Mess

[bradvo]

What kind of pain meds should I be expecting when I go home? How strong of meds are they and how long would be normal to be on them?
Appreciate others experience with this.
Thanks
Brad

Darn iPad and big thumbs , tittle should read meds

 

[Freddie]

Usually Tylenol or Extra Strength Tylenol some have gone home with something stronger. For me it was Extra Strength Tylenol - take as needed. If I recall correctly......it was about after 10 days when I started to cut back.

 

[Lynlw]

Hi, You probably wont like this answer since it isnt very helpful. but pain and pain meds is one of thos things that really is different for everyone. Some people take stronger meds for a couple weeks, others pretty much use something like tylenol during the day and something stronger at night to help with sleep by the end of the first week.
If it helps at all there are a few threads in the post op forum about pain meds and people experience here are 2 http://www.valvereplacement.org/forums/showthread.php?38889-Pain-Meds&highlight=pain+med and http://www.valvereplacement.org/for...escription-pain-medication&highlight=pain+med

 

[Bina]

There is a huge variance in the amount and type of pain meds that an individual will need and/or want.

Nurse gave me one night of morphine, bad buzz, so I refused that stuff..
Then the nurse tried to push that Oxy Codone crap. I tried one, nasty stuff, refused to take more.

So by the second week I took only regular Tylenol and that suited me just fine.

 

[nngbwh]

No pain meds for me. Just Tylenol if needed every 4 hours.

 

[RunMartin]

As far as I am aware I was only on paracetamol after the first few days.

 

[Julian]

First day in ICU I was on morphine but didn't know it. The next two days I was on percocet and hated it. The next 5 days I was in the hospital on 1 maybe 2 vicodin a day, 2 at the most, the nurses had to kinda remind me to take it. Once I was at home I took vicodin for the first few nights and after that I haven't taken even tynelol, doctors were amazed; someone so young should be feeling pain worse than a older person, doctors thought I had an amazing pain tolerance. I've read that some take vicodin for 2 months or more after the surgery and some get addicted and some people only take tynelol in the hosptial and by the time they are home they don't take anything. Everyone is different.

 

[bradvo]

First day in ICU I was on morphine but didn't know it. The next two days I was on percocet and hated it. The next 5 days I was in the hospital on 1 maybe 2 vicodin a day, 2 at the most, the nurses had to kinda remind me to take it. Once I was at home I took vicodin for the first few nights and after that I haven't taken even tynelol, doctors were amazed; someone so young should be feeling pain worse than a older person, doctors thought I had an amazing pain tolerance. I've read that some take vicodin for 2 months or more after the surgery and some get addicted and some people only take tynelol in the hosptial and by the time they are home they don't take anything. Everyone is different.

Julian, can you tell me about the pacemaker you show getting on August 3.

Brad

 

[Guest]

Darn iPad and big thumbs , tittle should read meds

HA! Who knows ... it could be a "mess", too! lol

As others have noted, meds and doses and length of time on them vary greatly person to person and even procedure to procedure.....



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"My name is Sue! How do you do?!" __ Johnny Cash __ 'A Boy Named Sue'

 

[Julian]

Julian, can you tell me about the pacemaker you show getting on August 3.

Brad

I got the pacemaker because of heart block after the surgery, the surgeon told me my valve was in pretty bad shape and he had to cut pretty deep to do the job right which damaged the electrical system in my heart. The text book says only 5% get this after surgery, 1 out of 20. Last check up I had for the pacemaker I'm only using it 14 percent of the time but I still need it, weather its 14%, 1% or 100% if you need it you need it. I've never had rhythm or electrical issues with my heart my whole life until after surgery, and in comparison to some mine are mild. Having to have a pacemaker after heart valve surgery I guess you can say is a big complication but it doesn't feel that way. You don't want one, that's for sure! But if you have to have it, it's really not that bad. Again, valve surgery is not perfect and heart block is a relatively common complication. I can tell you one thing, after being 3 months out of surgery I'm feeling pretty darn good and expecting to get even better. Doctors said I would be dead by now if I didn't have the surgery when I did. Pacemaker or not, its good to be alive!

 

[Mentu]

Brad, the nursing staff at Oklahoma Heart said they could never tell who was going to need heavier pain meds. There are just too many variables to determine that before hand. The best advise I got was to pay attention to how I felt and use what I needed. By day five when I left the hospital, I found I didn't need more than Tylenol during the day but I was provided with Tramadol to use as needed. For a couple of weeks I used some of it in the evening when I was uncomfortable at bedtime. My experience, however, will not be your's. The Talons that closed my sternum left me with little or no chest pain but, especially, in the evening my shoulders and ribs ached. If you pay attention to your body, you should sense when you can slack off and use OTC medication. If you have a good family doctor, you might ask for guidance after you've been home a couple of weeks if you still have questions. My family doctor wanted to see me during my second week home. By then, she had reviewed my surgical records and just wanted to check me over to see for herself if I had any problems that were not being addressed. Surgeons are pretty focused on the surgery itself and the immediate issues surrounding their work. Your family doctor is the one who is really going to be caring for you so it is to your own benefit to keep them in the loop. I wish everyone had one like mine.

