My Surgery Had Complications but I'm alive and so happy to be home

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LauraS

LauraS

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
61
Location
New Jersey
I don't want to go into what I went through because it is rare and one Aortic Valve Replacement surgery turned in two separate surgeries two days in a row. The hospital and doctors were amazing and I'm very lucky to be here today. As I said, it was a rare complication and I don't want to frighten anyone who is waiting. The important thing is I'm alive and I plan to stop and smell the roses every day for the rest of my life.

I know my chest was cracked twice - the first time 4" and the second time the full amount for the bypass. When I wake up in the morning, I am extremely weak and my breathing is shallow until I get moving around the house. Has anyone else experienced this? I'm also getting pinching in my chest but everyone tells me it's the healing. My chest is so numb and I just want to feel normal again. I know it will take time. I did have a lot of fluid they had to drain from outside my lungs due to the double surgeries and the pain I get seems to be where they stuck the needle in to drain the fluids.

I'm 58 yrs old and I watched 85 yr old people go home in 5 days! It was so depressing but thankfully I'm home now. The longer stay in the hospital enabled me to be able to get right in my bed with just some pillows when I got home. I'm having a lot of trouble with my two flights of stairs and can do about 4 steps at a time and have to rest. I was such an active person and I know I have to give my body time to heal.

Thanks for listening and thanks for the prayers. They were all needed.
 
After all that you went thru, I am so glad to hear that you are back home & slowly getting on with things. I hope that you continue to do well with your recovery & don't get depressed if you can't do all that you think you ought to be doing by now. Everyone's recovery is different so hang in.....it will get better, I promise. (After my 3rd OHS, I was so wiped out physically & emotionally, that it took me well over a year to completely feel human again!)

Stay well! :)
 
I'm glad you've made it back home, Laura. It will take some time to heal. Your body has been through alot.
 
Best of luck in your recovery. I will keep you in prayer. It takes time to recover -- rest and take it easy. It all comes with time.
 
You've been through so much but thankfully you are now home and can get on with recovery. It's slow sometimes but be patient and slowly you will see improvement. It takes time and don't try to rush yourself. Wishing you the very, very best and an uneventful recovery from here on.
 
Laura, i have been checking every day to see if you posted. I am glad you are home. I am sorry you had to have the complicattions. Don't worry about scaring me, they moved, up my surgery to this Thursday, so i am beyond scared now. I've done everything that's in my control , now it's in God's hands...and the surgeons.(and alot of Xanex). Please take it easy, I am so glad you are ok..my prayers are with you...I will light a candle for you.....
Linda
 
Be good to yourself and let your body tell you what to do and what not to do. Do your walking, but don't push it. Hopefully you brought home your incentive spirometer - keep using it!. We often say that surgery is like being run over by a large truck. You had it happen twice. Don't expect to be dancing a jig anytime soon. Complete recovery for MOST people takes a full year. At a year you'll look back and see that you feel so much better, even than you did at 6 months when you will first think you are fully recovered. :D
 
Glad to hear that you are home. The important thing now is not to overdo it. Take your time healing and let your friends and family help. I hope it all turns out well for you in the long run. Good luck to you & God Bless.
 
LauraS said:
I don't want to go into what I went through because it is rare and one Aortic Valve Replacement surgery turned in two separate surgeries two days in a row. The hospital and doctors were amazing and I'm very lucky to be here today. As I said, it was a rare complication and I don't want to frighten anyone who is waiting. The important thing is I'm alive and I plan to stop and smell the roses every day for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...

Please, do elaborate. If no one tells their stories when things go wrong, we are not fully informing others. People need to know that things can and do happen. Not every surgery goes text book perfect. ;)
 
Welcome back HOME!!!! Isn't it wonderful to appreciate all the things you've taken for granted for so many years.....goes to show you it really IS the little things that make people happy.

Keep on recovering!!!!

Evelyn
 
Laura, glad to hear you made it through a terrible time. Yes, please share your experience.

