maprince231
Member
Hi all,
I underwent an aortic valve replacement, aortic root, and aortic hemi-arch repair on August 22nd at Duke with Dr Chad Hughes. *I thought I would post my experience with the hopes that someone will find it useful for them.
I went in for a cardiac cath the day before surgery. *They did this for two reasons, even though I was under the normal age that they do it (I'm 35). *First, it gave Dr Hughes a good view of the surgery for the next day. *Second, I've had high BP and high cholesterol for a while, so I wanted peace of mind that everything would be taken care of while my chest was open. *Luckily everything came out normal.
That night I took the antibacterial bath twice before the surgery. *I guess this lowers the infection rate although I'm not sure how important it is since they scrub you in the OR before surgery anyway.
*
Day 1
The next morning at 6am, the anesthesiologist came to get me. *They took me back to the prep room, and started by giving me an IV in my wrist. *This was the only one I remember being put in. *After this, the doctors took me to the OR and said they were giving me some medication to make me brave. *The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery.
As for the surgery - here is what I was told. * The surgery lasted 6 hours. *3 of those hours I was on the pump. *To minimize the risks, they cooled my body to 18 Celsius and did retrograde cerebral perfusion. I have two scars - the full sternotomy as well as the scare for the retrograde cerebral perfusion (upper right chest, about 3 inches, parallel to the ground). *They put in an On-x 25mm aortic valve and used Dacron for my root and ascending aorta repair. * They estimated my risk of pump head around 1 percent based on age and health. *They said it goes up with age and declining health. I have no issues with memory from the surgery. My memory is fully in tact and I can function normally. Thank goodness.
My family came to see me afterward and said I was still cold and pale. *It was hard for them to see me at this point in the recovery. *An hour or so later, I was in the ICU recovery and they gave me the wake up now meds. * I came right to and was alert. *I noticed the tubes in me, but it didn't bother me. *I was pleasently surprised as this was one of my fears. * I went back to sleep and when I woke up the next time I was coughing up the tube as they asked. * Easy and no problems for me here.
They had me up and walking the first night. * I had some blood pressure problems on standing so I was a bit limited here. *Within 24 hours they were happy with my progress and had me headed to a step down room. *I have to say from what I remember the dilaudid kept me comfortable at this stage and I don't have bad memories of day 1.
Day 2
On day 2, they switched me to Percocet. *I didn't like it. *It didn't seem to keep my pain under control and I was hallucinating. *They pulled the large drainage tube on day 2... The pain wasn't bad, but I was very glad when it was over. *The mental part of this was difficult for me. * The rest of the day was spent feeling bad on Percocet and resting. *No walking since I wasn't feeling well. *At the end of the day I asked for different pain meds.. I switched to Vicodin, which worked much better on me than Percocet. *No more hallucinations and the pain was under control.
Day 3
Day 3 was when I started really recovering. *The Foley catheter was pulled and I was left with only two small drainage tubes and the leads for monitoring pressure in my heart. *I walked a few laps this day.. Pretty tired at the end. *By the end of the day, I was feeling much more like myself. *
Day 4
Again, more walking and continuing to feel better. *I walked 5 laps on day 4. *I got the other tubes out, and was free from all things attached other than the IVs. *I felt like seeing visitors this day and continued to relax and recover. *Nothing else substantial on this day. *My blood pressure continued to rise and my pulse came down. *All signs my heart was working properly. *I started my Coumadin this evening.
Day 5
I was released from the hospital! *I walked a total of 8 laps before going home this day.
Day 6-8
At home now... Difficulty sleeping. *I would mainly attempt to sleep in my chair.. Not for more than an hour at a time. *Not because I hurt, my body just wouldn't go into a deep sleep. *Still on Vicodin.. 2 pills every 4 hours. * Having night sweats and a limited appetite. *Small fever spiking up to around 100 decrees during this time.
