Good Wednesday afternoon All

[OldGeezerWNC]

I just was reading other postings and keeping busy when I read Kevins posting about his AVR. He talked about being out of it for several days and " having hallucinations, delusions and the like." That hit me like a ton of marshmellows (?) I wrote him a little note then came over here to yak about it. I went through that also. It took me about 4-5 days to completely come up of the fog. And the Fog was a lot scarier than anything Steve King wrote about. But it wasn't just delusions, I acted also. One time the monitor stopped working and when they check on me I had turned 180 degrees in the bed. Head at the footer. I was so worried that I wasn't doing so good that I thought that they had moved me into a broom closet so other patients couldn't see me. Out my window in the distance was The Northfork Southern train yard and I could see flashing lights on antennas and I knew they were cameras spying on me. Then the metallic taste kicked in and I "KNEW' they were putting stuff in my food. I am trying to keep good thoughts going now. Hopefully to keep the willies away this time. The nerves are starting to kick in now, knowing that this time and day next week I'll be good hands of Dr. Binns and Dr. Unks and The Mission Heart Staff. I'll have my son Matt update the going ons starting next Tuesdays. I go in to the Tower at 9am to prep for the caths and then the surgery will be on Weds morning. Break out the valium. Thanks for the ears...... eyes....... Rick in Western North Carolina

Wow folks, this has been great. I guess like I read futher down. We might feel weird sometimes about admitting to weirdness or the willies. I'm going to make sure both Dr. Unks my cardiologist and Dr. Binns my surgeon have the link to this posting I started. It's going to help them know what went on with me with my previous bypass surgery. If I don't tell them the scary stuff they don't know. I do see a pattern a little with all of ya'll who have posted. Morphine and Ambien. I had both also. I've so many problems about Ambien in just normal everyday folks. I've written a lits of questions and requests for the Docs and nurses and I've added let's leave the Ambien off the list of stuff to to give me. Thanks folks. Right now I counting down, 2 Days and 19 hours to the start of Mr Toads Wild Ride. I check in into Memorial Mission Heart Tower Tuesday Morning for the Caths, then I'll be Bright Tailed and Bushy Eyed for the AVR Weds morning. Yahooooo. I'll have family keeping you up to date. Have a great Saturday. Rick

 

[Bina]

Sounds like a hefty dose of morphine....I was totally wacked for 2 days,
then it got better when I refused ALL morphine and oxycodone. Nasty stuff.
Some of us are not good on those drugs.
Regular Tylenol got me through the next few days.

 

[Ross]

I think most all of us did, though some, I think, are to ashamed to admit to it. Maybe they feel "Weakened" by admitting to it? Were certainly not the only ones and rest assured, there will be others.

 

[Mileena46]

I have just now started asking questions about some things I just cannot recall. I remember being in a chair (in ICU) I think, but not how I got there.

I feel like it was DAYS before I was completely back to normal mentally, but sometimes for anxiety reasons that fog might be just the ticket!

Good Luck on your upcoming surgery!

Mileena

 

[Danny]

I was in a daze for the 2 days in ICU. Dont remember half the things wife and mom said we talked about. I do remember the nurse assigned to me did put her ipod on a low volume and let me listen for a while.

 

[Cozycat]

Rick, I had an experience similar to yours except I thought they had put me in an old, unused room so the nurses could "party". I heard music, laughing, etc. but was so worried because I wasn't hooked up to any monitoring equipment. I wasn't just worried, I was scared, scared, scared. I have no idea when this happened because I was totally out from 7 AM on Friday to at least noon on Monday....have no memories except those horrible, extemely realistic dreams. I totally lost 3 1/2 days and then was in and out for a couple more. You are not alone and I understand your not wanting to have to go thru those experiences again!

Midge

 

[Lynlw]

I would definately talk to your surgeon/anestheisia ect to see if there are different meds they could try

 

[kfay]

OMG...I can't imagine having had those experiences! I lost a couple of days just being basically knocked out, but remember quite clearly the things that were going on when I was awake. I did feel like I was in a huge fog for a while afterwards, but just can not imagine having those hallucinations. Hopefully, this time will be better for you.

Kim

 

[river-wear]

That sounds just awful!

When my dad suffered a spinal cord injury, they had him on all sorts of drugs for quite awhile. The poor man kept talking about the "monsters" holding him down. He would tell us where the monsters were and said he could see them too; he'd even describe what they looked like. The hospital staff thought he had dementia (he was 76) until we finally got them to stop giving him those medications and they could see his mind was sharp.

Michele

 

[Nancy]

Yup, Joe wanted me to catch the cute kitties that were running around in his room. One was calico and one was striped. He loved animals. And he was always accusing the poor nurse's aide of spilling his pills all over the floor. In truth, she never even touched the pills. Also got mad at me for some unknown reason.

It all passed.

Oh, and a friend who had knee replacement surgery was hooked up to some sort of pain killer drip. She started laughing and talking very fast and having a great time. She was higher than a kite! The nurse came in and said, "Uh-oh" and turned down the drip.

