So I just had my surgery...

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From what I read the AHA recently raised the threshold for surgery to 5.5 cm butI'm not going to wait that long. I'm supposed to get another CT angio towards end of September and go from there but I'm getting a bit nervous to be honest. I'm taking a little time because the surgeon says I'm not in emergency mode yet and I've been on the fence about whether to get a mechanical valve or have it repaired . He says looking at my scans my valve would be "easily repaired" - guess that depends on your definition of easy- and that's what he strongly recommends . I have to get a cardiac catheterization, getting ready to call to book it now. They think I could have some plaque in my one artery although after the lexiscan test I had they said if there is plaque it's significantly less than 50 % blocked". The cardiologist said it could be showing early plaque buildup r could just be how my artery is formed, who knows? I guess the cath will tell all.
 
Hi Aaron, I can't believe they didn't explain every thing they did for you wow, I have the same horizontal scar from having my bicuspid valve replaced. I also have a dot on my neck where the swan catheter was, and a scar in the crook of my left leg where the heart/lung machine was hooked up. I can say the brown gunk is from tape and will come off, I used some nail polish remover. At least do you have visiting nurse services to come check your vitals a couple times a week? You can always call the surgeon office and talk to a PA with any questions you may have. Good luck in your recovery be careful with the pain meds, you shouldn't need anything more than Tylenol.
 
joanpieroni said:
Hi Aaron, I can't believe they didn't explain every thing they did for you wow, I have the same horizontal scar from having my bicuspid valve replaced. I also have a dot on my neck where the swan catheter was, and a scar in the crook of my left leg where the heart/lung machine was hooked up. I can say the brown gunk is from tape and will come off, I used some nail polish remover. At least do you have visiting nurse services to come check your vitals a couple times a week? You can always call the surgeon office and talk to a PA with any questions you may have. Good luck in your recovery be careful with the pain meds, you shouldn't need anything more than Tylenol.
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I have a follow up tomorrow to speak with the surgeon about all of it. I take my own blood pressure and stuff daily and everything is running great. I've been taking pain medication not just because of my sternum but I have a great deal of back pain. Mainly when I wake up in the morning I feel really stiff. I'm just happy the persistent chest pain I had before surgery is gone!
 
joanpieroni said:
Good luck in your recovery be careful with the pain meds, you shouldn't need anything more than Tylenol
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Tylenol (paracetamol) doesn't work for everyone, not even with mild pain from everyday causes. With the sternum being cut and ribs manipulated this can cause more pain for some than for others - it's so important that a person gets good pain relief and shouldn't be afraid to take whatever they need to control the pain
 
Paleogirl said:
Tylenol (paracetamol) doesn't work for everyone, not even with mild pain from everyday causes. With the sternum being cut and ribs manipulated this can cause more pain for some than for others - it's so important that a person gets good pain relief and shouldn't be afraid to take whatever they need to control the pain
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I'd better chime in here about pain meds and their side effects. I had some fairly nasty pain after surgery, and was given prescription pain meds to take home. Between the meds given in the hospital and the take-home baggies, I felt pain-free. The problem arose soon after I got home. All of the prescription pain meds slow down your digestive system badly! At the risk of sharing "too much information" I'll say that while the meds took care of the surgical pain, they stopped up my innards so badly that I was in pain from that. I ended up being re-admitted to the hospital 4 weeks after valve surgery to resolve the digestive issues. A couple of drinks of magnesium citrate "got things going" but I had to stay in the hospital for 3 days for them to do tests to ensure that my symptoms were from the digestive problems rather than endocarditis (I guess many of the symptoms are similar). I also believe that the increased intra-abdominal pressure caused by all the digestive problems aggravated a tiny abdominal hernia I had, making surgical repair necessary a year later.

Making this long story short, if nobody has prescribed it yet, ask your doctors if it is OK to use Miralax (a very gentle, easily tolerated laxative) to ensure that your digestive system operates smoothly until your body flushes out all the meds and is back to a more normal activity level.

Oh, BTW, a lot of us have tissue valves (many bovine, some porcine) because we were older at the time of implant. The docs figure that while the tissue valves probably don't last as long as mechanicals, we "older" folks won't last as long as young folks, either. Typically now, docs recommend tissue valves for patients older than mid-50's or so. They know that patients past that age don't calcify tissue valves as rapidly as do younger patients, and they figure that if the tissue valve lasts 15-20 years, it may well last the rest of our lives. In exchange for accepting the potential of a re-op down the line, we can often avoid taking anticoagulants.
 
