pedimed
Well-known member
Hello all, I was feeling the need to check in with you as soon as I got home to the computer but had to wait a few days for some coherent throughts 
I had a BAV replacement (St.Judes) on 1/25 at The Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Surgery started in the early AM, and they were done by about 1pm.. Surgeon stated he was able to ablate the aortic aneurysm but had to replace the valve as it was not in good shape (hence the operation, right?)
I remember waking uo in ICU intubated, for some reason I dont remember seeing anything, only feeling two tubes down my throat and gagging on them, tehy were subsequently removed (thank goodness) and things felt much improved! (I have been intubated before and awake before intubation but dont remember feeling that gagging feeling-ohwell).. I had a great ICU RN over the first night, I was comfortable for the most part, she had me sit up and try coughing with teh pillow etc, strange, I was never given an incentive spirometer, which I thought odd, it is nearly impossible as you all know to take good deep breaths when you have no feedback on how much air you are inhaling especially when one is hurting so much!
I was transferred the floor the next AM after surgery, Beginning Fri night through Sunday I was in AWFUL abdomanal pain, no one could figure out why... I had been recieving high doses of the narcotics and they started to think I was "used to" (for some odd reason) the medications.. so tehy took me off the narcotics and I was getting Toredol (which also di dnot help at all) and Tylenol for a few days. I was kept NPO until the pain finally subsided and taperted back to regular food... over this period of timethey did an abdomenal film and urine culture, and even tried a nasogastric tube (to decrompress the stomach), trying to rule out possible causes... I had the poor resident paged a few times to try and asses what may be causing the pain... I had no pain of my incision, only muscle achyness from trying to use muscles other than those in my arms, and the pain of my abdomeal cramping...
Ok, so the film report is given and would you believe it was.....large volume of air in the GI track.... OMG!! I have had gas pains before but seriously, this was crazy!! I think on top of the pain I was having muscle spasms causing me to have a hard time breathing as well..
Monday morning was amazing! I woke up without abd cramping, and was able to take a few walks, even upa nd down a flight of stairs! it all felt so surreal given the past few days, I could not believe the difference.
And shortly after the walk, as Im sure you can all guess, the staf went on a discharging rampage and discharged 4 of us. They thankfully allowed me to stay until around4p when I had transportation, however I had heard they occasionally discharge you to the waiting room in teh lkobbby.. t hankfully that di dnot happen!
Anyhow, so this is a quick overview of my expereince, overall it was a whirlwind! It is incredible, the work-up to surgery is so extensive, and then all of a sudden it is over!
Today I am going to venture out for my first walk outside (have jsut been taking short walks in the house since I got home on Monday) and see how that goes..
Michelle, I did recieve the Shirt, thanks.. and once I arrive back at my house (Im in Bosotn now with a friend) on Monday 2/5, Ill figure out how to post the Tawdry shirt photo
Oh, and lastly, I forgot to mention; I was sitting here the other day quietly w/o the T.V on and heard, for the first time, a ticking noise. All of a sudden I realized what it was!! The valve! EEKS.. I can hear it, I remember waking up in teh hospital and realizing I could not hear it and thought, whew, no audible valve.. anyhow now I DO hear it.. not sure why that changes at variuos times though... I feel like the crocodile in Peter Pan
I cannot thank you all here enought for the shared experiences, and support!
I will try to add to this as days pass and things progress ..
Thank you ahgain!
Leah
I had a BAV replacement (St.Judes) on 1/25 at The Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston. Surgery started in the early AM, and they were done by about 1pm.. Surgeon stated he was able to ablate the aortic aneurysm but had to replace the valve as it was not in good shape (hence the operation, right?)
I remember waking uo in ICU intubated, for some reason I dont remember seeing anything, only feeling two tubes down my throat and gagging on them, tehy were subsequently removed (thank goodness) and things felt much improved! (I have been intubated before and awake before intubation but dont remember feeling that gagging feeling-ohwell).. I had a great ICU RN over the first night, I was comfortable for the most part, she had me sit up and try coughing with teh pillow etc, strange, I was never given an incentive spirometer, which I thought odd, it is nearly impossible as you all know to take good deep breaths when you have no feedback on how much air you are inhaling especially when one is hurting so much!
I was transferred the floor the next AM after surgery, Beginning Fri night through Sunday I was in AWFUL abdomanal pain, no one could figure out why... I had been recieving high doses of the narcotics and they started to think I was "used to" (for some odd reason) the medications.. so tehy took me off the narcotics and I was getting Toredol (which also di dnot help at all) and Tylenol for a few days. I was kept NPO until the pain finally subsided and taperted back to regular food... over this period of timethey did an abdomenal film and urine culture, and even tried a nasogastric tube (to decrompress the stomach), trying to rule out possible causes... I had the poor resident paged a few times to try and asses what may be causing the pain... I had no pain of my incision, only muscle achyness from trying to use muscles other than those in my arms, and the pain of my abdomeal cramping...
Ok, so the film report is given and would you believe it was.....large volume of air in the GI track.... OMG!! I have had gas pains before but seriously, this was crazy!! I think on top of the pain I was having muscle spasms causing me to have a hard time breathing as well..
Monday morning was amazing! I woke up without abd cramping, and was able to take a few walks, even upa nd down a flight of stairs! it all felt so surreal given the past few days, I could not believe the difference.
And shortly after the walk, as Im sure you can all guess, the staf went on a discharging rampage and discharged 4 of us. They thankfully allowed me to stay until around4p when I had transportation, however I had heard they occasionally discharge you to the waiting room in teh lkobbby.. t hankfully that di dnot happen!
Anyhow, so this is a quick overview of my expereince, overall it was a whirlwind! It is incredible, the work-up to surgery is so extensive, and then all of a sudden it is over!
Today I am going to venture out for my first walk outside (have jsut been taking short walks in the house since I got home on Monday) and see how that goes..
Michelle, I did recieve the Shirt, thanks.. and once I arrive back at my house (Im in Bosotn now with a friend) on Monday 2/5, Ill figure out how to post the Tawdry shirt photo
Oh, and lastly, I forgot to mention; I was sitting here the other day quietly w/o the T.V on and heard, for the first time, a ticking noise. All of a sudden I realized what it was!! The valve! EEKS.. I can hear it, I remember waking up in teh hospital and realizing I could not hear it and thought, whew, no audible valve.. anyhow now I DO hear it.. not sure why that changes at variuos times though... I feel like the crocodile in Peter Pan
I cannot thank you all here enought for the shared experiences, and support!
I will try to add to this as days pass and things progress ..
Thank you ahgain!
Leah
