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Ovie

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 25, 2011
Messages
493
Location
Sioux City, Iowa.
Just want to start off by saying thank you to my mom for the updates, she was very sweet to do that. I've crossed to the other side, it hasn't been fun, but afterwards it's incredible to know how bad it really needed to be done. A 5hr surgery turned into
About a 3 hour surgery, had to have some graphing done and my surgeon said it was twice as bad as it had looked so it was good they got in there when they did.

It was honestly shocking how it went from being in the operating room being told they were putting me to sleep to waking up in what felt like 10 mins. I awoke in
high spirits and wasn't as confused as I'd imagined I'd of been, but than slowly drifted away. Woke up
Around 11pm DOS in ICU and was much more awake, and was actually
Treated quite awful. The staff were rude and unassuring even when I was kind and thankful, it was easily the worst night/morning so far. I remember at about 3 am being told if I needed somebody to push the nurse alert button. Well about 5 mins after I got extremely nautilus and pushed the button and yelled with my raspy voice for help before I couldn't hold it In anymore and threw up everywhere, including on myself. The rest of the early AM was just worst, they gave me nothing for pain, or help me to withdrawal off of my anti-anxiety meds and became so dizzy and sick that I started to hallucinate. I had zero sleep and zero meds. I was praying that with new nurses coming in the morning things couldnt get any worst. How I was wrong. The 3 new nurses I delt with were so uneducated, so heartless that I was shocked they had ever been hired. I had told them everything that had been going on, in a nice way too, but they never acknowledged a problem, told me "this will be ok, you're just dealing with such and such right now" they made smirky and rude comments about me to one another. I also decided to ask 1 of them
How long they had been in their current field, she said 8 years, but also ended up pushing another nurse to the side saying she "needed" the practice. When I was finally getting moved out of ICU 2 of these 3 nurses were the ones doing it, and by that point I was just furious, they than very rudely told me to get on the wheelchair, when I explained to them
I was still hooked up to machines and wires, I was almost laughed at. What happened next you ask? I than went to stand up and my cathoder tube was tangled and not loose at all, which hurt very bad, she than went in to say sorry. The other nurse than said trust me, we've got you as I once more tried standing and as I stood completely up only to have my head ripped to the side because of a wire still in my jugular that had not been moved to accommodate me on my move. To say the least, President or whoever else I need to send to here at Mayo, will be hearing about my ICU experience. It was awful.

However since being moved, my nurses are wonderful, very kind and accommodating to almost anything that needs to be done, constantly looking over me and helping. I had my cathoder and chest tubes pulled yesterday. Sleeping has been difficult, but I feel that's to be expected. They say I should be out by tuesday, which will be nice so I can have eventually everything removed. I'm sore, a little uncomfortable, but as long as I keep it to one day at a time, I should be alright and glad to have this over with. So other than my ICU stay things have gone pretty smoothe. Been doing my breathing tests, my short walks. Have had difficulty with foods and some nausea, but other than that I feel good! It's currently 2am Sunday morning, have had trouble sleeping so figured I'd give an update myself while I had time. I've been fortunte to be able to
Browse updates and can't thank you all enough for the support. I look forward to getting back to offering what I can on the site, and none the less continue to learn.

Always greatful,
Ovie.
 
Ovie!

Glad to hear from you. VERY sorry to hear how you were treated in the ICU. That's astonishing. The ICU is usually staffed with the best of the best. This was the Mayo?! Wow! I was relieved to hear things got better in the step-down area.

The best thing is if you have the strength to type such a long message after only a couple of days, you are doing very well. I was too weak to do anything like this for 4 or 5 days.

Problems eating and sleeping are common. Hopefully they've straightened out your pain and are responding to your concerns about your anti-anxiety meds.

Keep up the good work!

Bill
 
Hi. Glad you're on the other side and things are looking up. I hated ICU and thought I would always remember every revolting minute of it, but as the months (now 12 months) passed, the memories faded. My nurses were kind but I do remember feeling I didn't have as much attention as I thought I should have. In hindsight I'm sure I was constantly under their watch but unaware of it. I do remember though asking for a more senior nurse at some stage as one girl looking after me seemed about 13yo! She was very sweet but seemed to always be asking for reassurance and help from others, which made me very uncomfortable i.e. why is she here if she doesn't know what to do???!
I was constantly asking for painkillers for my neck/back and for ice chips/water, and they didn't seem to give them to me as much as I wanted ... but again, in hindsight, I'm sure they did what they were allowed.
Anyway, that's behind you (and me) now, and you can start getting better ... take care.
 
I've been thinking about you and was hoping we would hear directly from you before it was my turn. I'm glad your mom kept us updated, but until hearing directly from the patient...for some reason...I still get worried. I think hearing from others so soon does wonders for my own anxiety, so THANKS a million for your post!

Hoping the rest of your stay is better (and short)!

~Lisa
 
Hi OVIE!

Glad to see you posting. Make sure your doctors know how rotten you were treated. Then, get the names of those nurses and write, call, or visit with the Hospital Administrator, let him/her know the facts. Heck, write the state medical or nursing board.

Getting sprung will be the best thing for you. You'll get more quality rest at home. Rest easy.
 
