It seems like forever ago, but two years ago from now I would have been waking up, and letting the nurse know I wanted the tube out NOW so I could breath. When I was first asked if they could get me anything, I replied "A cheesburger!" The nurse said no. LOL. After several hours in ICU, and not really getting any rest, they decided to move me to my room. When they were getting ready to move me the nurse said they want to get me up and walking as soon as possible, so I said "How about now?" She asked if I was serious, and I told her I was. And I did it. There were no stairs, we took the elevator. :biggrin2: The Mayo Clinic was by far the best experience I have ever had compared to any other hospital. I can not imagine any place else letting me do that. Everyone I dealt with there sincerely cared about the patient, and would answer any question. We never once heard "You have to talk to the Dr. about that." This was including looking at X-rays etc. It is an amazing place.
I followed the doctors and nurses orders exactly, and I had no serious problems at all. When I was 6 months out of surgery, I was camping near a friend who has also had heart surgery, and I commented I thought I would be back to normal by then, he laughed at me. He then told me I had a year and a half to go. Come to find out, he was right. Just within the last couple of weeks, it doesn't bother me to sneeze. When I asked my cardiologist about this several months ago, he said it was probably a couple of wires not playing together nice. He then said " We can fix it, but you know what that means". I told him it wasn't really that bad!
I must be doing well, because when I was getting ready to leave, he said I didn't need to come back for two or three years. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by that. I expected yearly visits from now on.
I would like to thank all the regulars here for posting like you do. It is more help than you can imagine, and I still find myself coming here regularly. I know I wish I had found this site before I went in for surgery, many of the things "they" never tell you would not have been a surprise.
Thank you all, and Cheers!
I followed the doctors and nurses orders exactly, and I had no serious problems at all. When I was 6 months out of surgery, I was camping near a friend who has also had heart surgery, and I commented I thought I would be back to normal by then, he laughed at me. He then told me I had a year and a half to go. Come to find out, he was right. Just within the last couple of weeks, it doesn't bother me to sneeze. When I asked my cardiologist about this several months ago, he said it was probably a couple of wires not playing together nice. He then said " We can fix it, but you know what that means". I told him it wasn't really that bad!
I must be doing well, because when I was getting ready to leave, he said I didn't need to come back for two or three years. I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by that. I expected yearly visits from now on.I would like to thank all the regulars here for posting like you do. It is more help than you can imagine, and I still find myself coming here regularly. I know I wish I had found this site before I went in for surgery, many of the things "they" never tell you would not have been a surprise.
Thank you all, and Cheers!