I too, had complications from routine AVR, was reopened on day 2 and spent 20 days in the hospital. I was only 56, excellent health and also saw the 80 year olds going home in 5 days. Even back then it was rare to have complications.

My very best to you for a fast recovery.
 
Thanks everyone for your well wishes and reminding me that I need extra time to heal.

Star, I will say prayers for you this week and I am sure you will be fine. Don't be afraid and when sleeping pills didn't work for me in the hospital, I did ask for Xanax to sleep. The nurses gave me anything I asked for so don't be shy if you're in pain.

I was scheduled for AV replacement at 10:00 am on July 2nd. Well, my surgeon had an emergency and I did not go into the OR until 4:00 pm. My gut told me to get up and go home - the man started operating at 6 am and did I really want to have a tired surgeon operating on me? He did a minimally invasive incision which was misake number 1. My cardiologist told me that my valve was very deep and when the surgeon sewed it in, he slightly stitched my right artery. I did read here that some surgeons do not believe in the smaller incision and now I understand why.

They put me back in CCU, told my husband all was well and he went home. Well, my heart kept stopping that night and they shocked me 11 times, put a pump in my left leg and tried putting an external pacemaker in. I was out of it and totally unaware of what was happening. The surgeon returned twice that night and wanted to take me back in but his colleagues kept talking him out of it and kept trying drugs, etc. Nothing worked and at 7:30 am the next morning, thank God he made the decision to go back to the OR. He removed a 2" blood clot from my right artery where he accidentally sewed it off. He then had to do a bypass but I now have permanent damage to the right side of my heart which they tell me I can live with. I'm very lucky the blood clot did not go to my lungs or brain that night.

Because of the double surgeries and what my body went through, I went into congestive heart failure and blew up 30 lbs over the next two days. My pulse-ox was in the 60's and I was on double oxygen just trying to breathe with all the water in my body. I'm 5'4" and was 130 lbs when I went in the hospital and blew up to over 160 lbs with the water retention. They drained the outside of my lungs and that gave me some relief with the breathing. They were talking about putting me back on the vent and I told them I'd rather die. Then on day 8 when I thought I was finally on the road to recovery, I went into Afib which I understand happens in 30% of cases. They wanted to take me back to the OR and put me under again to give me one shock to see if that would put me in normal sinus. I was horrified and thank God, I went into normal sinus rhythm the next evening.

Like you said, not all of these surgeries are textbook. I went into the hospital with such a positive attitude fully expecting to be one of those people who came home by Day 5. I told my cardiologist that I would never have done it had I known what was in store for me and he shook his head and told me my valve was so bad that I would have been dead in a year. All I know is I am SO VERY GRATEFUL to be alive and once I heal, I plan to love every moment of every day.

I hope my experience doesn't frighten anyone but if you read the brochure about valve replacement which they give you before the surgery, one of the complications listed is blood clots. I was just one of the unlucky ones or should I say lucky because I am still here :)
 
Thank you for elaborating further. Ashkir's been there, I've been there, you've been there. Wonder how many others have too and were afraid to mention it? People need to know these things. If everyone goes in thinking this is a piece of cake, they could be very mistaken. This is why it's important for one to really really think about what valve they want. ;)
 
Laura. So sorry to hear about your horrible complications. I went under AVR surgery the day before you, 1 July, and went home 8 days later. Only had the "normal" complications, all in ICU, of high BP, AF, diabetic response to some of the stuff they pump into one, very low red blood cell count resulting in administration of two units of blood, breathing problems and on oxygen for two days. The above were all sorted out by chemical means, allowing me to leave ICU for a general ward on the 5th day and home on the 8th. I am back at work and only suffer from shallow breathing and a little weezing in my lungs. Saw the surgeon twice and he has now given me brochodilaters for a week. Then chest x-ray if the weezing does not clear up. My surgery and recovery sofar is texbook stuff. So those of you on the waiting list don't despair. I agree with Ross it is not a walk in the park but serious complications are rare. Never took a single pain or sleeping pill, very lucky me! Checkout my profile for some pictures.
 
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