Surgery Completed!

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ajc1991

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 5, 2014
Messages
99
Location
Torrance, CA
The time has come! I'm finally able to post in the "Post Surgery" section of this forum! My surgery was on Thursday, January 15th (3 days ago) and I feel great! Surgery took place at Ronsld Reagan UCLA in Westwood, California. I had my severely leaking bicuspid aortic valve replaced with a St. Jude mechanical valve with a minimally invasive approach. All the doctors are saying I don't even feel like I've been through surgery. My surgeon told my mother it was a "Textbook surgery", easy to do without any bumps. Chest tubes are out, neck tube is out. All that is left is a couple IVs in my arms for the Hepadrin, blood drawing etc.

The first night was awful for me, was starting to feel the pain and figured out I was lying down too flat. Now I lay down elevated and feel much better. Was taking Oxy for pain the first couple of days and have discontinued taking them. I've been good with the pill form of Tylenol. I have discontinued all narcotics. I mainly feel pain mid afternoon and just before I go to bed, so that's when I take the Tylenol.

I was so glad when they removed the chest tubes, they were very uncomftorable. Never got to see them while they were in me though. The nurse gave me a shot of some good pain meds before removing them ;). Incision site looks real clean and well done.

Walking feels great! Even the first time I got on my feet I felt good, no dizziness. Now I feel even better. Been walking without any issues and feel good. I'm still in ICU although I've been eligible to go to a step down room since yesterday. They just don't have a bed for me yet :(. Hopefully I get one tonight or tomorrow. They're also waiting for my INR time to stabilize.

My heart rate is a little fast though, so I've been on beta blockers, sometimes my blood pressure raises a bit too. I'm guessing that's expected after heart surgery? Since there was stress put on the heart?

Either way I'm glad the worst part is over. I was awake for a bit during the breathing tube part. It wasn't bothersome at all. I wasn't even sure if I had it in or not. I tried to reach up and feel if it was over my mouth or not. I then heard one of the nurses say "We'll take the breathing tube out soon...." so that's how I knew it was still in. Didn't bother me at all though.
 
excellent, glad to hear you are back on deck!

well done and I look fwd to hearing your progress reports :)

mean time, don't cough, and don't lift anything and work that ventilator
 
Well done! Thanks for coming by to check in so quickly. It really helps the folks in The Waiting Room to see that some people really do have those "textbook" recovery experiences. Like so many internet boards, we may sometimes find that the only ones who post are the ones with problems, looking for help. Your experience will go a long way toward helping others realize that they, too, could have an easy path home.

Keep us posted. We'll keep the TV on for you. . .
 
epstns;n851695 said:
Well done! Thanks for coming by to check in so quickly. It really helps the folks in The Waiting Room to see that some people really do have those "textbook" recovery experiences. Like so many internet boards, we may sometimes find that the only ones who post are the ones with problems, looking for help. Your experience will go a long way toward helping others realize that they, too, could have an easy path home.

Keep us posted. We'll keep the TV on for you. . .

So true, like I say you only call the cable company to complain,you don't call to say " hey picture looks great,good job" . On the subject of smooth recoveries my son and I went out to breakfast this morning and bumped into the Dad of one of the kids on my sons little league team. He had heart surgery at the same place I'm going ( University of Pennsylvania) in the fall and he's doing great.
 
Thanks epstns for *reminding us how important coming back to the forums -after surgery..really is the core reinforcement we're all hoping/looking for and thanks ajc1991 for the most recent update..please continue as far as therapy is concerned.
 
Thank you all for the well wishes. I continue to feel better each and every day. Last time I took a Tylenol was 17 hours ago and I still don't feel as if I need one. I will take one before bed tonight though.

Appetite continues to be very good. I'm still in ICU since they have not been able to find me a bed in one of the step down rooms unit. I'm top priority on the list now.

The only thing that's still an issue is they're trying to get my INR to a therapeutic level.
 
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