Heather Anne
Well-known member
So, I did the deed (or rather, had the deed done to me) this past Tuesday. I'm terrifically happy to have it over with. Some of the things I was worried about did happen: for example, I woke up with the breathing tube in and gagged and flailed about until they took it out, but that bit of unpleasantness was brief, and had one weird episode of Afib that seemed to upset the doctors more than it did me. I have naturally very low blood pressure and run on the anemic side, so I felt really droopy and draggy and fainty for the first couple of days and haven't been allowed to walk around as much as I would like.
But the removal of the drainage tube was no big deal at all, nor is the spirometor, nor was the the constant poking and prodding all night long -- the staff at UCSF have been terrific. The procedure itself went perfectly smoothly, and I'm looking forward to my slow and steady recovery. I think they're letting me out on Saturday.
The bottom line is that this is certainly no small deal, and you need to be on top of the pain situation. Don't let it get away from you. Ask for pain meds when you need them. There will also be little snags along the way, like your blood sugar running amok, or your drainage tubes will have to stay in for an extra day, or something completely else. Don't let these bother you if you can help it. It's a complicated process, and nothing that's this complicated will go off completely without a hitch. But my surgeon says the first three days are the worst. For sure, I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday, and even a lot better than I did this morning.
And, I have a terrific new heart valve, and even though I was almost completely asymptomatic, I can already feel the difference!!
But the removal of the drainage tube was no big deal at all, nor is the spirometor, nor was the the constant poking and prodding all night long -- the staff at UCSF have been terrific. The procedure itself went perfectly smoothly, and I'm looking forward to my slow and steady recovery. I think they're letting me out on Saturday.
The bottom line is that this is certainly no small deal, and you need to be on top of the pain situation. Don't let it get away from you. Ask for pain meds when you need them. There will also be little snags along the way, like your blood sugar running amok, or your drainage tubes will have to stay in for an extra day, or something completely else. Don't let these bother you if you can help it. It's a complicated process, and nothing that's this complicated will go off completely without a hitch. But my surgeon says the first three days are the worst. For sure, I feel a lot better today than I did yesterday, and even a lot better than I did this morning.
And, I have a terrific new heart valve, and even though I was almost completely asymptomatic, I can already feel the difference!!
