Post Surgery visits by friends/family

[mile high]

I am interested in others thoughts and experiences in regards to friends and family visiting you after surgery in the hospital but more importantly once you are home. My AVR was in 2002 but now have a close friend undergoing one this next week and i am providing him my thoughts and experiences (and i told them to visit this site as it has the BEST info you can find anywhere).

Did you restrict visitation or not in the hospital post surgery and then once you were home? If so what restrictions did you make?

One of the issues here is flu and swine flu transmission at this particular time of year and for the next 6 months. The more contact you have with others the larger the chance becomes that you the patient could pick it up. Of course you could pick it up anyway from your children or spouse.

In any case your thoughts would be appreciated.

In my case, which was 7 years ago, i told my friends and family (outside of my wife and children and two close friends) do not come visit me at the hospital post surgery. In my experience it was clearly the right thing to do. as to the at home visitations probably for a couple of weeks i asked people not to visit me but i spoke with them by phone. We who have gone thru this know the first couple or more weeks being home can be rough, lack of sleep, hard to eat, pain management, etc. This could just be me but i was glad i made my wishes clear up front, everyone respected it and then you eventually reach a point where seeing friends and family is not strenuous.

Thanks for your input

 

[jax]

I didn't keep anyone from vIsIting but then I didn't have to. I have to say when I did have visitors in the hospital I really wasn't up to it.

When I got home although I had vIsitors for the most part they left me alone which I was thankful for. As it Took some time before I was up to it. And to be honest I am still kind of at the point that when I am home after being back to work I would like my peace and quiet. As I am exhausted by the end of the week and need one day out of the weekend just to relax and rest. The next day I can tackle my housework. But without resting the one day I have absolutely no motivation to do anything. After surgery I took a lot of naps so if had anyone tried to come over while I was sleeping I wouldn't have answered anyway.

 

[ChouDoufu]

no visitors, no way. i had my avr done in india, no way the family was going to
fly out. i wouldn't have allowed it anyway, i'm in the hospital to recover, the last
i need to worry about is entertaining visitors. just let me lie in bed, watch lousy
bollywood movies, and call for room service when i need snacks.

a week in hospital was followed by two weeks at a resort. no visitors, no calls.
don't want any botheration. you can email me, but otherwise leave me alone.
same-same, i wanna lie in bed, watch even more lousy bollywood musicals, walk
on the beach, and enjoy the buffets. life was good.

 

[Marcia58]

My husband and son were there, close to 24/7, which was good for me since I had my surgery done out of state and everything was unfamiliar. The hospital had an "open family visit" policy, even in CICU, so them being there was not an issue.

Other than those two, my only hospital visitors were people whose experience made their visits a non-issue--my sister and BIL (pastor couple with lots of hospital visit "practice") and my friend, Mary (whose son has had 3 OHSs).

When I got home, my mom was there to help with the house/family, and I had some people from church who dropped off food at the door, and my friend, Gloria, who's a nurse.

So for me, it wasn't just about "how many?" but also "who?"

 

[halleyg]

I told people beforehand no visitors, b/c I know myself and knew I wouldn't want them, besides my immediate family. The first time I didn't even have my kids come b/c I was so sick, the second time they did visit but even a very short visit would wear me out. Same for when I got home, I did enjoy when friends stopped by but not when they stayed too long! Everyone is different, though, just my experience.

 

[Lynlw]

I don't know if this thread helps, http://www.valvereplacement.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32994
I think it is different for everyone. Justin is younger, but liked having visitors, (beside his parents I was there 24/7) Both at the hospital and home. Our only "rule" was you couldn't visit if you even felt like you were getting sick or were just with someone who was sick. Justin has had ALOT of surgeries and hospitalizations and by following that he never caught a cold or virus following surgery
For the most part, family visits (aunts uncles, cousins) were pretty short, and people that stayed longer were the kind that would be happy sitting watching a movie or playing PS IF Justin was in the mood. One of the things alot of his visators would do is go on his walks with him, so he could talk to someone beside his parets when he was walking. Most people were pretty happy when we suggested they go for a walk , since many times people want to do something to help but don't know what.

I just remebered our MAIN rule, anyone that wanted to come over had to call first to see if it was a good time and Justin wanted company or if they should try later.