pre-surgery fears

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dmeehan

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 14, 2010
Messages
60
Location
Boston
Hey everyone,
The big thing that I am worried about now is....drum roll...the breathing tube and I'm also wondering if anyone had any trouble breathing after the surgery. I'm asking because I read on another thread that someone who just had AVR was not able to take a deep breath when she woke up. The problem cleared itself up in a day or so but I was just wondering if that's standard. I guess what I'm asking is, what is breathing like when you first come out of the anesthesia.
Thanks so much
 
Some of us already had the breathing tube pulled before we remember waking up, others did not. I had mine in a little longer, but this was my second time around, so I knew what to expect. Don't let it freak you out, just relax and let it breathe for you if you do happen to wake up with it. But honestly, you are going to be so drugged up, you really are not going to know what's going on. If it's a huge concern, be sure to mention it to your surgeon. For some reason, this is everyone's big concern and it really shouldn't be. You'll be fine.


Kim
 
I will be honest ... I woke up with the tube in and it freaked me out but much of the being freaked out was that I was so drugged up and restrained and not sure where I was or what was going on, so I fought them ... they calmed me down quickly, removed the tube and I do not remember any breathing problems ... I just wanted a drink of water and they would not give me one (right away) and being impatient that pissed me off:redface2: ... once I started to behave they gave me water and rolled me to my room ... you will do fine:thumbup:
 
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Hope I wasn't the post that worried you. I do remember the tube and I did fight it, which didn't help. If you can remember the tubes are there to help you, it will help. They explained it was a tube in my lungs (breathing help) and a tube for my stomach (vomiting preventative). They kept telling me I have a strong gag reflex and that was making it harder and not to "fight it." I only remember being truly awake and being strongly aware of the tubes a couple of times when the tube was in. I didn't mind the extubation so much, which was the part I feared going in to surgery. It felt really good when the tube was out.

There are many here who do not remember the tube at all. Maybe you'll be one of those folks.

re/ mouth dryness-- Water tasted sooooo good, but they won't give you a lot the first day, especially if you are retaining fluid.
I took a can of sugarfree Wrigleys spearment gum and starting chewing it on day two and it was a godsend in keeping my mouth from being too dry. You do have to be alert though to make sure you don't swallow it/choke on it. I would recommend sugarless gum to keep your gums healthy.
 
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Like you I had an unholy fear of the breathing tube, so much so that I begged the surgeon to remove it himself and not leave it to the nursing staff, as soon as he thought it possible. He kept his word and removed it 24 hours after surgery, after phoning my wife to come to the hospital to be present. I was so drugged that I do not really remember a thing of events during the first two days after surgery. So I had no problem with the breathing tube. Even removal of the drainage tubes is just a blur in my mind now.

Yes I had breathing difficulties for about 3 days in the ICU. There was one particular draconian night nurse who threatened me with replacing the breathing tube it I do not concentrate on breathing and coughing. Apparently my perfusion (blood oxygen level) would drop below 80% and the alarms would wake them up. I knew her threat was idle one because I do not think the nursing staff could easily get that thing down my throat again!

Forcing me to blow into the spirometer was one thing they could (and very well did) force me to do in spite of the sharp pain in my sternum with every deep breath. My breathing normalised after about 3 days.

Yes the thirst is quite something!! They do not allow any water the fist day or so, only ice chips! My 13 year old daughter got into a lot of trouble with the nurses for sneaking me some water during one of her visits. She felt so sorry for me!

You will be just fine. Do not worry too much about these things, as most of the fears will not materialise. Wishing you all of the best.
 
The same happened to me as cooker. I was restrained and I was wailing around like a crazy person trying to get out the tube. They took it out when I started coughing, I thought if I coughed they'd take it out, they did, but I don't know if it was because I was coughing. But once they take it out you'll be fine. I was most afraid of the tubes as well and even though I didn't handle it very well I was very drugged and it seems like just a dream. It was hard to take deep breaths for a while after surgery but you'll be okay with that because you will feel like you are getting enough oxygen and you will be getting enough. It sounds scarier than it actually is, that week you are in the hospital afterward will seem fuzzy and like a dream. The surgery is by no means fun but you'll find out that it will not be as bad as you fear. While you are there if you feel anxious ask for xanax.
 
thanks, everyone! now when people refer to "the first day" are most people counting the day of surgery as the first day, or most people mean the day after surgery as the first day?
 
In my mind the "first day" is the day after the day of surgery. I went into the operating room at 7 in the morning on a Wednesday and was wheeled out of the OR area and into the ICU (according to my wife) at 2 that afternoon. She then went home at the surgeon's suggestion, as they were going to keep me drugged out until the next morning. I was extubated at 8 the next morning, Thursday, so that is the day I count as the "first day" after surgery...
 
