajamas, clutching my pillow, and I passed 8 houses and came back…I felt like a rock star!
Within a few days I was able to dress in real clothes and actually walk around the block. I could take two walks at about 45 minutes each by the weekend. At this point, 2 weeks out, I take at least one hour walk plus another 1 or 2 walks that are shorter. One thing that derailed my progress is that I developed a persistent cough. The only time my chest hurt was after a long coughing fit, then I would feel a burning/sore sensation when I breathe. The cough is under control right now though. We are still working on getting the correct coumadin dose. In the meantime, I’ve had to give myself lovenox shots twice a day. I am hoping by next week I will at least be off the lovenox. I do still get tired, but I feel that I could return to work (office job) on at least a part time basis if I had to. No one seems in favor of this, though, so I haven’t tested it out.
I feel myself getting stronger and stronger every day, also sleeping better at night. I still rely on Tylenol at night, but I stopped taking the oxy (with about 10ish pills left) because it’s no longer needed.I feel well enough that sitting around the house is dull. There’s only so much tv, books, puzzles, etc. a person can do. I am looking forward to getting the clearance to drive.
One other thing is that I had scheduled this surgery for January because I was told it wasn’t an emergency and I wanted to get through holidays, etc. first. I am so glad I moved it up. First of all, the valve was worse off than they thought. Also, it is much better to be on the other side and in recovery than being pre-surgery and worrying about it all the time. Dealing with the actuality is much easier than the anticipation.
The scar....I’m trying hard to think about it as a battlescar, a sign of victory. That’s gonna take some work. It’s ugly and so high. It starts right below my collar bone L
I guess he had to start there to get to the ascending aortic arch, but it is a bummer.
A big shout out to Dr. Conte and the nurses at Johns Hopkins. Man, those nurses are AWESOME.
Please feel free to ask me any questions you may have.