epstns said:
I'd better chime in here about pain meds and their side effects. I had some fairly nasty pain after surgery, and was given prescription pain meds to take home. Between the meds given in the hospital and the take-home baggies, I felt pain-free. The problem arose soon after I got home. All of the prescription pain meds slow down your digestive system badly! At the risk of sharing "too much information" I'll say that while the meds took care of the surgical pain, they stopped up my innards so badly that I was in pain from that. I ended up being re-admitted to the hospital 4 weeks after valve surgery to resolve the digestive issues.
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I'll concur with that, though the prescription meds I was given in hospital and on discharge, Tramadol and Dihydrocodeine, not only slowed down my digestive system badly but they also slowed down my coughing mechanism so that I had pleural effusions on discharge and I have small airways disease so that was not a good thing. The effect on my digestive system was that the whole system stopped, even after I had stopped the meds which I did the day after discharge due to other side effects (fluid build up and hallucinations), so that I was unable to eat food and when I tried I got severe pain. I was nearly admitted to hospital again after four weeks too....I saw one of my consultants as an emergency on a Sunday and tests were done...by which time I'd be free of the pain meds for three weeks but still they had had a long lasting effect. I was much better off on morphine, which I had in ICU, as at least that stopped the pain, but the Tramadol and Dihydrocodeine were not really that effective at pain relief for me.

Next time (when my bovine valve needs replacing, whenever that is) I'll get them to keep on with the morphine for more than one day ! Apparently in the UK doctors are scared people will get addicted to morphine but actually this cannot happen if a person is in pain....morphine still might have slowed everything down but at least when I was on it in ICU I had an appetite and no side effects ! On discharge, after I'd stopped the Tramadol and Dihydrocodeine, my GP (who's not afraid to prescribe morphine, I discovered later that he has an interest in palliative medicine) prescribed me liquid morphine with a thing to titrate tiny doses for as and when needed, but by then, as I said, the 'damage' to my digestive system had been done by the Tramadol and Dihydrocodeine.
 
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Well today I decided to lower my pain meds from 10mg percocets to 5mg norco and 500mg naproxen. I'm not in pain nearly as much any longer so I think it's for the best being so addictive. I couldn't make it without my muscle relaxers though.
 
Be careful - Norco gave me BIG trouble. Magnesium citrate isn't fun. . .

But I guess I can lighten it up a bit now. When the Mag Citrate finally "worked" I remember the nurse's facial expression and comment of ". . . Oh, my god!" I just smirked, laughed, and. . . oh - never mind. TMI.
 
epstns said:
Be careful - Norco gave me BIG trouble. Magnesium citrate isn't fun. . .

But I guess I can lighten it up a bit now. When the Mag Citrate finally "worked" I remember the nurse's facial expression and comment of ". . . Oh, my god!" I just smirked, laughed, and. . . oh - never mind. TMI.
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What is Mag Citrate? I was happy to find out that the naproxen relieved my pain for an extended amount of time and I'm only taking the Norco in the morning and at night unless I give myself a hard time trying to rush my recovery.
 
Magnesium Citrate is an "industrial-strength" laxative. I think you can buy it over the counter, but I was given the stuff when in the hospital for the digestive stoppage after my surgery.
 
comparins scars

comparins scars

Hi

AMFT said:
Hey guys, Newbie here!
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welcome aboard ....


I had my Aortic Valve replaced using a Medtronics mechanical valve and my ascending Aorta was replaced with a Dacron graft. I spent just 4 days in the hospital after my surgery and am now recovering at home.
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almost exactly what I had done ...

I have a ton of questions as I am experiencing some strange stuff that makes me uneasy. Not to mention I haven't been able to speak to my surgeon in detail about my surgery so I still have a lot of unknowns.
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ask away ... generally however I'd say that within a year this will be a distant memory within 3 years you'll barely think about it (except to take your warfarin) and by 10 years you'll be comfortable with it all ... then you'll still have 40 more years of living to do ...


One thing I've noticed is that upon exertion I get flashes of light in my eyes that correlate to my heart rate, I feel like this is abnormal but I'm unsure.
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I get flashes sometimes as circles in the middle of the vision when its totally dark and I am lying on my side / stomach and move quickly. I looked it up but don't recall what it was as I recall that it wasn't anything to be worried about.

I'd mention it to your Dr and try to describe it more carefully ... but don't be surprised to find that its nothing much.


My main scar is a lot smaller than I expected and the one near my right shoulder is unexplainable.
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it almost looks like they had difficulty putting in your 'main line' and it went in there ... interesting

If anyone has some input or has similar scars I would love to know more!!
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14359984689_1377ed3cfa_z.jpg


I think mine tops yours, but if anything that makes you the winner here :)

Mine has been cut through 3 times (and then cut at around 2 more times and I won't show those pictures again here but you can PM me for details if you are moribly interested...


Best Wishes
 
I didn't update you guys yet but my doctor explained that because so much of my ascending aorta was aneurysmal he cut near my right shoulder in order to clamp off the artery to my right arm and insert the return for the heart lung machine.

