Gil Recovery

[Luckyguy17]

I promised Gil that I would send you an update on his valve replacement surgery - so here goes.

The operation took place yesterday morning (Monday) from 7a.m. to 1 p.m. We are told that the operation was a success. He has the aortic valve replaced and the nitre(?) valve repaired. He spend Monday night in the intensive care unit. He was pretty medicated but his coloring was good and he knew we were there, but of course he could not talk because of all the tubes, respirator, etc.,.

Today he was moved to the intermediary intensive unit, and although the respirator was gone, he was still hooked up to what seemed like so many tubes which are very uncomfortable for him. At one point, the nurse insisted he had to get up to get weighed and boy was he in pain. Unfortunately he is reacting rather badly to morphine so they are only giving him Tylenol.

Tomorrow should be an easier day as the tubes will be removed, and he will need to start working on his exercises (to get the lungs working properly as they collapse during the surgery) – this will be a tough one but much needed as his lungs need to be cleared and get working properly.

It is hard to see someone who is always so cheerful and optimistic in such pain – but hopefully this will be short lived and for a better life in the future.

Thank you for caring about Gilles.
Marisa

 

[Bina]

Hello Marisa,
I also had a bad reaction to morphine, so they tried Oxycodone and I didn't like it at all. So it was only Tylenol, but that worked out fine.
Gil should have improvement quickly and will not remember much of the first day or two. I truly believe that the first couple of days are harder on the spouse who is sitting nearby and feeling very helpless. Hopefully you can get some sleep too and thank you for the update.

 

[Pat in NH]

Thanks for the update. I hope he starts feeling better soon. My surgery is Thurs, so we'll be recovering at almost the same time.

 

[Jkm7]

Thank you for sharing with us about, Gil. It is always hard to read someone is in pain and I hope he finds relief soon.
The rest of what you write sounds just the way things should be at this point and hopefully, he will have a rapid, easy recovery.
Sending the very best wishes.

 

[Guest]

Tell Gil we welcome him to the other side. Ask for Tylenol 3 for pain, not sure it will be enough but that may help. They have to find him something as pain delays recovery. Rest easy and use the breathing thingy.

 

[ARGreenMN]

Say hi to Gil !!!

Say hi to Gil !!!

Tell him ARGreen said hi and I'm pulling for him to get over the hump soon. I think tomorrow will be a much better day for him. I remember day 2 being much better than day 1. And it only gets better from there on out. So hang in there and say hi to Gil!!!

 

[Freddie]

Thanks Marisa for the up-date, been thinking about our buddy Gil.

Please tell him I wish him the best and with each day may become better for him

Prayers coming your way.

P.S. Hope your looking after yourself Marisa and getting some good needed rest.

 

[nngbwh]

Thanks for the update. Hopefully the recovery will be smooth.

 

[Ross]

I told him the first three days really suck, but after that, he'll start feeling better and better. You won't believe the difference by the end of one week.

 

[mwkentner]

Great news, Hoping he has a speedy recovery
MWK

 

[Jeanie]

Tell Gil we welcome him to the other side. Ask for Tylenol 3 for pain, not sure it will be enough but that may help. They have to find him something as pain delays recovery. Rest easy and use the breathing thingy.

Not so sure that Tylenol3 is advisable for someone with morphine problem - Ty 3 has a closely related substance, codeine, in it. What I took when in hospital for my surgery was Percocet, and as I weigh right around 100, I actually asked nurse to give me just half a tablet and that worked fine. Tell Gil that, as someone else mentioned, the first few days are the hardest, and moving around is the best possible thing no matter how hard it is.

 

[ottagal]

Marisa,
Thanks very much for the update on Gil. As others have echoed the first few days are the toughest. Hang in there...both of you.
My very best wishes for a speedy recovery.

 

[Adrienne]

The first few days are the worst. After that, it keeps getting better and better!

 

[malibu82]

happy to hear he made it to the other side. my turn is on friday. i am so scared

 

[hall]

Thank You for the update! Praying every day is better than the last.

 

[Cris N]

Hope he starts to feel better soon - glad the surgery went well though.

 

[Lily]

Thanks for the update. Yeah, it's painful but the worst should soon resolve.

Hoping he'll get to feeling better after he gets to start walking around.

Oh, and if the surgeon gave him a spirometer to use, it's very important he do all the repetitious breathing exercises with it.

 

[Mentu]

I'm glad to hear that the surgery went well. Both you and he will be surprised in a few days at how he begins to bounce back. Thank you for taking the time to send us a note, Marisa.

Larry

 

[Johan]

Thanks Marissa for the update. Gil will feel a lot better very soon. In a few week's time the first post operation days will be a blurred distant memory because he will feel sooo much better with his repaired heart... But of course I was one of the lucky people who never suffered a moment's pain and never took a pain pill, to this day, after the morphine IV came out on the second day.

 

[Luckyguy17]

Group, Thank you so much for the wishes and support.

Released Today Saturday and now home and resting....way more comfortable than hospital and it is so very nice to be home.

Am really looking forward to a good nights sleep' in my bed tonight, no need for sleeping meds tonight (big smile).

What is simply amazing to me is how quickly, we can recover from OHS, counted in (days), for sufficient recovery to continue with rehab at home.

Within 24 hours of Marisa's message to the group on Tuesday, where i was in stepdown and just over 24 hours out of surgery, recovery from that point on was very fast to walking state.

Only reason not checked out yesterday, was for intravenous stabilization of vitals, as easier to do with intrvenous drip.

All is well and living the quiet life for next few weeks will be the challenge.

Gil