New to this and trying to be as knowledgeable as possible for my father in law

[ducas]

Hi everyone,

First I have to say what an amazingly inspirational site this is. As soon as my (soon to be) father in law was put in the hospital with bacteria in his blood and told his valve was the cause I have been trying to find a place with practical, compassionate data. To all of you regulars please know (from someone who was not expecting something like this) how wonderful a job you are doing and how much you have helped I'm sure hundreds.

On to our situation. He is only four days out of surgery (AV repair, MAZE, and artery clearing. The last two were kind of sprung on us once we got to Cleveland, where he had the surgery) and we saw him yesterday looking much better than we thought he would. He had his color, was up and talking, and needed limited aid to get up and move. He was nervous, though, which is different for him. He even said 'Don't be surprised but I'm not in any hurry to leave just yet...' All in all, though, he looked great. Today, however, we learned that they found fluid in his lungs and were going to do a procedure to drain I'm guessing. I'm basing most of this off of second hand info as he and his wife are in Cleveland while the rest of his family is in Wheeling, WV, about 2 1/2 hours away. So it's being relayed from the Dr to his wife, to my girlfriend, then to me. I'm not sure of the type of fluid, or the type of 'artery clearing' to be honest.
I'm mainly just wondering how normal it is for fluid build up after a procedure(s) such as this? Like how worried should we all be? Obviously we have been in a constant state of reserved excitement since hearing he made it through with no complications, so we are just worried I suppose. After reading some posts on here it seems like fluid build up is relatively common, with not too much rhyme or reason associated. But I also read somewhere that it could be a sign of heart failure?? Anyway, I apologize for rambling a bit. But I'm new to posting (long time listener, first time caller) and I wanted to be sure to express my genuine gratitude to this forum before going on.

Any help would be so welcomed. Thanks again everyone.

Best,

-Ducas

 

[ducas]

Also I forgot to mention he was put on Magnesium today as well for heart palpitations. Not sure if it's important but want to give as much detail as I know.

Thanks again

 

[kfay]

Fluid buildup of various kinds is very common after this surgery. Glad that they caught it and are giving him treatment. He will feel much better after they draw that fluid off. He'll just need to keep an eye on it once he gets home to make sure it doesn't come back. Sounds like he is doing well.

 

[ken taylor]

DO NOT WORRY! you are in Cleveland, the best place on the planet for valve surgery! There might be some speed bumps in the road but they will smoth them out in time.

 

[dtread]

There are a couple of kinds of fluid buildup associated with Open Heart Surgery (OHS). When they put the patient on the Heart-Lung Bypass Machine they apparently "prime the pump" by adding Intravenous (IV) Fluid into the veins to add to blood volume, otherwise the Bypass Machine would literally "drain the patient dry". Then, after the surgery the IV drip goes on for some period also; not sure why that is. About 2 or 3 days after my surgery the nurse got me on a scale to weigh me. I told her that the scale was broken, and she said "No it isn't". So I said, "Well how did I gain 20 pounds?". She said it was from the IV fluid. Water weighs about 8 lbs per gallon. Meaning that they had added about 2.5 gallons of IV fluid into my body, probably more because I hadn't eaten hardly anything. So that is one type of fluid.

The other type of fluid is fluid build up in the lungs, which is what your Father-In-Law has. FYI, they intubate the patient for the surgery, meaning that a tube is inserted into the lungs to assist the patient in breathing during the surgery, and for some period following (for me the tube was left in for about 3 or 4 hours after I woke up from the surgery, while I was in Intensive Care). This is to insure that the patient is able to breathe on their own, before they withdraw the tube. The result of this is fluid buildup in the lungs, which may be worse for some and better for others. My hospital provided me with a Spirometer that I was instructed to use (for several days) following the surgery to help clear the fluid from the lungs. So yes, fluid build up in the lungs is quite common.

 

[Lynlw]

Hi, I hope your father in law is feeling better aftr they got the excess fluid off. As for how common is fluid post op, as Dan said there are several kinds of fluid people can have post op, beside what he mentioned, it is also pretty common for people to have excess fluid (effusions) in the sac around either the heart (pericardial) or lungs (plural), usually because of imflamation.. Depending how much fluid is built up in either place they can usually treat it with meds, like Mortin or steriods but it's also pretty common to have to drain it, either with a large needle or surgery. My guess would be your FIL has plural fluid, since they were going to drain (tap) it. it's also pretty common for the fluid to build back up for a little while and some people need to have the fluid tapped a couple times. But for the most part there is a full recovery with no long term problems, usually they just need drained once, if at all, but i wanted to let you know just incase his comes back.

My son has had a few surgeries and he usually has pericardial fluid post op, his 2nd surgery (in 89) he was in and out of the hospital for months for fluid, but the last few, it was caught early and the doctors have learned alot in that time, so were able to help him with motrin and sometime prednisone.

The best thing to help, is to make sure your FIL does his breathing exercises and walks, it can really make a difference.

 

[enkaynj]

Ducas,
First of all, Kudos to being a wonderful son-in-law-to-be. Your in-laws are very lucky.
Secondly, make sure your father-in-law-to-be uses the inspirometer that they give him at the hospital at suggested intervals. I was told that this helps open up the lungs and help them breathe properly. I also believe this reduces fluid retention and reduces chancves of catching pneumonia.