Our experiences all differ somewhat but for most of us the breathing tube was not a problem. My friend, Johan, had one experience but mine was different. My AVR started at 8:00 AM and ended at Noon; the breathing tube was removed 6 hours later according to my friend who was with me that day. As everyone has said, you don't really wake to full consciousness in the ICU because your body is flooded with drugs; what I remember are brief moments of consciousness. When I woke the first few times, the breathing tube was in place and I had no difficulty with it. I do remember being awake when it was removed but that took only a moment and was no problem at all. After the ventilator is removed, I don't think anyone breathes really deeply for awhile. Inhaling through the spirometer quickly demonstrates that lung function is depressed at first but I never felt that I couldn't breath. Using the spirometer also gives you a continuous measure of how your lung function is improving. It takes a couple of weeks for lung function to return to normal and the two things you can do to speed that up are to use the spirometer and walk. Even while still in the hospital you will notice that you are better every day. It is very satisfying to see marked improvement day by day in those early weeks of recovery. Right now you can imagine all sorts of problems but your actual experience is going to be much better than you expect.

Larry
 
Ah Yes, the Spirometer (Plastic Breathing Exercise instrument).

Consider that your Friend that will help you to re-inflate your lungs after they have been compressed during surgery and help to 'push out' any fluid that may have settled in them.

It requires some Work and Effort on your part which some people aren't particularly fond of.
Just remember, It Beats the Alternative: Pneumonia!

My Surgeon's assistant told me to use the spirometer for 10 minutes each hour that I was awake.
I would 'push' until I literally heard the fluids being pushed out of my chest cavity.
It took some effort BUT it worked. NO Pneumonia!

'AL Capshaw'
 
You can prepare yourself for for the breathing tube by visualizing prior to surgery. Just imagine yourself in the recovery room and waking with the breathing tube. Although it can be somewhat uncomfortable, relax and take deep, steady breaths so that they know that you are OK and breathing on your own. Once they know that, they will likely remove it. This is what I did to try and avoid freaking out and for me it worked.
Best,
John
 
I woke with a breathing tube in. My second time waking up from surgery intubated. The first time was the Ross I had done in '97, so I knew somewhat I was in for. As soon as I was awake enough from the second surgery, I motioned to the nurses to take out my tube. They had to get the doctor's order to do so, then they did. I barely remember it. I remember the worst thing about the first 24 hours was INCREDIBLY DRY MOUTH. When the brought ice chips, I thought I died. When they brought water, I thought I'd died and went to heaven.
 
Oh yeah, and I also remember not being able to breath deeply without discomfort. That took 6 months or so to go away. I couldnt make the incentive spirometer go above 1000 in the hospital.
 
I woke up with the tube in, and I wasn't too pleased about it. I felt normal and pretty awake (though exhausted, mostly because I'd only slept 3 hours the previous night -- long story, work-related!, but in reality the drugs were adding about a 7-second delay between what was happening and what I realized was happening. So one of the nurses kept telling me to stop biting the tube, and I had plenty of time to think "What the @#$% is he talking about, I'm not biting ANYTHING", then I'd notice "Chomp, Chomp!" as my brain registered me biting the tube! Fascinating experience, if you're easily fascinated by drug trips!

I (still) recommend that you and your closest pal who will be there when you wake up, practice (in advance =~ NOW) communicating wordlessly (on your part), via hand and foot signals. If you feel there's something you have to "say" while the tube is in, having practiced those "charades" may eliminate (some of) the panicky pressure.

Breathing DEEPLY is another matter entirely, as Larry and Al have indicated. Basically, during your OHS, your lungs are idle and probably in the surgeon's way, and they usually collapse completely. When you start breathing again (first with the tube, then without), your lungs are still impaired from that experience, partly collapsed and with some fluid in them. That's why you have to exercise them: inhale deeply, with and without the spirometer -- Johan and Al make it sound like BLOWING INTO the spirometer, but mine works by INHALING through it -- and try to cough, initially while clutching a pillow or something similar to your chest. My lung function was essentially 100% maybe 3 days post-op, even though I mostly only THOUGHT about using the spirometer :) .

Both breathing impairments are usually worse to hear about than to experience. And even if they really are unpleasant (as my breathing-tube experience was), it'll be over soon, and you'll be on to the next adventure. Recovering from a "valve job" is a multi-day series of exciting (and positive) adventures, most of them involving disconnecting one of the MANY gizmos you're hooked up to! :)
 
I don't think the breathing tube was as big a deal as I imagined. By the next morning, I think everything was out (12 hrs after surgery?) I thought it was an aceeptable experience seriously.
 
I remember the the breathing tube from my first surgery. As I came around, I kept hearing a beeping sound and knew that meant that I wasn't breathing very well so I concentrated on breathing. Seems my wife and nurse were yelling at me to breath. :) I remember it didn't seem to take long for the nurse to remove the breathing tube which wasn't a bad experience.

The second surgery I remember the breathing tube in a completely different way. I know I was intabated but felt like a prisoner that couldn't escape. I knew that eventually someone would resue me. 11 days later someone did. I don't remember them pulling out the tube the second surgery.
 
I just had my OHS on the 10th, so the experience is still fresh in my mind. That said, I had the same fears as you, but really it turned out to be a minor issue. I remember gagging at first, but then the nurse told me to just "breathe" with the tube and it was cake.I didn't even remember them taking it out after that.

Remember, there will be highly skilled and trained nurses there helping you every step of the way;)
 
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