BeeKnees
Member
I am just over a week post-op for aortic valve replacement (St. Jude) and ascending aortic arch repair.
I have to say, it has so far been easier recovering than I had imagined. At 42 years old, I am in really good health thankfully, other than my valve issues.
The first evening after surgery I was quite chatty and almost smug, thinking I had this whole thing licked and that recovery would be a cake walk. Yeah, that was the anesthesia talking... By 1 AM, I was barfing up the ice chips they had given me, and none of the pain killers in pill form would stay down, so they finally gave me a dose of dilaudid. That was nice.
Next morning was a bit rough and I was disappointed in myself that I was having a tough time, but after about an hour I was suddenly feeling better and more upbeat. I took my first walk about 15 hours post-op and after that, there was pretty much no stopping me. The successive three days were up and down, but mostly up.
Ups:
~Getting solid food
~Having drainage tubes removed
~Speaking with my surgeon, who was completely astounded I had been pretty much asymptomatic. My valve was apparently in completely awful condition, one of the worst he had seen in ages
~Getting moved down the hall to a quieter room. They don't usually move people in the hospital where I was staying, but I was doing so well and somebody needed the room closest to the nurses station way more than I.
~ Generally feeling really well, considering what I had just been through
Downs:
~ Developed a terrible rash on day 2. I have sensitive skin, so it may have been as simple as just developing hives from all the sweating I was doing. It may have been a general stress reaction, or it may have been something allergic. We never did figure it out, but benedryl helped
~ the general feeling of icky/dirty. I wanted a shower sooooo badly by the second day.
~ Needing to be hooked up to a heparin drip and having two nurses blow four veins on me, trying to get a new IV set up, before they called somebody from the IV Team to do it. That was probably one of the more painful episodes of my stay
~ Echocardiogram on the morning of day 4. Holy crap, that hurt more than anything. The pressure they have to use (I am somewhat busty) and just lying on my back or moving to my side were almost more than I could stand.
I was able to leave the morning of Day 5, once my INR was at a 2. Thought all was well, tested INR a day later and it was 2.2 - all good there.
But two days after that (yesterday) it tested at 1.3 - that sent me into a panic, thinking what the ??? I was doing everything right.
I am now on lovenox shots, self administered, through the weekend and at least until next Wednesday and they have upped my warfarin to 6 mg/day- need to have two successive "good" tests to get off the shots.
The anti-coagulant nurse I am working with thinks they released me with dosage instructions for my warfarin that were way too low. The whole time the was in the hospital, they had me around 7.5 mg/day.
The second I hit a 2 for my INR, they sent me home with instructions for 4mg/day. She thinks that was too quick a drop, considering I had just barely hit the 2 mark.
Anyway, all in all I have so far had a good recovery. I feel well, a little tired still, but I am enjoying the sunshine we are having, the fresh air and the love of my family and friends. I can not wait to be less dependent on everybody though.
I am so thankful I found this forum - it helped me through more than anything else, and I hope to contribute enough to return the favor/pay it forward to the next ones in line!
I have to say, it has so far been easier recovering than I had imagined. At 42 years old, I am in really good health thankfully, other than my valve issues.
The first evening after surgery I was quite chatty and almost smug, thinking I had this whole thing licked and that recovery would be a cake walk. Yeah, that was the anesthesia talking... By 1 AM, I was barfing up the ice chips they had given me, and none of the pain killers in pill form would stay down, so they finally gave me a dose of dilaudid. That was nice.
Next morning was a bit rough and I was disappointed in myself that I was having a tough time, but after about an hour I was suddenly feeling better and more upbeat. I took my first walk about 15 hours post-op and after that, there was pretty much no stopping me. The successive three days were up and down, but mostly up.
Ups:
~Getting solid food
~Having drainage tubes removed
~Speaking with my surgeon, who was completely astounded I had been pretty much asymptomatic. My valve was apparently in completely awful condition, one of the worst he had seen in ages
~Getting moved down the hall to a quieter room. They don't usually move people in the hospital where I was staying, but I was doing so well and somebody needed the room closest to the nurses station way more than I.
~ Generally feeling really well, considering what I had just been through
Downs:
~ Developed a terrible rash on day 2. I have sensitive skin, so it may have been as simple as just developing hives from all the sweating I was doing. It may have been a general stress reaction, or it may have been something allergic. We never did figure it out, but benedryl helped
~ the general feeling of icky/dirty. I wanted a shower sooooo badly by the second day.
~ Needing to be hooked up to a heparin drip and having two nurses blow four veins on me, trying to get a new IV set up, before they called somebody from the IV Team to do it. That was probably one of the more painful episodes of my stay
~ Echocardiogram on the morning of day 4. Holy crap, that hurt more than anything. The pressure they have to use (I am somewhat busty) and just lying on my back or moving to my side were almost more than I could stand.
I was able to leave the morning of Day 5, once my INR was at a 2. Thought all was well, tested INR a day later and it was 2.2 - all good there.
But two days after that (yesterday) it tested at 1.3 - that sent me into a panic, thinking what the ??? I was doing everything right.
I am now on lovenox shots, self administered, through the weekend and at least until next Wednesday and they have upped my warfarin to 6 mg/day- need to have two successive "good" tests to get off the shots.
The anti-coagulant nurse I am working with thinks they released me with dosage instructions for my warfarin that were way too low. The whole time the was in the hospital, they had me around 7.5 mg/day.
The second I hit a 2 for my INR, they sent me home with instructions for 4mg/day. She thinks that was too quick a drop, considering I had just barely hit the 2 mark.
Anyway, all in all I have so far had a good recovery. I feel well, a little tired still, but I am enjoying the sunshine we are having, the fresh air and the love of my family and friends. I can not wait to be less dependent on everybody though.
I am so thankful I found this forum - it helped me through more than anything else, and I hope to contribute enough to return the favor/pay it forward to the next ones in line!