He also stated that he performed a partial or mini sternotomy which is why my scar is so much smaller. I'm thankful for this as the scar was a concern for me anyhow being as I'm so darned sexy. Lol jk

I don't get how this graft works and maybe I'm just too curious but I asked my doc and he said "Mr. Thomas I'm not sure what else I can tell you. Your graft is technically better than what you had....it'll last longer than you." I was too embarrassed to ask any more questions after his response but I was actually curious how it seals and if the graft is later covered with my own cells. I did some forum searches and it seems like that's how it works but eh.

Also none of the forum posts on me limiting activities were very conclusive. I feel more fragile than I was before, and I find myself overly concerned that my graft will somehow come loose. Is this even possible?
 
Hi

AMFT said:
...
I don't get how this graft works and maybe I'm just too curious
...response but I was actually curious how it seals and if the graft is later covered with my own cells. I did some forum searches and it seems like that's how it works but eh.
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that's right, its called Epithilialisation if I understand it right.

perhaps this helps
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/berndcv/lab/epithelialinfoweb/index.html


Also none of the forum posts on me limiting activities were very conclusive. I feel more fragile than I was before, and I find myself overly concerned that my graft will somehow come loose. Is this even possible?
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I have understood that its stitched in and the body tissues not only cover it, but grow into the tiny crevices of the fabric. So it would be difficult to rip it out even if you were dead. So I don't think you need to worry about that.

I'm totally not worried about my Aortic graft and keep cycling, motorcycling, cross country skiing and probably will go back to climbing too.

Aside from being on anticoagulation therapy you're in better shape in so many other ways than you were before the surgery

:)
 
pellicle said:
that's right, its called Epithilialisation if I understand it right.
perhaps this helps
http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/kabernd/berndcv/lab/epithelialinfoweb/index.html

I have understood that its stitched in and the body tissues not only cover it, but grow into the tiny crevices of the fabric. So it would be difficult to rip it out even if you were dead. So I don't think you need to worry about that.
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Thanks a ton. This is exactly what I needed to know. The way my surgeon acted I was wayyyyyyy to curious. I guess he doesn't get a lot of younger patients that use the internet as much as I do.

I just like to know what the heck is going on with my body.

The only real concern I have now is the flashing lights upon exertion and this strange pulling sensation I have in my arms. When I reach for stuff I have a sharp pain in my arms and a strong pulling sensation. I have to assume it is a result of the surgery due to the fact it didn't happen before the surgery. I may be crazy though.
 
The pulling in your arms might be a loss of flexibility due to the sternal precautions. When I saw my cardiologist on Friday, he suggested that even though I'm not even three weeks post-op yet, I should do some arm stretching (within the restrictions) to maintain arm range and prevent muscle aches. We tend to fold in after surgery, so I do a posture check a few times a day and every time I go for a walk. Standing up straight feels much better once you adjust to it.
 
river-wear said:
The pulling in your arms might be a loss of flexibility due to the sternal precautions. When I saw my cardiologist on Friday, he suggested that even though I'm not even three weeks post-op yet, I should do some arm stretching (within the restrictions) to maintain arm range and prevent muscle aches. We tend to fold in after surgery, so I do a posture check a few times a day and every time I go for a walk. Standing up straight feels much better once you adjust to it.
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This makes sense. I try to do the stretches but they hurt!!!

In order to promote a little humor I wanted to share a clip from the movie Dumb and Dumber that reminded me of my first visit to the bathroom at the hospital.....man are those hospital laxatives brutal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwcVJMvVWDA&t=0m28s

(Sorry if anyone finds this offensive in advance)
 
Ok, so you might find this funny then. I was fortunate and only took a few Percocet before switching to Tylenol and I avoided the horrors you guys are referring to. However, when I was re-admitted for a-fib I had a roommate fresh out of CICU. She took twice as much Percocet with each dose as I ever did. She got the industrial strength "cleaner"... and was still using the bedside commode at that point.

I did feel sorry for her in spite of everything.
 
Hi

AMFT said:
I guess he doesn't get a lot of younger patients that use the internet as much as I do.
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yeah, I had problems when I was in my 20's ... I still do. I guess they're just used to older folk who just accept things because of the plethora of reasons why ....

When I reach for stuff I have a sharp pain in my arms and a strong pulling sensation. I have to assume it is a result of the surgery due to the fact it didn't happen before the surgery. I may be crazy though.
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yeah, well I'd say just take it easy for a while, minimum of 8 weeks. I took about a year to gradually bring myself back to cycling 17Km in an evening after work and having normal flexibility. Your body has been through a significant trauma. Its tribute to the systems that we are made of that we can heal so well. (although some creatures can grow back limbs, which I'm quite amazed at).

Be patient and just go along with the schedule ... have you ever had any other bone breaks or stuff? If you haven't then I guess this is your first experience with how you recover.

Best Wishes
 
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