danlo5o
Member
Had my BAV replaced with a 25CM On-X mechanical valve on Wednesday by Dr Shekar at The Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston via Minimally Invasive procedure. I arrived at 7:30 AM, was under sedation by 9:00 and awoke again post surgery at 8:00PM (though I'm told the surgery was completed at approx 3:30PM). One day of recovery in the ICU followed by two days in the step down unit and I was sent home today at noon.
I cant say enough good things about the care and the facilities at the B&W. All private rooms with in room sleeping accomodations for a spouse, child, parent, or friend. Thoroughly educated nursing staff especially when it came to discussing the management of Warfarin. (They must all visit this site.)
As for post operative surprises, 1) Relatively severe muscular pain in the neck and back and lack of pain at the incision site (no sutures, strictly durabond) 2) Relief from pain that walking provided 3) Inability to read or write coherently for the first 36 Hours post op.
As for my current condition, whie I would not say that I am in alot of pain, I would also not say that I'm all that comfortable either. Coming home has provided a new set of challenges as I am trying to adapt to a new bed style and mattreess height and a new style and design of lounge chairs as I had mastered getting in and out of the ones at the hospital during my 72 hour stay. I am also finding it surprisingly difficult to open some of the medicine bottles. In addition, the pain from my incision has increased somewhat during the last 6-8 hours.
In conclusion, I'd like to thank all the members and visitors of this site for their insights, advice, and guidence, through this process. Though not a particularly active participant in terms of the the forum discussions, I was certainly an avid reader of the postings and web site recommendations leading up to my surgery and found all the disciussions to be informative, interesting, comforting and reassuring as the big day approached. Now that I have reached the other side,:smile2: I plan to be an equally avid follower of the site and hope I can add a few sage thoughts here and there for those approacichimg their surgery date. In addition, if anyone is looking for more specific information on the Cardiac Care unit at The B&W, feel free to contact me directly.
Dan
I cant say enough good things about the care and the facilities at the B&W. All private rooms with in room sleeping accomodations for a spouse, child, parent, or friend. Thoroughly educated nursing staff especially when it came to discussing the management of Warfarin. (They must all visit this site.)
As for post operative surprises, 1) Relatively severe muscular pain in the neck and back and lack of pain at the incision site (no sutures, strictly durabond) 2) Relief from pain that walking provided 3) Inability to read or write coherently for the first 36 Hours post op.
As for my current condition, whie I would not say that I am in alot of pain, I would also not say that I'm all that comfortable either. Coming home has provided a new set of challenges as I am trying to adapt to a new bed style and mattreess height and a new style and design of lounge chairs as I had mastered getting in and out of the ones at the hospital during my 72 hour stay. I am also finding it surprisingly difficult to open some of the medicine bottles. In addition, the pain from my incision has increased somewhat during the last 6-8 hours.
In conclusion, I'd like to thank all the members and visitors of this site for their insights, advice, and guidence, through this process. Though not a particularly active participant in terms of the the forum discussions, I was certainly an avid reader of the postings and web site recommendations leading up to my surgery and found all the disciussions to be informative, interesting, comforting and reassuring as the big day approached. Now that I have reached the other side,:smile2: I plan to be an equally avid follower of the site and hope I can add a few sage thoughts here and there for those approacichimg their surgery date. In addition, if anyone is looking for more specific information on the Cardiac Care unit at The B&W, feel free to contact me directly.
Dan
