Keith
Member
On the one-year anniversary of my OHS, I decided to review everything that I went through during the year, from surgery to the present, with the hope that it will help someone that is preparing to go through the same thing. In particular, I would like to let family members know what to expect.
My surgery was on August 15, 2012 at Roper Hospital in charleston, SC, to replace my BAV with a St. Jude artificial valve and my aorta up to the arch with an artificial sheath. I got to the hospital at 5:00AM, where they prepped me by shaving my front from neck to ankle and doing all of the other poking and prodding that they do. My wife had been left in the waiting room and was only brought back to see me for a few minutes before I was taken to the operating room (which she was not too happy about).
I woke up much later, after having been in surgery for 8 1/2 hours. My wife, who is a nurse and was probably more knowledgable about the procedure than was good for her, said that this was definitely the worst day of her life. I, on the other hand, don't remember anything and woke up in the CICU in a drug-induced haze. The only discomfort that I remember was that my left shoulder ached alot. I had been a little concerned that the trach tube would be unbearable when I regained conciousness, but, by the time that I was aware of it and began to "buck" it, they were already removing it.
I stayed in the CICU the whole next day. They got me up and sitting in a chair, which was exhausting but not too bad. The only complaint I had was that my room had a view of the river and my bed and the chair were facing the other way. Before they got me up the next day, I got them to turn the chair around so I could see it.
I went into A-Fib the second night after surgery, which lasted until the following night. This felt a little strange, but didn't hurt. It was mostly kind of scary, because the staff was very diligent in their treatment of it.
By the time the A-Fib broke, I had been moved into a regular room in the heart wing. This was much better because my wife could stay with me the whole time, but overall I couldn't wait to go home. Hospital stays are just not the most pleasant things in the world. Some of the things that bothered me the most were:
- Getting awakened every few hours for vitals and to have blood drawn. They had trouble getting my sugar leveled out, so I was constantly getting my fingers stuck.
- The plastic covering on the mattress was terrible. I couldn't regulate my body temperature because of it. I had the thermostat in the room down so low my poor wife almost froze to death.
- I couldn't wash my hair, which made me feel gross. Fortunately, my wife figured out a way to do it later on and that helped a lot.
- They made me stay much longer than I wanted to. I tried to be very good about doing all of the exercise that they wanted me to do and using the incentive spirometer so they would let me go early, but they kept me several days extra trying to get my coumadin regulated. I was there for a total of 8 days and now, a year later, my coumadin still isn't regulated.
They put me on an Ace Inhibitor (lisinopril) and a beta blocker (metoprolol) to keep my heart rate low while I was healing. Unfortunately, I turned out to be one of the few people who develop a cough from Ace Inhibitors, which started almost as soon as I started taking it. Normally, this wouldn't be that bad of a side effect, but for those of us who have just had their chest cut open, it is agony. I actually had relatively little pain from my sternum, except when I coughed or sneezed. Then I ranked the pain at around an 8 or 9. I was only on lisinopril for a day, but the cough stayed around for 3 weeks.
Once I was home I was much better. Other than the pain from coughing and sneezing (I never let my little heart pillow get out of my sight for the first two months), I felt much better than I had expected to. I even started working from home part-time the second week (3 weeks after surgery), but I tried not to overdo it and took a nap when I felt tired. By the time I was allowed to drive again, six weeks after surgery, I was working full time. I guess that I felt "normal" (i.e. I could move around freely without too much discomfort) again after about 4 months.
My only real (very minor) complaint now, a year later, is that I can feel and hear my heartbeat all of the time. Sometimes it's from my chest and sometimes it's from the pulse in my neck. Even my wife can hear it when we're cuddling. Also, the scar on my upper, right chest where the heart-lung machine was connected is still rather painful. There is a depression there from where the muscle was cut. Other than that, I feel great.