Larry

 

[bradvo]

I got the pacemaker because of heart block after the surgery, the surgeon told me my valve was in pretty bad shape and he had to cut pretty deep to do the job right which damaged the electrical system in my heart. The text book says only 5% get this after surgery, 1 out of 20. Last check up I had for the pacemaker I'm only using it 14 percent of the time but I still need it, weather its 14%, 1% or 100% if you need it you need it. I've never had rhythm or electrical issues with my heart my whole life until after surgery, and in comparison to some mine are mild. Having to have a pacemaker after heart valve surgery I guess you can say is a big complication but it doesn't feel that way. You don't want one, that's for sure! But if you have to have it, it's really not that bad. Again, valve surgery is not perfect and heart block is a relatively common complication. I can tell you one thing, after being 3 months out of surgery I'm feeling pretty darn good and expecting to get even better. Doctors said I would be dead by now if I didn't have the surgery when I did. Pacemaker or not, its good to be alive!

Ok, just curious. Yes being alive is a good thing :thumbup:

 

[bradvo]

Thanks Larry, guess one reason I'm concerned is I currently take pain meds for two herniated disks n lower back. I'm concerned i have built up a high tolerance
for pain medications.

And knightrider, yes I have thought it a mess , and good luck to you my friend on your 4th. :eek2: I think that is what I read, I wish you well and will pray for your speedy recovery.

 

[Lynlw]

Thanks Larry, guess one reason I'm concerned is I currently take pain meds for two herniated disks n lower back. I'm concerned i have built up a high tolerance
for pain medications.

And knightrider, yes I have thought it a mess , and good luck to you my friend on your 4th. :eek2: I think that is what I read, I wish you well and will pray for your speedy recovery.

Do you go to a pain management doctor? If so have you had them discuss pain control with your surgeon or cardiologist? If not I would, i go to pain management and my doc is very good about coordinating things with my other doctors when i've had things like hand surgery, oral surgery, gall bladder etc. it works out well

 

[Mentu]

Ah, Lyn said what I was trying to say. It seems to me that with health care fractured between a number of doctors, there is no systematic way to coordinate care. As I said in the first post, I am fortunate because my family doctor does this with my help. Seeing doctors from different medical centers and for different problems can leave you sort of stranded unless there is one clearinghouse. What everyone needs is one office that coordinates care across the board and gets the different offices talking to each other. This aspect of health care seems to be pretty much left to chance so it bears close watching.

Along this same line, I would encourage you to start keeping a spreadsheet, if you have not already, to keep track of the different accounts that are going to be set up in the course of surgery. For me there ended up being a total of 12 new accounts to keep track of as the bills came in and the insurance company announced how much it was paying. It is sort of like the computer game "Whack a mole".

Larry

 

[bradvo]

Larry, that really is a good idea. I just received a bill yesterday for just over $3,000 dollars that said is due by November 16.
I was taken back by this so called the number to discuss billing. I told the gal on the other end I was confused with the bill, she asked why.
I told her a month ago I worked out a payment schedule with your firm. She then said she should be able to look that up.
She then asked me what I was paying and told her , she said ok I see that here.
So my next question was why did I get this bill then, she said we don't see what is going on with the payment plan, that is another identity.
I said you were able to look it up, she said but they don't tell us how your account is doing.
Needless to say I was not warm and fuzzy even though she said to ignore the bill.
Think when this operation is over I will set a spread sheet up and also take names of the people I talk with.
Thanks
Brad

 

[escargome]

Brad,
I believe that you will find that as far as medical billing goes, the right hand never speaks to the left hand. I would second the notion to set up a spread sheet. And each time you are forced to call one of those billing office numbers make sure you note whom you spoke to and the date and time. Patience, patience patience.
I hope your surgery goes smoothly.

 

[Guest]

And knightrider, yes I have thought it a mess , and good luck to you my friend on your 4th. :eek2: I think that is what I read, I wish you well and will pray for your speedy recovery.

LOL! I figured you had had that thought, too, but figured I'd point it out...LOL!

And, thank you. Yes, it will be my 4th OHS ... postponed until Friday now.



Cort | 38.m.IL | pigValve + paceMaker | 5 Monte Carlos + 1 Caprice Classic
CHD.MCs.CC + RoadTrips.models.RadioShows.legos.HO.us66 = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort
"It's hard to slow this swinger down" __ Eric Heatherly __ 'Flowers On The Wall'