 

[Luana]

My sister came to see me shortly after I was in ICU, within about an hour after surgery was over. I remember hearing her voice and what she said and I thought unless she had left the hospital during my surgery and had been in a fatal car accident, I guess I'm still alive. The next day what I told her I heard was what she said. I also remember my cardiologist coming in, saying who he was, the time, and that the surgery went really well. He verified he said that when I asked him the next day.

It seemed to take me a long time to wake up, but I guess that's common? I got to ICU somewhere around 1:30 or 2:00 p.m. I pretty much started to wake up around 5 and the breathing tube was removed at 6.
Luana

 

[TiredTickerInTx]

Rick
They put us on a whole lot of narcotics for pain and I think for most people there is good reason for it. My experience with morphine has been quite like you have mentioned along with extreme vomiting.
We now know to use dilaudid as the side effects for me tend to be much more tolerable. Same class of drug but totally different side effects.
Try to avoid a basil drip such as Nancy mentioned and ask for something different if you are experiencing any sort of bizarre thoughts.

 

[kpearse]

I remember seeing mice in my room. Told my wife they were all over the ceiling and that the place was dirty as hell.lol

 

[netmiff]

I was OK with the OHS, but have had drugs in the past that did similar things. They kept me totally sedated for 2 full days, I had developed fluid in/around my lungs. I remember DH coming in with my mother, immediately after surgery; he said something like she is kind-of awake, honey squeeze my hand if you know it's me, and I remember squeezing; I also remember not knowing if my responses were maybe so slow that I was squeezing half an hour after the question was asked! Then the next thing I remember is two days later . .

 

[james]

My Mom and I were just talking about a night that I had been "scared" after the 1980 surgery. I had forgotten about that. Not wanting to have a bad trip this time.

 

[chocoholic]

I just was reading other postings and keeping busy when I read Kevins posting about his AVR. He talked about being out of it for several days and " having hallucinations, delusions and the like." That hit me like a ton of marshmellows (?) I wrote him a little note then came over here to yak about it. I went through that also. It took me about 4-5 days to completely come up of the fog. And the Fog was a lot scarier than anything Steve King wrote about. But it wasn't just delusions, I acted also. One time the monitor stopped working and when they check on me I had turned 180 degrees in the bed. Head at the footer. I was so worried that I wasn't doing so good that I thought that they had moved me into a broom closet so other patients couldn't see me. Out my window in the distance was The Northfork Southern train yard and I could see flashing lights on antennas and I knew they were cameras spying on me. Then the metallic taste kicked in and I "KNEW' they were putting stuff in my food. I am trying to keep good thoughts going now. Hopefully to keep the willies away this time. The nerves are starting to kick in now, knowing that this time and day next week I'll be good hands of Dr. Binns and The Mission Heart Staff. I'll have my son Matt update the going ons starting next Tuesdays. I go in to the Tower at 9am to prep for the caths and then the surgery will be on Weds morning. Break out the valium. Thanks for the ears...... eyes....... Rick in Western North Carolina

Nancy & Danny thanks so much for directing me to this thread!]

This post sounds just like the tone of my mum's conversation today. So it sounds like a common reaction to the meds. She does not even drink alcohol so she is not used to the drugs they have pumped her with. Im really hoping this will pass as it brings back bad memories of the after effects of my father's diabetic coma and the way morphine affected him. He was one night trying to get dressed and go home when attached to all the drips and monitors...

What is the best way to approach someone when they are having such delusions? Just play along? I find that so hard for some reason, but maybe it's better for her than trying to explain to my mum that it's the drugs. she was annoyed that I didnt believe her.

 

[chocoholic]

I can't sleep because I'm worried how she's coping. I must sound like a bag of nerves but I was ok until today. She was doing really well and I felt more relaxed than I have for months. I woke up on the day of the op with a really peaceful feeling as if I knew she would pull through. But now Im feeling all emotional again....urgh

 

[river-wear]

hi chocoholic, what seemed to work with my dad was to acknowledge what he thought he was experiencing (so he knew we were listening to him) and gently explaining that the medication was affecting him. We let him know that he'd feel better soon. I think that's all we can do until they don't need such heavy meds.

Heck, when I had mono back in college they gave me cough syrup with codeine. I had a bad time with that too. Just sobbing & carrying on. It was nice to have my mom there to comfort me and say everything would be all right. You can do the same for her.

Michele

 

[Kevin]

I was told that the way my family was told to deal with my odd behaviour was to continue to reassure that everything is fine.

Indeed, it was morphine-based drugs that gave me my hallucinations, etc.

This stuff can be frightening, but I think it is important to recognize that it does not happen everytime.

I had no such symptoms during my first or second AVR. Only this last one where I was under for 12 hours straight. The other two were non-eventful and I woke up in a more efficient manner with absolutely none of this sort of thing happening.
Kev

 

[chocoholic]

Maybe I overreacted yesterday. I was so upset and crying when I was falling asleep. My mum has never acted this way before. I'm scared to go to the hospital today as I am not sure what mood I will find her in. I've taken the day off work so that I can go there and reassure her and find out a bit more about the situation.

How long do these effects usually last after they switch off the morphine? They told me they stopped her morphine yesterday afternoon. But she was like this in the evening. I am worried in case it's a sign of something going wrong.