In general, the experience was much better than I had anticipated. The staff at the hospital was great and having a supportive wife and family made all the difference. I would be interested in getting feedback to see how this compared to other's experiences.
My surgery was on August 15, 2012 at Roper Hospital in charleston, SC, to replace my BAV with a St. Jude artificial valve and my aorta up to the arch with an artificial sheath. I got to the hospital at 5:00AM, where they prepped me by shaving my front from neck to ankle and doing all of the other poking and prodding that they do. My wife had been left in the waiting room and was only brought back to see me for a few minutes before I was taken to the operating room (which she was not too happy about).
I woke up much later, after having been in surgery for 8 1/2 hours. My wife, who is a nurse and was probably more knowledgable about the procedure than was good for her, said that this was definitely the worst day of her life. I, on the other hand, don't remember anything and woke up in the CICU in a drug-induced haze. The only discomfort that I remember was that my left shoulder ached alot. I had been a little concerned that the trach tube would be unbearable when I regained conciousness, but, by the time that I was aware of it and began to "buck" it, they were already removing it.
I stayed in the CICU the whole next day. They got me up and sitting in a chair, which was exhausting but not too bad. The only complaint I had was that my room had a view of the river and my bed and the chair were facing the other way. Before they got me up the next day, I got them to turn the chair around so I could see it.
I went into A-Fib the second night after surgery, which lasted until the following night. This felt a little strange, but didn't hurt. It was mostly kind of scary, because the staff was very diligent in their treatment of it.
By the time the A-Fib broke, I had been moved into a regular room in the heart wing. This was much better because my wife could stay with me the whole time, but overall I couldn't wait to go home. Hospital stays are just not the most pleasant things in the world. Some of the things that bothered me the most were:
- Getting awakened every few hours for vitals and to have blood drawn. They had trouble getting my sugar leveled out, so I was constantly getting my fingers stuck.
- The plastic covering on the mattress was terrible. I couldn't regulate my body temperature because of it. I had the thermostat in the room down so low my poor wife almost froze to death.
- I couldn't wash my hair, which made me feel gross. Fortunately, my wife figured out a way to do it later on and that helped a lot.
- They made me stay much longer than I wanted to. I tried to be very good about doing all of the exercise that they wanted me to do and using the incentive spirometer so they would let me go early, but they kept me several days extra trying to get my coumadin regulated. I was there for a total of 8 days and now, a year later, my coumadin still isn't regulated.
They put me on an Ace Inhibitor (lisinopril) and a beta blocker (metoprolol) to keep my heart rate low while I was healing. Unfortunately, I turned out to be one of the few people who develop a cough from Ace Inhibitors, which started almost as soon as I started taking it. Normally, this wouldn't be that bad of a side effect, but for those of us who have just had their chest cut open, it is agony. I actually had relatively little pain from my sternum, except when I coughed or sneezed. Then I ranked the pain at around an 8 or 9. I was only on lisinopril for a day, but the cough stayed around for 3 weeks.
Once I was home I was much better. Other than the pain from coughing and sneezing (I never let my little heart pillow get out of my sight for the first two months), I felt much better than I had expected to. I even started working from home part-time the second week (3 weeks after surgery), but I tried not to overdo it and took a nap when I felt tired. By the time I was allowed to drive again, six weeks after surgery, I was working full time. I guess that I felt "normal" (i.e. I could move around freely without too much discomfort) again after about 4 months.
My only real (very minor) complaint now, a year later, is that I can feel and hear my heartbeat all of the time. Sometimes it's from my chest and sometimes it's from the pulse in my neck. Even my wife can hear it when we're cuddling. Also, the scar on my upper, right chest where the heart-lung machine was connected is still rather painful. There is a depression there from where the muscle was cut. Other than that, I feel great.
In general, the experience was much better than I had anticipated. The staff at the hospital was great and having a supportive wife and family made all the difference. I would be interested in getting feedback to see how this compared to other's experiences.
