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Talk about an eiry feeling. I had my pre-op today and I had a major case of deja vu. Same nurse, same physician assistant, same anesthesiologist, same routine. At first they said I had to be there at 5:30AM tomorrow :eek: , but then they changed it to 9AM because my surgeon has a case that came up for early tomorrow. I have to do the hibiclens routine again and I will lose my chest hair...again. :D I will be under general anesthesia (i.e. tubed again), and they may do a TEE to check things out while they have the opportunity (have been having a few symptoms I haven't felt like discussing here). The physician assistant was very informative and was able to locate one of the wires in the location where I usually have pain. He also explained that the wire might actually be poking my "costals" which may be why I seem to have the double whammy of constant dull pain and then more instense pain when I become more active. He said they will decide on how many of the wires they will remove once they get in there, but since all of my pain is at the top of the sternum they will probably only remove the top 2 wires. Since I'm only 6 1/2 months post-op and my MRI in late July showed no marrow crossing the sternotomy line yet, they will want to leave as many wires in place as possible to keep the sternum stable and reduce the chance of sternal dehiscence down the road. Well...I'm just waiting around for my happy juice now...couldn't talk them into starting it early. :D
 
Hi Bryan

Hi Bryan

Will you be an outpatient....Sounds like you may have to stay overnight?..Will your parents be with you?Let us know as soon as you feel up to it. Ask for a large feel-good shot :D :D Bonnie
 
pain clinics

pain clinics

You may be very surprised to learn how much good a pain clinic can do. So don't popo on it just yet. Good luck.

Med
 
Good luck Bryan!

(Some people will do anything to get the Happy Juice. :D )
 
Med,

If this doesn't do the trick the pain clinic is my next step. I just have a "gut" feeling that a wire is the culprit for at least some of this pain...just the way it feels and the way it started out of the blue. I'm hoping for the best, but also mentally preparing to move on to alternative therapies in case this doesn't provide relief.

Bonnie,

It's an outpatient procedure unless they find a sternal dehiscence...then it would involve power equipment and an overnight stay :eek: (but that is not likely).

Karlynn,

Always look at the silver lining (in this case...happy juice :D).
 
Go for it, Bryan!

Lose the wires, Pinnochio...

I'll be thinking about you tomorrow at work. Hopefully, they won't get to use their Sears Wonder Saw-Compass-and-Decoder-Set on you, and you get to go home after.

Sorry about the chest hair, dude. They always want to mow your patch. I know I hate having that grow out, and they keep finding reasons to shave little bald spots in it, even now.

Tomorrow night - Bryan UnWyred!

Best wishes,
 
LOL Bob...wonder if that old wifes tale is true about the more you shave it the thicker it grows in? :eek: I'm hoping the same guy that shaved it last time is there again tomorrow. If so I'm going to tell him "just a little off the top this time". :D I'm enjoying my last few hours before the hibi-shower and then NPO. I'll have to have that bowl of Breyers a little early tonight.
 
Breyers...check

Hibiclens shower...check

NPO...t minus one minute.

Night night.
 
Just got home...what a long day. Got there at 9AM, got to pre-op area at 9:30, and they finally came and got me at 4PM :rolleyes: (I think some emergencies came up that kept bumping me). I was getting pretty cranky, especially since I had been NPO since 11PM the night before. Dr. Jaggers removed all of my wires. He said my sternum had healed sufficiently to remove them all. He said he didn't see anything obvious that would be causing my pain...but I'm glad I got them out just the same. I'm pretty sore, but it's more of a stinging sore than a "truck ran over me" sore. :D

And guess what? When it was time I passed on the happy juice. :eek: Since I had waited so long, the anesthesiologist gave me the option of skipping the sedation and cutting my wake up time in half. I had waited so long I just wanted to get it done and get out of there. I go back in 2 weeks for a follow up and can do normal activities after that. If the pain doesn't improve my next option is the pain clinic. I'll be asking everyone to keep all "digits" crossed that I will see some improvement from this...at this point I will consider some reduction in pain a success.

Thanks again for being there for me through this...ya'll are awesome! :)
 
Hey Bryan,
I am glad to hear that everything went OK for you even though you had to wait so long. I hope this helps you out.
Take Care
 
I sure hope it brings you some relief. I get very annoyed when they can't find a reason for the pain someone feels.
 
Cool Beans Bryan I Bet your glad that's over...

Cool Beans Bryan I Bet your glad that's over...

I am so glad that you had that done, and more over I am glad that it went smoothly for ya....Hope this takes the pain completely away, as one who has chronic pain (arthritis, fibromyalgia, myofacial (I think this is the term) generalized pain syndrome and diabetic periferal neuropathy), I know how frustrating it is to be in constant pain....Hope ya's feel bettah...LOL Harrybaby666 :D :eek: :D :D
 
My dear Bryan- Man, I don't check in for whiile and all hell breaks loose! I am so sorry you had to go through this, but it sounds like you weathered it well. I will pray for the outcome to be the best possible! Bye bye pain! You are in my thoughts. Hug the pooch for me.
Candy
 
That was quick!

That was quick!

Hi Bryan and welcome back! Although you've had to wait a good while for the procedure, I'm happy they've decided to let you go home on the sme day. By what you've told us, I think it will work now and you should be able to lead a pretty normal life from now on. Thanks for letting us know so soon, it's always a bit worrying when one of the members has to go into hospital. Take care and don't overdo it even if you feel 100% fine.
Débora
 
Well, so far the soreness has been quite tolerable. The only pain I can detect at this point is the wound pain. Advil seems to take care of that for the most part, and 1 pain pill before bed and I slept pretty well last night(propped up with some pillows). I'm going to the beach for 5 days of "recovery" and will start getting back into my walking for now (can't think of a better place to take a walk :D). I'll be internet free while at the beach, so ya'll take care and I'll talk to ya next week.

Candy,

The pooch has been hugged for you and a multitude of kisses were returned. :D Abby had a visitor today. My sister's friend just got a Labradoodle puppy and they brought her over today. They had a blast, and I got in a good visit with my sister and her friend as well as plenty of laughs from the dogs.

I forgot to take a picture but she looks kind of like this:

12e8902c0.jpg
 
Didn't feel up to riding 3 hours is the car today. Going to try again tomorrow. I get to take my bandage off tonight and take a shower, so I have a feeling I will be up to it tomorrow. I'll bring my camera so I can bring the beach back to you guys. :)
 
Bryan B

Bryan B

I hope you feel up to the beach tomorrow and have a good solid recovery, I love the beach, so I will be looking forward to the pictures, cute puppies!
 
The beach

The beach

Bryan I hope you have a nice time at the beach. By the way, is the weather any good over there? I'll be looking forward to seeing the pictures! What a lovely wee pup that is! Take care and don't overdo it with the walks!

Bob I don't think my Milady would try any smart move with this one even though she's a very daring dog! LOL!! This morning my mum just walked past her to call me and that was it! She went for her foot and managed to tear up one of her socks. She's simply not trustworthy at all!

Débora
 
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