lucky401
Active member
Hi Everyone,
Well, I am home. I came home on Monday after 7 days in the hospital. The surgery went well. They did a lot of stuff and the surgery itself was 8 1/2 hours long. Here is what Dr. Bavaria did, I'm not sure of the official names of stuff his writing is hard to read. I got a tissue aortic valve replacement, I had my aorta replaced - it looks like it says transverse arut; hemi-arut graft #26 HEA/RCP, aortic root #21 freestyle bio root, mitrol valve repair #26 future band, repaired a hole in my heart which no one knew about and PFO closure. Now maybe some of you will understand all this technical languege. I'm just glad to be here to talk about it. The surgery was long and the breathing tube was in for 24 hours after the surgery was over. They had trouble waking me up. The worst part of this for me is that I woke up with bronchitus and a bad cough along with swallowing problems all due to the breathing tubes and being under anthesia for so long. I am home and my breathing is getting much better. The best part of my home coming was taking my first shower - that was great. They won't let you shower at the hospital because they have external pace makers and heart monitors attached to you till you come home. My incision and chest have not hurt me too much at all so I have not needed pain killers. Best of all each day I am home I feel a little stronger - this really knocked me more than I expected it to. This morning I was able to walk about a block and back without stopping too much to catch my breath. I really thought I would come home and be able to walk a mile immediately now that my heart is supposed to be working ok - Wrong.
Thank you all so much for all your support before the surgery. That really seems to be the worst part of things. I remember reading how so many of you experienced a calm right before you went in for the surgery. I did not experience that - it was more like panic and a feeling of wanting to bolt but they gave me something right away that knocked me out so it wasn't too much of a problem. It's a good thing I had it done when I did the surgeon said my aortic valve was critical and just about closed tight when he got in there and the aorta was extremely thin even though the anneurism was at 4.5 or so.
Thank you all so much for your support. I will stay in touch.
Barb
Well, I am home. I came home on Monday after 7 days in the hospital. The surgery went well. They did a lot of stuff and the surgery itself was 8 1/2 hours long. Here is what Dr. Bavaria did, I'm not sure of the official names of stuff his writing is hard to read. I got a tissue aortic valve replacement, I had my aorta replaced - it looks like it says transverse arut; hemi-arut graft #26 HEA/RCP, aortic root #21 freestyle bio root, mitrol valve repair #26 future band, repaired a hole in my heart which no one knew about and PFO closure. Now maybe some of you will understand all this technical languege. I'm just glad to be here to talk about it. The surgery was long and the breathing tube was in for 24 hours after the surgery was over. They had trouble waking me up. The worst part of this for me is that I woke up with bronchitus and a bad cough along with swallowing problems all due to the breathing tubes and being under anthesia for so long. I am home and my breathing is getting much better. The best part of my home coming was taking my first shower - that was great. They won't let you shower at the hospital because they have external pace makers and heart monitors attached to you till you come home. My incision and chest have not hurt me too much at all so I have not needed pain killers. Best of all each day I am home I feel a little stronger - this really knocked me more than I expected it to. This morning I was able to walk about a block and back without stopping too much to catch my breath. I really thought I would come home and be able to walk a mile immediately now that my heart is supposed to be working ok - Wrong.
Thank you all so much for all your support before the surgery. That really seems to be the worst part of things. I remember reading how so many of you experienced a calm right before you went in for the surgery. I did not experience that - it was more like panic and a feeling of wanting to bolt but they gave me something right away that knocked me out so it wasn't too much of a problem. It's a good thing I had it done when I did the surgeon said my aortic valve was critical and just about closed tight when he got in there and the aorta was extremely thin even though the anneurism was at 4.5 or so.
Thank you all so much for your support. I will stay in touch.
Barb