Ovie, I'm so glad to see you posting yourself again. There is no way I could have done that the whole time I was in the hospital. I'm really surprised at your experience in the ICU at the Mayo. That is so completely opposite from my experience, it's shocking! I had my own ICU nurse who stayed by my side the whole time. There was no button to push to call her because there was no central nursing station in ICU for her to go to, so she was never more than a few feet away from me. They did withdraw my pain meds for a little while when they were trying to get me to wake up, but my husband said they were worried about me being in pain the whole time...I never was. Once I was awake, they had me on a pain pump that I could push for pain meds anytime I want. I also have another friend from another website there right now having surgery too. Her surgery was Friday, so she is still in ICU today. Her family has written on her page how great her care is there as well...you must have just gotten a bad draw of the cards. Glad things are better there now.

Get well quickly.


Kim
 
Ovie - I'm glad to see you're posting for yourself. Sounds like you've had a rough patch, but it also sounds like it is now behind you and things are going much more as you envisioned. Keep your good attitude and by the time you get home, you'll be much more like yourself.

Glad you're back. See you later.
 
Sorry to hear about your experience in ICU. My wife was at Mayo and treated great. I would talk to someone. I was at a hospital on Montana and was treated great all around. Had my nurse to myself in ICU until towards the end when emergency pulled her away but only a few feet. I could still see her all the time. I was so happy about my treatment I searched out a supervisor to give a glowing report. But I would do the same the other way if I got your type of treatment.

On a side note. Now you are through the hard part. Work hard each day to get stronger. Hope all goes well from here on out.
 
Thanks all. I plan on doing what I gotta do to get my strength back. I too was shocked at the unusual care I received in the ICU. The first 2 nurses were great, than once they started sharing nurses between 2-3 patients is when it got bad. I had noticed that when I had 2 great nurses I woke up feeling pain, but that's because I wasn't getting g the right amount of pain meds injected while I'd sleep because it's more of a Manuel system, so it's almost like you had to stay awake. Idk but I'll stay off the topic of the icu because it really makes me upset, when I know more than the nurses taking care of me you know something is wrong.

However the rest has been a day at a time thing, some wonderful people around now, and mom2izzy. When they say that the waiting is the hardest part, they weren't joking. I was blown away by how great the surgery and waking up worked. I'll try and keep you all updated with anything new that seems to happen, for now they're giving away bump pops and need to claim mine, they're going quick!
 
Hi Ovie, it's great to see you are back to posting again. I'm shocked to read about your horrible treatment in the CICU. My experience at Mayo was just like kfay's. The first few days are certainly rough but it gets a little better every day. You'll be amazed how much better you feel once you are out of the hospital.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
 
Glad to hear from you!

Definitely give the administrator feedback on your stay in ICU. That surprises me from Mayo. My mom has had three surgeries there and the worst thing out of them all (other than having to actually have them), was her morphine reactions. The staff had always been fabulous and I just can't imagine how upsetting it is to have people like that "taking care" of you while you are so vulnerable.

I hope the rest of your recovery goes well.
 
Ovie my man!!!!! I am so glad you've posted. This treatment you got from ICU nurses was completely BOGUS! However, you are on the other side and you are doing great. Keep on walking around, getting rest and get home asap. Most people say that once you get home things start to get on an upswing.

Hope your pain management is going well, and cannot wait for more updates from you.

Cheers,
GymGuy
 
Ovie,
Wow! I am amazed at how well you are doing. There is no way I could have had the attention span or strength to post on the list as soon as you have. You seem to be doing really good despite the poor care you received in the CICU. Keep up the healing. You need to walk, rest, eat and breath through your spirometer to keep your lungs clear.
Keep us informed and continue to be an advocate for your best care.
John
 
Ovie!!
Hats off to you!!
Great to hear from you & hear how well your doing 2 days post op!!!
Sorry to hear about your aweful ITU experience! I had nurse like that, was really upset and told me if i wanted to speak i had to speak clearly & stop crying! then the cow pulled my drains out with no pain killer, and then made me walk to change beds as i needed my bedding changed (Taking in mind i hadn't moved out of bed for 6 days previous, and still had everything in, and attached to 4 IV's) so i wasn't happy lol, but once on the ward like you everything seemed better!
Hope you get out of there soon :)
Love Sarah xx
 
Good to hear from you, Ovie! I think you now know the answer about bumps in the road from a month or two ago. They vary for everyone, and for you it sounds like it was your bad lick to draw some relatively inexperienced nurses in the ICU. Hope that is your only bump, because you should make some good progress as the rest of your lines are pulled. Before you know it, you'll get that wonderful first shower. Welcome to the other side!
 
Good to see you posting, Ovie. Sorry about the care (or lack thereof) you received.

Thoughts/prayers continuing....



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Great to hear from you. Despite your louzy stay in the ICU, you sound like you've pulled through quite well. Now just get that exercise and you will be out before you know it!

Glad to see you on the other side, and can't wait for the updates on the improvement!
 
I think people who post from their hospital beds are pretty amazing. Two or three days post op I was feeling pretty rough, mainly with stomach issues resulting from pain killers that bunged me up.

I'm so glad that you are on the road to recovery. Some days will be up and some will be down, so take your recovery week by week. You will see a big difference between the end of week 1, and week 2 etc.
 
Geez Ovie, I go away for a couple of days and there you are up and posting already. It is so nice to see you are getting stronger each day. Keep up the good work. As you said, one day at a time. Just take it slow and gain your strength back. :)
 
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