Five days after surgery

[rider76]

Wheee! what a ride!Aortic valve replacement (porcine) last Wednesday. Awake and talking (though not very coherently) with my kids two hours later. Surgeon reports valve replacement went well and there is no evidence of heart disease or blockage of blood vessels. I was moved to the telemetry unit the next day (thursday) and on to rehab two days later (Saturday.)I'm off pain meds except for Norco 20 at night.

Thanks to this list, waking up to the breathing tube was not a surprise, nor was the regular testing of blood glucose and administration of insulin. I am a bit surprised by the difficulty I have in breathing still. It's as though my lungs, once collapsed, are lazy about reinflating. But I'm told that will slowly improve. I have my computer in the rehab hospital so don't feel cut off from my world.

So thanks for the pre-surgery support; I'll be back a number of times as rehab progresses.


Catherine

 

[pellicle]

Wheee! what a ride!Aortic valve replacement (porcine) last Wednesday. Awake and talking (though not very coherently)

Glad you made it , expected you would

Welcome back

 

[joanpieroni]

Just keep doing the breathing exercises they really do help!!!!!

 

[MrsBray]

Yay!
<breathe>
<walk>
<sleep>
<repeat>

Every day is a little better!

 

[mcsf]

Keep doing the breathing exercises. And welcome to the other side. Did you have surgery in Santa Rosa?

 

[river-wear]

Welcome back, Catherine! Ah, I envy you having this behind you. I'm glad you're happy this quickly after the big even. Best wishes for a continued "easy" recovery. (Yeah, like anything about this is easy...)

 

[epstns]

Hi, Catherine!

Glad you're back with us. I also had more difficulty breathing after surgery than I expected. I actually stayed in the hospital an extra night because I was terrified to try to sleep laying on my back. It was simply too much work to breathe.

No worries, though. It all works out - just at different times for different patients.

 

[rider76]

Keep doing the breathing exercises. And welcome to the other side. Did you have surgery in Santa Rosa?

Yes, surgery was by Dr Deeik at Santa Rosa Memorial.

Catherine

 

[ChicagoMammy]

Delighted everything went well. Breathe, breathe, breathe and cough. Norco 20 was my friend at night for weeks (apparently I'm a pain wuss). Coughing is still very sore (5 weeks) without meds. I'm off it mostly though