First night after surgery.....

[Lauratx22]

What happens in the hospital after surgery the first night? What can I expect? They said that I will have a one-to-one nurse in the ICU. Will they wake me up every hour or two? I am getting a right thoracotomy for my mitral valve repair. Thanks! Laura

 

[D.C.]

When I had my surgery they woke me up to tell me all went well and let my family talk to me and then back to sleep. Woke me up several times to talk to me and clean out around the tube until it was time to pull the tube. Then back to sleep til 6 am then they woke up for a walk and a morning meal. Out of surgery in the afternoon and tube out about 3 am. Had a one on one nurse until the tube was out then there was a couple of emergency patients so they just kept an eye on me til I went to my room.

 

[Duffey]

Laura, if you pose your questions in the pre-surgery forum, I think you will get more responses. You can also check the post-surgery forum for threads detailing members' experiences while in the SICU. Usually time of surgery dictates what will transpire the first night.

 

[Jkm7]

Both times for me, I had my own nurse who stayed by my side. I woke, I knew the tube was still in but I was very foggy, I saw my husband and another family member and drifted back to sleep. When I woke next, my angel of a nurse was right there, the tube was gone (I have no memory of it being pulled), and he was offering me ice chips. I couldn't scarf down enough they felt so good. He kept checking with me about pain and adjusted my meds as needed. He kept me very comfortable.

Next morning, they got me up, I walked from the bed to a wheelchair, I ate a half a sandwich a little before noon and a little bit of a drink and they brought me to step down.

Don't worry about being woken up often. Most of us don' sleep very well in the hosptial with the floor noises and the constant checks for BP, temperature, blood draws etc It just 'goes with the territory'.

 

[Jailene777]

Hi Laura! My name is Jailene. I had mitral valve replacement a year and a half ago. Your first night you are gonna feel like you got hit by a truck and it reversed and hit you again. But no worries, your pain will be managed by proper care and administration of the drugs you'll need to keep you at a comfort level. I could offer you more advice but I don't know if your have the traditional incision and splitting of your sternum. If yes, then I could shed some light on how you'll be feeling, even months after. I'm here to chat, so feel free to ask any questions.

 

[Mentu]

Hi, Laura, I was in the ICU for about 48 hours and have no memory of the first night. While in the ICU, as the others have said, you are watched closely until you start breathing on your own. After that, you are monitored constantly and checked frequently. You've still got a lot of drugs in your system so you may have little memory of that period. I have no clear memories until waking in my bed in my own room on the morning of the 3nd day. Waking up clear headed, you find there are several monitor wires running to sensor pads, two pacing wires that were put in place during closing just in case your heart needs to be stimulated; a couple of drainage tubes and a catheter. I also still had a central line and an IV in each hand but, again, they start removing those as you become more active and the monitors continue show that you are stable. My wires and tubes were removed over the next 24 hours leaving me with only one IV which was not removed until I checked out on Day 5. As soon as the drains and pacing wires were removed the morning of day 3, I was encouraged to take a shower after which I changed into my own soft clothes which left me feeling almost normal. By day 4, the last evening in the hospital, I was becoming a little irritated at being awakened for the too frequent checks and was looking forward to eating something more tasty than the hospital meals. It can sound odd that after open heart surgery many of us are ready to go home in 4 or 5 days but it is true. By that fourth or fifth day, the hospital is no long really doing much unless some individual issue has arisen. Getting home was nice. The Tonks snuggled next to me as soon as I laid down and it was so nice to be in my own house. When I went walking in my neighborhood the next morning, my neighbor, Bob, was flabbergasted that I was home let alone outside walking less than a week after surgery. Laura, there is a lot of "common" knowledge about heart surgery based on experiences of decades past. Your experience is likely to be far better. Best Wishes

Larry

 

[Boston Tiger]

I don't have too much recollection of the first part of the night in the ICU. I do remember being told that they were able to repair my valve instead of repairing it, and that must have been while I was still on the breathing tube because I gave a thumbs up. And I also remember being encouraged to breathe on my own so they could remove the tube, but have no recollection of being aware that I was on the tube.

I woke up around 1 or 2AM, and remember hearing this strange sound from the pressure boots that were pumping on my legs. The nurse in the room greeted me when I opened my eyes, and asked if I was ready to try standing up. That didn't go particularly well, since I didn't listen to her instructions clearly and tried moving in ways that my body really protested. But I quickly learned to do exactly what I was told.

I dozed off and on for the rest of the night, but kept hearing the struggles of the patient in the room next to mine. He was a smoker, and was having a heck of a time with his lungs that night. I felt guilty for not needing to cough at all.

 

[Nancy jane]

Good question Laura. I go in for ave on thurs 2-9. So u hit the nail on the head. This is a great place to ask questions & of course everyone is different. But knowing most of whatbgonna happen ahead of time has given me more strength and positive attitude
Thx to all. Nancy Jane.

 

[Rocky]

It was mostly a blur. Awake for a bit, then back asleep. Not much pain, the drugs take care of that. There was a nurse with me the entire time. My daughter visited me during that first day and night several times, and when I told her I remembered little, she said that was a good thing. Surgery was about 7 am, and I was up in the wards by 9 the next morning. I think the most important thing you can do in the hospital is to get out of bed as soon as you can and walk. I actually took a nice pair of pants, a good shirt and jacket, and my loafers. I would dress up for all of my walks. I made it an outing as it where.

 

[Jkm7]

Are you serious? You really got fully dressed the day after your surgery and walked?

You win!!!!
My jaw dropped to my chest to read this. How wonderful you were able to do that.
I did great but nothing like that.

 

[2003miata]

Most of my memories of the CICU are pretty foggy. I went under about 7:30 am and first memory was about 6 PM when they removed the breathing tube. The rest of the night, I was in and out of sleep. No memories of pain, but I do remember a very good nurse who always seemed to be there.

The strangest memory (or actually lack of memory) is that I don't remember there being any monitors, tubes or wires in the CICU. Apparently, somewhere between the CICU and my room in the cardiac ward, they installed pacemaker wires, a central line, chest tubes and a catheter. My wife tells me that they also had me up and walking in the CICU, but I don't remember that either.

 

[Rocky]

Are you serious? You really got fully dressed the day after your surgery and walked?

You win!!!!
My jaw dropped to my chest to read this. How wonderful you were able to do that.
I did great but nothing like that.

It was not the first day, but it was the second day where I got dressed and went for a walk around the floor. I was up and walking a bit on the first day mostly because I refused to use the bedpan. On the fourth day I decided to go for an adventure and went off the ward to see what the rest of the floor looked like. I had nurses chasing me once they saw i had disappeared.

 

[Superman]

As you've already read, the answer may vary. My second surgery was at 8:30 or so in the morning and took around 8 hours. Apparantely while I was still out, there was some debate over whether or not I would need additional blood. Worked out that I didn't, so that was a positive. I didn't wake up until 2:00 the following morning and I still remember that moment quite vividly (told the nurse I was "feeling pretty sexy" when she asked how I was doing). Right away they got me out of bed and onto the scale. Couldn't believe how much water weight they pumped into my during surgery. I gained around 17 lbs of fluid! From that point, I had been out for roughly 18 hours- so I didn't sleep much the rest of the night. Kind of faded in and out. I do remember lots of labs, getting tubes out, and getting me to walk every couple hours. First, just stand up. Then, to the door of my room and back. Then, across the hall and back.

I think your experience can vary with your own recovery, the standard protocal of the facility you're at, and the staff and support you have.