On day 8, I had an appointment at the INR clinic. *I told them about my symptoms and they had a nurse check me out. *She did the full work up on me.. X-ray, ECG, echo, sepsis check and other bloodwork. * While having the echo, I went into afib. *It went away on its own, but the doctor was worried enough to send me to the hospital.
Day 9-15 Dresslers Syndrome
Checked back into the hospital where they realized I also had fluid around my heart. *Unfortunately, it was near my ascending aorta which isn't easy to reach. *So, instead of surgery they opted for medications which made me feel pretty crummy (GI). *A mix of Advil, colchicine, and amniodorone. *The amniodorone was mainly for the afib which I was experiencing. *I had this two more times in the hospital, both early on before the amniodorone started working. *One time it caused me to fall and bump my head when I was walking. *Luckily no lasting damage from the fall. *I ended up spending one night in ICU, which was for monitoring due to the fluid. *I finally started turning the corner when there, and feeling better. *I spent 3 more days in the step down before coming home.
I also realized that the Vicodin was causing me more harm than good. *I was having sweats from the Vicodin... Not a fever. *So, the doctor convinced me to try going cold turkey (no dependence on Vicodin in only a week he said)... After I stopped, I felt much better and the sweats disappeared! *I've learned that I hate pain meds unless REALLY needed.
Days 16-22. Back at home
I've been back at home for the last week, and feeling much better. *Still on all the meds, but at a lower dose. *My appetite is back and I'm waking daily (.8 miles in 17 minutes yesterday). *Not as far as I want to be, but the week in the hospital set me back and the doc told me to take it easy because of the Dressler's syndrome. *I'm feeling pretty much like myself now... But can't sleep or lay on my side due to vertigo and skipped heart beats when I try. * This is all new so I'm hoping it will disappear with time.
Overall even with my complications, it went smoother than I expected. *The pain was less than I expected but being cooped up in the hospital for 12 days was tough. *I've been lucky that I had minimal pain in my sternum and incisions. * My main pain source was the tubes. *
Hope this helps someone.. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Mike
I underwent an aortic valve replacement, aortic root, and aortic hemi-arch repair on August 22nd at Duke with Dr Chad Hughes. *I thought I would post my experience with the hopes that someone will find it useful for them.
I went in for a cardiac cath the day before surgery. *They did this for two reasons, even though I was under the normal age that they do it (I'm 35). *First, it gave Dr Hughes a good view of the surgery for the next day. *Second, I've had high BP and high cholesterol for a while, so I wanted peace of mind that everything would be taken care of while my chest was open. *Luckily everything came out normal.
That night I took the antibacterial bath twice before the surgery. *I guess this lowers the infection rate although I'm not sure how important it is since they scrub you in the OR before surgery anyway.
*
Day 1
The next morning at 6am, the anesthesiologist came to get me. *They took me back to the prep room, and started by giving me an IV in my wrist. *This was the only one I remember being put in. *After this, the doctors took me to the OR and said they were giving me some medication to make me brave. *The next thing I remember was waking up in recovery.
As for the surgery - here is what I was told. * The surgery lasted 6 hours. *3 of those hours I was on the pump. *To minimize the risks, they cooled my body to 18 Celsius and did retrograde cerebral perfusion. I have two scars - the full sternotomy as well as the scare for the retrograde cerebral perfusion (upper right chest, about 3 inches, parallel to the ground). *They put in an On-x 25mm aortic valve and used Dacron for my root and ascending aorta repair. * They estimated my risk of pump head around 1 percent based on age and health. *They said it goes up with age and declining health. I have no issues with memory from the surgery. My memory is fully in tact and I can function normally. Thank goodness.
My family came to see me afterward and said I was still cold and pale. *It was hard for them to see me at this point in the recovery. *An hour or so later, I was in the ICU recovery and they gave me the wake up now meds. * I came right to and was alert. *I noticed the tubes in me, but it didn't bother me. *I was pleasently surprised as this was one of my fears. * I went back to sleep and when I woke up the next time I was coughing up the tube as they asked. * Easy and no problems for me here.
They had me up and walking the first night. * I had some blood pressure problems on standing so I was a bit limited here. *Within 24 hours they were happy with my progress and had me headed to a step down room. *I have to say from what I remember the dilaudid kept me comfortable at this stage and I don't have bad memories of day 1.
Day 2
On day 2, they switched me to Percocet. *I didn't like it. *It didn't seem to keep my pain under control and I was hallucinating. *They pulled the large drainage tube on day 2... The pain wasn't bad, but I was very glad when it was over. *The mental part of this was difficult for me. * The rest of the day was spent feeling bad on Percocet and resting. *No walking since I wasn't feeling well. *At the end of the day I asked for different pain meds.. I switched to Vicodin, which worked much better on me than Percocet. *No more hallucinations and the pain was under control.
Day 3
Day 3 was when I started really recovering. *The Foley catheter was pulled and I was left with only two small drainage tubes and the leads for monitoring pressure in my heart. *I walked a few laps this day.. Pretty tired at the end. *By the end of the day, I was feeling much more like myself. *
Day 4
Again, more walking and continuing to feel better. *I walked 5 laps on day 4. *I got the other tubes out, and was free from all things attached other than the IVs. *I felt like seeing visitors this day and continued to relax and recover. *Nothing else substantial on this day. *My blood pressure continued to rise and my pulse came down. *All signs my heart was working properly. *I started my Coumadin this evening.
Day 5
I was released from the hospital! *I walked a total of 8 laps before going home this day.
Day 6-8
At home now... Difficulty sleeping. *I would mainly attempt to sleep in my chair.. Not for more than an hour at a time. *Not because I hurt, my body just wouldn't go into a deep sleep. *Still on Vicodin.. 2 pills every 4 hours. * Having night sweats and a limited appetite. *Small fever spiking up to around 100 decrees during this time.
On day 8, I had an appointment at the INR clinic. *I told them about my symptoms and they had a nurse check me out. *She did the full work up on me.. X-ray, ECG, echo, sepsis check and other bloodwork. * While having the echo, I went into afib. *It went away on its own, but the doctor was worried enough to send me to the hospital.
Day 9-15 Dresslers Syndrome
Checked back into the hospital where they realized I also had fluid around my heart. *Unfortunately, it was near my ascending aorta which isn't easy to reach. *So, instead of surgery they opted for medications which made me feel pretty crummy (GI). *A mix of Advil, colchicine, and amniodorone. *The amniodorone was mainly for the afib which I was experiencing. *I had this two more times in the hospital, both early on before the amniodorone started working. *One time it caused me to fall and bump my head when I was walking. *Luckily no lasting damage from the fall. *I ended up spending one night in ICU, which was for monitoring due to the fluid. *I finally started turning the corner when there, and feeling better. *I spent 3 more days in the step down before coming home.
I also realized that the Vicodin was causing me more harm than good. *I was having sweats from the Vicodin... Not a fever. *So, the doctor convinced me to try going cold turkey (no dependence on Vicodin in only a week he said)... After I stopped, I felt much better and the sweats disappeared! *I've learned that I hate pain meds unless REALLY needed.
Days 16-22. Back at home
I've been back at home for the last week, and feeling much better. *Still on all the meds, but at a lower dose. *My appetite is back and I'm waking daily (.8 miles in 17 minutes yesterday). *Not as far as I want to be, but the week in the hospital set me back and the doc told me to take it easy because of the Dressler's syndrome. *I'm feeling pretty much like myself now... But can't sleep or lay on my side due to vertigo and skipped heart beats when I try. * This is all new so I'm hoping it will disappear with time.
Overall even with my complications, it went smoother than I expected. *The pain was less than I expected but being cooped up in the hospital for 12 days was tough. *I've been lucky that I had minimal pain in my sternum and incisions. * My main pain source was the tubes. *
Hope this helps someone.. If you have any questions, feel free to ask.
Mike
